Weekly menu planner

I have a goal of going grocery shopping only once a week. Most of the weeks I succeed. I am also not stressing out wondering what to cook for dinner every day. Why? Because I use a weekly menu planner.

I LOVE IT!

Here is how I do it:

1. I have a special menu planner book. Not just a piece of paper that can get lost easily.

I use it all the time. The only thing you need to do on any specific day is to look into it and know exactly what's for dinner.

Here is how mine looks like.

I downloaded a print out on Above all fabric. Then I printed as many copies as I needed. I think my book has all 54 weeks in it. I took my pages to a copy center (I used Stevenson Geneology center) and for pennies bound the sheets together into a book. EASY!

2. On Friday night I open a new page. I ask my husband what meals he would want to see on the menu. He usually says he doesn't have any specific requests. My husband likes pretty much everything I cook. Sometimes her will help me out.

When I first got married, I only had recipes from back home (from Belarus). I needed to learn how to cook here in America. I watched Food Network like crazy. I made a new recipe every day. After trying so many recipes for almost 4 years of marriage, I realized that I found favorites. So now it takes me only a couple of minutes to fill out the blanks in the planner.

3. Then I write down a shopping list. DO not go to the store without one. You will save time, money, and additional trips to the supermarket when you realize you forgot to buy something.

My lists usually consist of wholesome foods. Very rarely do I buy frozen dinners. I used to do that for a very short time, because my husband took them to work. They didn't taste as good as homemade foods and had tons of additives. Now I make and freeze lunches for my husband and we love it that way.

Sometimes I will open the book on a certain day and won't feel like the planned meal for that day. SO. I just cook a meal from a different day. You already have all the ingredients for that meal. A lot of the times I will live one day open without having any meal scheduled for that day. It covers left overs, possible eating out, and last minute dinner invites.

That's all. I hope it will be helpful to some of you.

Feel free to ask any questions or leave your tips.

The best and the easiest white rice

I have never been too good at cooking rice on the stove top. Guess what? I don't do it on the stove top anymore. I cook my rice in the oven. PERFECT every time.

My friend shared this recipe with me. Try it out and you will never go back to the stove top.

I usually make a double batch and freeze half of it.

It is really good for quick lunches or even dinner. Just warm it up before serving.

Oven-cooked rice

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 Tbsp butter (unsalted)

3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice

1/2 tsp salt

In a 1-quart casserole dish combine boiling water and butter; stir until butter is melted. Stir in rice and salt. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 350 degree F oven about 35 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed (I always set my timer for 35 minutes - turns out perfect every time). Fluff with a fork before serving.

Enjoy!

I am back

I am back from a long sabbatical and intend to do more homemaking blogging.

So come often and check it out.

Yulia