Dinner Menu for March

Today is menu-planning day... again. Boy, the month went by so quickly! I'll do my monthly shopping trip tomorrow and try to cram everything on my list into one shopping cart.

Speaking of lists, as my children get older, my list is getting longer. It is nearly impossible to type up the list without going down to some teeny-tiny font. 10 point font was last month's shopping list. I was having a hard time reading it... and I have 20/20 vision!

My two boys are only 10 and 8 but they are already eating like teenagers. I hear my friends talking about how much their teenage sons eat and I think, "Wow, my boys are eating that and more already. What are they going to eat like when they really ARE teenagers???"

As for the kids, they added their standard ideas to the menu this month: pancakes, pizza, spaghetti, sloppy joes, and some variation of lasagna (I'm making stuffed manicotti instead). My husband even got to put his 2 cents in as he's going to be home a little more this month: Indian tacos, steak and baked potato, and fried chicken. Of course my choices for the month do not matter as much to the kids and to my arteries, my choices not only save on cholesterol but also on the budget and are, usually, vegetarian: vegetable chow mein, super quick rice, and lentil loaf.

The end result is a month of menus for dinner (I do breakfasts and lunches by the week rather than the month).

I start out with my list of main courses divided into categories:

Six beef recipes:
1. Taco rice
2. Layered beef casserole
3. Indian tacos
4. Steak and baked potato
5. Sloppy joes
6. Beef and broccoli

Eight chicken recipes:
1. Baked chicken
2. Chicken and broccoli alfredo
3. Spicy chicken bake
4. Fried chicken
5. Chicken cacciatore
6. Honey-lemon chicken
7. Chicken divan
8. Bacon wrapped chicken with cheese

Eight vegetable or vegetarian recipes:
1. Veggie chow mein
2. Lentil loaf
3. Cheese quesadillas
4. Broccoli and pasta
5. Potato soup
6. Black-eyed peas
7. Super quick rice
8. Stuffed manicotti

Four one-pot meals (for One-pot Mondays):
1. Stove-top casserole
2. Skillet lasagna
3. Quick and easy chili
4. Chicken and dumplings

and last...

Four "other" recipes:
1. Biscuits and gravy (and pancakes)
2. Pizza
3. Spaghetti
4. Potato and veggie bake

Now to go and sort all this out and fill in my as yet blank monthly menu calendar. It works out that each week we have: 2 chicken recipes, 1 beef recipe, 2 vegetarian recipes, 1 one-pot recipe and 1 "other" recipe. Then we aren't overloaded with too much beef one week or chicken the next.

Fun times!