9 Comments

1. Carlo d'Umbria  •  Sep 12, 2009 @9:42 am
   

   Yolanda

   Since you have a computer, you might want to look into computer-based recipe programs. Some are quite powerful, giving you, in addition to recipes, nutritional values, meal planners, and shopping lists. Just do a search on recipe software.

2. califblnd  •  Sep 15, 2009 @7:31 pm
   

   Kathryn

   They have a way to organize recipes into your own cookbook all you do is select the recipes and add them to the book. Check out the website. I’ve actually been thinking of starting a business to organize recipes for other people.

3. jrlayman321  •  Sep 18, 2009 @3:37 am
   

   Brent

   This works for me. I always have a couple starches on hand(white rice/potatoes/spaghetti) I keep 2 frozen vegetables always(corn and peas). I keep 2-3 cans of diced tomatoes, 2 cans of chicken broth, 2 jars or red pasta sauce and 2 cans of black beans. Frozen chicken breasts, ground chuck, Italian sausage from the meat department(usually homemade by them), and frozen IQF(individually quick frozen) fish fillets. Weekly fresh fruits and vegetables are always on my list and I replenish the above weekly. there are so many combinations and recipes you can make with the above. I always make sure my spices are up to par also. Eggs, milk, bread and cheese are a staple here also.

   Examples:
   Teriyaki Chicken with rice
   Sausage/peppers and onions on the grill
   Chili
   Fish & Chips
   Baked Chicken with veggies and Rice
   Spaghetti & Meatballs
   Chicken Parmesean
   Meatloaf
   Blackened Fish with mashed potatoes
   Blackened Chix with Black beans and Rice
   Fried Fish with Cream Corn and Lyonnaise Potatoes
   Chicken & Rice Soup
   Minestrone Soup……….and many more.

4. m o  •  Sep 21, 2009 @2:35 pm
   

   Bobby

   do u keep in mind how u made every dish and can make them as good as the 1st time…
   u ask ur family after every meal if they liked it or not and then u reapeat them again but not randomly as they will get bored of repeated food…even in a daiary in ur storage at ur kitchen u write down notes
   cooking tips about the same dishes u may cooked many times b4 and u wanna try cooking in a better new way to give better taste

5. Nisey  •  Sep 23, 2009 @12:03 pm
   

   Rosa

   If you have 4 kids, then you have been cooking for awhile now.

   To start off easy, I would sit down and make a list of all the things that you have cooked, know how to cook, love to eat.

   Try to separate the list into catagories, such as soups, chicken, beef, egg, favorites and so on. When you have made your lists, I think you might be surprised what you have and how many things you like and know how to make easily.

   #2, Look at the schedule or calendar and see how many appointments or commitments you have and on which days. These are days you know you will need something very quick and easy. Start filling the calendar copy with something you know is quick–anything at this point (ex, might be: tomato soup w grilled cheese sand, or frozen chicken nuggets or mac and cheese with weiners, nachos, etc.etc)

   #3 The day the grocery store sales are in the paper are usually the day I make my menu. Ex: if they have pork chops on sale, then one night we have BBQ pork chops, baked sweet or reg potato and green beans, the next night we would have a pork stir fry and rice or pork chops in mushroom soup baked in the oven and served over mashed potatoes or whatever you like. Next night might need to be a quickie–breakfast night which is oven baked french toast or pancakes or pigs in a blanket. Write these ideas down, and keep going.
   After your menu is made, look it over, adjust it etc., write down what you need at the store-the sale items and the items needed to fill in around the main entree, plus reg items such as shampoo, cereals etc. Don’t ever throw away this list–at least for a few months. You will want to refer to it as you fine tune this and adjust over time. Pretty soon you will know that once a month you need 12 rolls of toilet paper and 2 bottles of shampoo etc. Keep a running list on the fridge so as you take out the ‘last bottle or back-up mayo’ from the pantry, you will replace it and by putting it on the fridge list, you won’t ever forget something. And so on and on it goes.

   If the store not only has pork chops but also ground beef on sale, incorporate that into the menu. i.e., meat loaf, spend two hours and with 4 lbs of ground beef, make meatballs which would make about 100 meatballs. Use 25 per meal for that night you make them,(4-5 per person) and freeze the
   other 75 into 3 packages to use later on (like one meatball recipe once a week for the month–you will have 4 meals already ready!) Some ideas to use meatballs would be ; Swedish/strogonaff, BBQ. sweet and sour, Italian w/ spaghetti, meatballs and green bean casserole..

   Do they have something like green peppers on sale? Use them.Stuffed green peppers if they have peppers on sale, pepper steak and potatoes, etc. Eggs? see how many recipes you can come up with that are creative, different and good…i.e. omlets, strattas, souffles, dutch baby pancakes etc.

   #4 Keep on going like this until the week or two weeks or some of the month is filled in.

   If you know the sale is good on chicken, then you can spend some time on the web or looking through cookbooks for chicken ideas. It’s overwhelming to not know what you want to cook and you see a thousand ideas and recipes and maybe what you settle for is not avail at the store or at a high price that week. Refer to photo cookbooks to give you some ideas and do this when you haven’t eaten. It is always good to sit down and do this when you are hungry!

   #5
   You will find that you have saved time, energy, effort and alot of money by taking some time to do this. I promise. Also, keep a couple of things in the fridge or pantry for unexpected days or when you just don’t have energy to cook and the leftovers are gone. Like a froz pizza, or froz chicken patties and buns etc.
   Need more help? Just write for more ideas. I am a huge advocate and believer in planning and in menus. I hope I helped!

   #6 In the end, once you have done this, albeit time consuming in the beginning, you can then rotate the menu, use the same each month and then choose one or two days a month when you will ‘experiment’ with a new recipe and so on. Pretty soon, you’ll be a pro and wonder why you didn’t do this sooner. Sitting down w a magazine for just one meal a month might even be a fun diversion and something to look forward to doing. Involve the kids as they get older like cutting up the lettuce, making carrot and celery sticks and so on.

   Make it fun, and make it a challenge. If your budget is say 100.00 a week, using only the things on sale and managing your time, see how much you can save. Put the difference in a jar and mark it “for Movie Night” or “Mom’s new outfit fund” etc.

   Let me know how things go! I’m excited to know how you do.

6. ♪Msz. Nena♫  •  Sep 23, 2009 @7:29 pm
   

   Andrea

   Here’s my best advice to you.

   I plan meals accordingly to what is healthy and accommodating to me and my busy schedule. It sounds like you’re spending a lot of time searching for simple and easy meals when I can help you out a lot better.

   What I do is make a plan for the week. I don’t necessarily have to follow it but it just helps me to have enough food for the week in case I do cook each meal as planned.

   I’ll pick at least 2 crock pot meals for the week. I’m usually stocked up with the type of ingredients that are called for in the recipes. That should be your first goal; stock up on common ingredients that are needed in several recipes.

   Then, I figure what type of meat I will need. Normally, I get a few pounds of rib-end pork chops, a whole chicken (for the crock pot), and a lot of ground beef. Ground beef is very versatile which is why I choose to purchase it.

   You should plan your meals accordingly. I can use ground beef to make burgers, I can make meatballs with it, I can have just ground beef w/ tomato sauce and elbow macaroni, I can use with macaroni and cheese to make beef macaroni, i can use it to make beef with bow ties and hunts gravy, etc. It’s helpful.

   So, your next step should be planning meals according to how they accommodate you.

   I also believe that Pasta Sides (by Lipton or Knorr) are your friends! They are easily made in just a few minutes and go well with any meat and vegetable. Also, they’re very versatile and have so many different flavors and types.

   I try to take into consideration what everyone else likes when I am cooking. I also like to switch it up so we’re not having chicken everyday. I’m hispanic so I usually have arroz amarillo (yellow rice) three times a week. In order to add in the dietary fiber for nutrition purposes, I use gandules which are pigeon peas.

   It’s all about thinking outside the box. There are such easy meals to make without even needing hundreds and thousands of recipes.

7. cowgirl_power82  •  Sep 24, 2009 @8:15 pm
   

   Annie

   I would write/print them out and put them under labels such as “main course beef, main course pork” etc… SO that you could buy enough pork for 2 recipes etc and maybe also try to group them with several common ingrediants, so that when you buy a bag of say carrots them can be used in 2 or 3 recipes and then out of the fridge instead of taking up space. Sorry that got a little confusing.

   Also try to set out maybe Sunday and make up a few casseroles, or start marinating meat, slice, dice and chop all your veggies and meats so that all you have to do is throw it all together each nite.

   My mom uses tupperware containers and has them filled with shredded carrots, tomatos, canned beans (garbonzo or kidney) etc.. and some shredded cheese. And a big one of lettuce. All kinds of salad fixin’s so that there is a nice salad ready to make “per order”. Or even healthy and quick snacks.

   A good website that has weekly menu planners is kraftfoods.com

   Sorry that got a little lengthy and I hope it isn’t too confusing.

8. rtlsimpson  •  Sep 25, 2009 @12:14 pm
   

   Larry

   My favorite website for finding tried and true recipes is:

   You can look up recipes by the ingredients you have on hand, or by catagory, or by whatever you want! You can also narrow your search by reviews from other people, to make sure the recipe is good!

   It’s put together by other users like yourself, you can add your own recipes to be reviewed by others, or just use and review other’s recipes. You can also save great recipes that you find to your own online “cookbook” to refer to later.

   When I don’t know what to make, I’ll plug in what I have on hand and then narrow by reviews, and scan through the photos and titles for things I might want to make. Works for me!

9. David H  •  Sep 26, 2009 @10:04 am
   

   Marc

   check out this soft ware it rocks! I got my copy 2 weeks ago and just love it! Its so easy to use to!

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