Meal Planning Part 5: Meal Inspiration

Lets take a couple steps back and look from a different angle at meal planning from a different angle. I still suggest going from your inventory and sales, but what if you're stuck? It happens to the best of us, so don't be discouraged. There are a few ways I have found to help get inspired when all you are seeing is lists of ingredients.

"Creole Chicken"

Use recipe searches. Going to a website such as allrecipes.com and typing in an ingredient can produce a nice variety of options to chose from. When I've wanted more ideas on how to use an ingredient, I've simply typed into a search engine "what can i make with ____?"

Another way to get the brain thinking is assigning theme nights.

Theme nights can be used in different ways, it can merely be a guide for which meals to pick, it can provide a way for your family to know approximately what's for dinner, or it can be a guide for what types of food to have on hand so that you can quickly pull dinner together at the last minute.

I periodically use theme nights to give myself a little direction and variety from day to day. Here are some themes I've used over the years: New/Special, Pasta, Chicken, International, Pizza, Grill, Leftovers/Easy. 

Allow me to explain:

• New/Special: I try a new recipe or something special that takes a little more time and attention. I might make this fabulous corn chowder I haven't made in a couple years, or I'll try that new recipe my friend has been raving about. I mainly have this category for things that don't fit into other categories or for when we have company over.
• Pasta: this is pretty straight forward, I make anything from spaghetti and meatballs to fettuccine alfredo to BLT mac n cheese
• Chicken: I guess technically this is poultry night, because sometimes I roast a turkey for this dinner, but again this is pretty straight forward- anything from chicken primavera to shredded chicken sandwiches to chicken pillows.
• International: This is the night I make stir fry, fried rice, gyros, tacos, enchiladas, anything that makes you think of a specific country.
• Pizza: This is David's favorite night of the week. I make a batch of my favorite pizza dough and then make pizza, strombolli, or calzones.
• Grill: This is usually my favorite night of the week. It also usually means that David is making at least part of dinner. We have something on the grill or over the fire pit, be it fish, chicken, steak, burgers, or hot dogs. 



"Quick and Easy Chow Mein"

• Leftovers/Easy: Most weeks we have at least one leftover meal that wasn't consumed for a lunch, but if we don't then we do something easy like a freezer meal, salad, soup, or sandwiches.  

Some additional ideas for a theme night include: Fish, soup/salad/sandwich, comfort food, southern, casserole, slow cooker, make your own take-out, and breakfast for dinner.

Click the following links for the other parts in this series:
part 1: inventory
part 2: check sales
part 3: pick meals
part 4: make a list
part 6: shopping day

How do you get inspired to cook?

I originally published this post on 10/28/11 @ oneincomefamilyliving.blogspot.com. I updated it and republished it here.