getty imagesReader Request #1
our first request, is a combo question from reader Briste. She would like ideas on planning healthy meals and how to store recipes! Here are my tips:
1. i use lots of resources, but my favorite is cookinglight.com along with the magazine, to seek out 5 star recipes with plenty of nutritional value
2. i plan my menu for a week, making sure each meal includes a fruit and a vegetable, and something that each person likes to eat (i don't make seperate meals, but i will choose a fave veggie from one child, and a fave starch of another and a fave fruit of yet another one to allow for more peaceful eating)
3. make my grocery list of what i need and go shopping
4. i am flexible on my days that i cook what. if monday's meal on monday seems to work better on thursday, then i switch them!
Now for how i store all of my recipe's:
1. i have a small cupboard that is only for cook books and magazines, one shelf for each.
2. recipe's that i have printed off or ripped out of magazines go into clear plastic protecter sheets and into a 3-ring binder, divided into groupings. 1 for main dish, 1 for soups/salads/sides/sauces, and 1 for desserts and baked goods
3. smaller recipes that might go into one of those recipe files, are taped onto a bigger piece of paper and then put into the plastic sheets, then into the binder as well
1. i use lots of resources, but my favorite is cookinglight.com along with the magazine, to seek out 5 star recipes with plenty of nutritional value
2. i plan my menu for a week, making sure each meal includes a fruit and a vegetable, and something that each person likes to eat (i don't make seperate meals, but i will choose a fave veggie from one child, and a fave starch of another and a fave fruit of yet another one to allow for more peaceful eating)
3. make my grocery list of what i need and go shopping
4. i am flexible on my days that i cook what. if monday's meal on monday seems to work better on thursday, then i switch them!
Now for how i store all of my recipe's:
1. i have a small cupboard that is only for cook books and magazines, one shelf for each.
2. recipe's that i have printed off or ripped out of magazines go into clear plastic protecter sheets and into a 3-ring binder, divided into groupings. 1 for main dish, 1 for soups/salads/sides/sauces, and 1 for desserts and baked goods
3. smaller recipes that might go into one of those recipe files, are taped onto a bigger piece of paper and then put into the plastic sheets, then into the binder as well
after i try a recipe, i write down any changes i made or should make the next time we have it and i use a word scale for deciding what is good: "yummy" is absolutely amazing and worthy of family and company, "good" is definitely worth the time and effort and perfect for just family, and "yucky" these ones never get made again, and if they aren't in a book, get tossed out! now is your turn to help out fabulous briste!
4 comments:
I have an online database of recipes that makes for easy searching. There are also websites that allow you to create recipe logs.
Finally, I also always leave an extra night for leftover, when I am meal planning, since inevitably the fridge gets full of goodies from previous meals and I hate waste. Sometimes leftovers are better then the original dinner (this is true for soups and stews).
my system is almost the same as christy's, except that i leave untried recipes in the front pockets of the binder. then, if we like it, i add it in. i also make notes in my cookbooks and use post-it notes to mark recipes i'd like to try. good luck!
I created a spreadsheet of meals my family eats, separated into category (chicken, soups, easy). When I make my weekly planner, and hit a blank, I can pull this document up and have a big selection to choose from,
I use 3 ring binders for recipes (in fact I'll happily take credit for making Christy's too!!) broken down into recipe type.
Thanks so much Ladies for the fabulous ideas! You guys Rock!
Briste
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