Saturday, March 1, 2008

What's for Dinner? I'll tell ya. . .

I'm in the process of revamping our meals. We were doing really good for a few months, and then I had Katryn and it all went down hill. I'm trying to get us back onto a good rotation. I don't like planning the whole month, so I do 2 weeks at a time--payday to payday.

What I'm doing now is picking 50 meals. Mostly meals we eat regularly, about 5 I want to try, and about 5 that are just "something easy". I complied the list, and then I went and compiled all the recipes and printed them all off and I'll put them in a folder in the kitchen. After that, I took slips of paper and wrote the numbers 1-50 on them and put them in a cup. Last night I had Matt draw out 10 slips and those will be our meals for the next 2 weeks (after payday next friday, since we're in between right now). so here we go!!

Sat 1-grilled cheese or quesadillas--matt's working late
Sun 2-Twice baked potatoes
Mon 3-frozen pizza
Tues 4-funeral potatoes
Wed 5-pasta
Thurs 6-frozen pizza
Fri 7-mac and cheese
(you can tell the above week is waiting till pay day comes!)
Sat 8-egg and salsa sandwiches
Sun 9-katryn's blessing--wraps
Mon 10-leftovers
Tues 11-spaghetti
Wed 12-baked rigatoni
Thurs 13-cheesy ziti
Fri 14-boneless buttermilk fried chicken
Sat 15-leftovers
Sun 16-chicken in pan sauce
Mon 17-ravioli bake
Tues 18-stroganoff
Wed 19-something easy
Thurs 20-something easy
Fri 21-leftovers

we're only picking 5 meals a week since there's only 2 of us, we tend to have lots of leftovers. Not that I'm complaining! it makes lunchtime the next day a lot easier for me!

here's a recipe I'm anxious to try:

Ravioli bake:
1 jar tomato pasta sauce
1 package (about 25oz) frozen cheese filled ravioli
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

heat oven to 350deg. spray bottom and sides of 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 3/4 cup pasta sauce in the pan. Arrange half of the frozen ravioli in a single layer over sauce; top with half the remaing pasta sauce and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers once, starting with ravioli. Sprinkle with parm cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. remove foil and bake uncovered 15-20 minutes longer or until bubbly and hot in center. let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

I'm anxious to see what else everyone else has! I'm always looking for new recipes!

Happy eating in March!

1 comment:

Rosie said...

Ooh... the baked Ravioli looks yummy... I may have to try that one. Sounds almost like a ravioli lasagna... My hubby's not a big fan of cheese ravioli, but I can get meat filled ones at Walmart pretty cheap that he like. I love your meal system too! Maybe someday my kitchen/recipe shelf will get that organized... the trend is working slowly through my house. =)