Menu Planning

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I am always trying to improve my meal planning skills, you would think after all the years of feeding myself and my husband I would be a pro. But that is not the case, so I continue to seek out tips and tricks. With a 2 month old baby it has become even more important to have a plan, as we no longer have prepared meals ready to go. I have tried shopping the sales to inspire meals for the week, but that requires the effort to have recipes for whatever meat is on sale. I have made a monthly chart with theme nights which worked for awhile till my husband and I grew tired of the monthly rotation.

I recently came across a blog "A Modern Commonplace Book" and found her no plan menu plan. We have followed it the last two weeks and everything has been good so far and really easy to make. She includes a prep day which is not actually a day but maybe an hour at most, not including slow cooker time. Having certain tools in the kitchen also make prep easier and faster, especially when there are lots of vegetables to chop up like in the first week.


My husband is 100% carnivore so squeezing in a meatless meal here or there means it has to be something good. So this last week I told him there was one meal I was not sure he would enjoy, he said is it a "turd on a bun." I stifled a giggle, then he goes, "No I bet it's a vegetarian turd on a bun." That is when I started to laugh as the recipe was for a black bean burger. So I made these the other night, there was no pre-prep for them. So I drained my can of black beans, mashed then up, then diced my onion, then added bread crumbs and seasonings. Formed the patties by hand and put them away. I try to make as much of dinner earlier in the day when my little man is cooperating. When my husband got home he grilled them up on our indoor grill, which we usually just use for panini's.

The verdict, my husband liked them. I have to agree having never made black bean burgers they were good and really easy to throw together. They are something that I definitely need to keep in mind as they require fewer fresh ingredients and can be thrown together quick. So I will continue trying her "no plan menu plan." I will continue to throw our own recipes into the mix, but so far it has helped without having to think about dinners for part of the week. Breakfast and lunch are another story.