Dear Friends,

We are so used to walking into our kitchens at 6pm and standing in front of our refrigerators and waiting for inspiration. Most of us by that time of day have lost our creativity when it comes to cooking. Having a plan is just like picking your clothes out before you go to bed. You don’t have to think in the morning. It makes getting dressed a piece of cake, but if you haven’t done laundry, it’s hard to pick out clothes. So, what comes first the chicken or the egg.

Here are the steps to getting your dinner on the table.

1.    Wednesday – Clean out refrigerator to see what needs to be used

2.    Wednesday – Make your menus for next week and grocery list

3.    Thursday-Saturday – Go grocery shopping to get food into the house.

4.    Before Bed – Check calendar for menu and pull item from freezer and put in refrigerator.

5.    Morning Routine – Do some prep work to get dinner started/fill crock pot and turn on.

6.    Afternoon Routine – Finish cooking, set the table, ring the dinner bell!

When someone gets home they don’t have to think about what to fix. All they have to do is check the calendar to see what has been planned. This is easy if the ingredients are in the house.

I have a couple of “Go To” meals in my wheelhouse(pantry). One is like a hamburger helper.

Hamburger Stroganoff

1 pound of ground beef. (I use my precooked ground beef with chopped onion)
1 large bag of wide egg noodles.
1 can of Campbells Golden Mushroom Soup
1   8oz tub of sour cream or 8oz package of cream cheese.

Boil water and cook dried noodles according to direction on the package. Heat up or cook your hamburger and onion(optional). Add the sour cream or cream cheese (whatever you have on hand). Mix in your cooked noodles. Serve it garnished with grated Parmesan cheese, a green salad, and garlic bread if you have it.

I will share my other “Go To” recipe later. It is my favorite.

Knowing what’s for dinner is half the battle. The other half is having a stocked pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. Make it easy on yourself by keeping your “Go To” ingredients on hand. When you plan your menus and go buy the groceries to prepare the meals; you are going to be so happy and save lots of money! As my son’s grandmother Elizabeth would say, “We won another one!”

FlyLady

Watch till the end because the Hamburger Stroganoff Recipe is at the end.