What's for dinner?

Do you ever get to a point you don't know what to make for dinner?

I know I do, but there are a couple of tricks that can make it easier so dinner isn't such a hassle.

1. Menu plan- The way I do it is a little more broad than others, but by doing it this way, it seems to help me not really have a breakdown if I get set back a day or two.  Menu planning saves money and tends to be a lot healthier for you and your family. 

2. Week by week-  My method to menu planning is set up like this and gets adjusted accordingly to what season it is and/or what type of meat we have in the freezer(right now we have pork so most of the recipes will have that in it right now).  I've found that more themed dinner nights are easier for me to figure out what's for dinner.

      Monday- Pizza night          examples: -garden vegetable
                                                               -Hawaiian
                                                               -tomato basil(my favorite)
                                                               -cheese
                                                               -olive and pepperoni
                                                               -sausage

      Tuesday- Mexican night     examples: -bean/meat enchiladas
                                                               -tacos
                                                               -Mexican bake
                                                               -picante and pita chips
                                                               -taco salad

                                                               -wraps
                                                               -bean salad

      Wednesday- Italian night    examples: -pasta with pesto, black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and 

                                                                 Parmesan cheese
                                                               -spaghetti with my canned all purpose sauce 
                                                               -eggplant bake
                                                               -lasagna
                                                               -brusetta and homemade bread

      Italian night is my favorite night because it has three ingredients I don't think I could live without: basil, olive oil, and olives.
  
      Thursday- Oven meal         examples: -casseroles
                                                                -pork chops
                                                                -soups(These are usually made on the stove and in BIG quantities)
                                                                        -vegetable
                                                                        -15 bean
                                                                        -split pea and ham
                                                                        -sausage
                                                                        -lentil soups
                                                                        -chili (with or without meat)
                                                                 -pork roasts(I often do in the crock pot)
                                                                 -venison stuffed mushrooms
                                                                 -roasted mixed vegetables

      Friday- Ham or Turkey     My thought behind this is, if I cook a large ham or turkey on a Friday night, I
                                              can make a number of dishes with the remaining meat over the weekend and
                                              also freeze some for the following months.
                                              If I'm planning on cooking turkey, the meals that usually follow are:
                                                                -turkey enchiladas
                                                                -turkey soup
                                                                -turkey sandwiches
                                                                -turkey salads
                                              The meals that follow making a ham are(most of these meals are eaten for a
                                               few days because I make bigger portions):
                                                                -scalloped potatoes and ham
                                                                -split pea and ham soup
                                                                -cabbage and ham noodle supper(my kids love this)
                                                                -ham and cheese sandwiches
                                                                -plan on using diced ham pieces for Hawaiian pizza on Monday

3. Try to be organized enough to do one big shopping trip a month to the grocery store(excluding your fresh items: produce and dairy). This tends to cut down for me any impulse buys and saves money.  I usually try to make sure I'm stocked up on flour and yeast so that towards the end of the month we can still have fresh bread. 

4. Buy what's on your list...try not to stray.  This is a big problem for me, but I think I'm getting better.   It's a lot easier for me to do this if I don't have the kids(they tend to want snacks and especially when they are asking for healthy things like raisins-it's hard for me to say no), but it adds up if it's not on the list. 

If you have any extra tips, please leave comments.  I love new ideas for cooking and am always experimenting, sometimes to my family's dismay:)  Have fun cooking.