This will be our menu from December 10-January 12. Each time we eat something, I just wipe it off so I know what is left. I try to stay pretty true to the order, but there are always times when I've forgotten to thaw a meat or something else comes up. Doing the menu on a dry erase board keeps me from having to rewrite the whole menu if things get juggled around a bit.
I always keep frozen chicken breasts and we have a handful of chicken recipes that get rotated through. As you can see I try to use big and either inexpensive or on sale cuts of meat for several meals, saving both time and money. This month, it's pork shoulder and a spiral sliced ham that was on sale for the holidays. As per usual, beans make a few appearances monthly, as do breakfast foods. Leftover nights are planned in and I try to have a dessert on those nights as an incentive to clear out the fridge.
We pick up take and bake pizza (using a coupon) nearly every Sunday, so those days aren't included on the menu. We will also have Christmas Eve with my parents and Christmas dinner with Anthony's mom, so I don't have to worry about those days, either.
This is just what I have found has worked for me over the years. This is not the first "system" I've used, but it seems to be the most practical and the easiest. It also helps to keep our grocery budget low, because I use what I already have, know what I'll be cooking from night to night, and uses up leftover food before it has a chance to go bad.
In case you were wondering, yes, that is a tub of Lincoln Logs and an IKEA kiddie stool in the picture. I cropped out the Animals of the World encyclopedia and A Picture Book of Frederick Douglass, as well as a stack of coupons waiting for me to clip them. It's pretty real over here guys!
