The Zero Boss (Hi Boss!) thinks they're BS, but I am a huge fan of weekly menus.
Everyone knows that organizational junkies get off on making yet
another list each week, and weekly menus are perfect for that. I'm not
that "together," so I like meal planning for a different reason: they
help me avoid having The Dreaded Leftovers. Which I haaaaaaaaaaaate.
When
I was a kid, I am positive I drove my mother to pour her nightly glass
of Carlo Rossi full to the top by asking her what was
for dinner as soon as she picked me up from school. Every. single. day.
Whenever she responded "leftovers," I was pissed. Fickle is my middle name.
I'm sure that
particular childhood experience was the catalyst behind my wanting to
cook something deliciously different every night, and my weekly menus
help to accomplish that goal.
Weekly menus mean you don't have to cook seven nights a week. We have
sandwich night one night a week and we usually go out or have take-out
one night a week. Only five nights left to cover. W00t!
When I know what I am cooking for the week, I cook exactly those
things. I go to the store with my list of ingredients and buy and
cook pretty much only what's on the list. (Another benefit of weekly
menus is that they help you stick to your budget at the grocery store.)
Sometimes a particular ingredient like a beautiful piece of fish or brilliant
tomatoes will inspire me to change my mind mid-stream, but for the most
part, I know what I feel like eating that week, I know what my family
favorites are, and my weekly menu helps me not to have to think about
what to make for dinner.
It takes a bit of getting used to, but
once you get in the hang of sitting down on Sunday to think about what
to cook, you'll become addicted. If you need a little push, these sites are here to help.
