menu ideas

So last month was the first time I planned a whole month's worth of menus (I have done weekly menus before, but usually I just flew by the seat of my pants). I did that so when I went to WinCo in Reno I would have what I needed for the month and not have to pay higher prices here if I were missing an ingredient (though I did plan on getting a few things at WalMart during the month). It worked fairly well, so I just did it again the other day. While planning, though, I realized having a chart might help me, so I developed one.

I usually have something with rice on Mondays, potatoes for Tuesday, Pasta for Wednesdays, Beans for Thursdays, and grains for Fridays. I found most maindishes got served with the same side (e.g. meatloaf needs potatoes), and some items (pilaf and stir-fry) could be in 2 columns.

I decided I need a soup list--and maybe a sandwich list, too, but I haven't developed that yet. But this is what I have at this point, and I think I will really like using it.

	Rice	Potatoes	Pasta	Beans	Grains
Beef	Cabbage rolls Baked chimichangas	Meatloaf muffins Hamburgers & fries Hotdogs & fries SOS Stew Shepherd’s pie Roast	Spaghetti & meatballs Swedish meatballs Stroganoff	Chili Franks and beans Chili dogs Hamburgers & beans Taco salad	Tacos Fajitas Corndogs
Chicken	Pilaf Stir-fry Sweet and sour thighs Fragrant Indian butter Orange chicken Hawaiian haystacks Teriyaki chicken Chicken fingers Barbecues chicken	Chicken fingers Barbecued chicken	Pilaf Stir-fry (with ramen) Mediterranean pasta Chinese chicken salad Ranch noodles	White chicken chili	Baked creamy taquitos Chicken and dumplings Pot pie Chicken pockets Sour cream enchiladas Café Rio Fajitas Chicken sopa Chicken and stuffing
Eggs		Breakfast Spanish tortilla			Breakfast Quiche
Pork	Pork fried rice Sweet and sour pork Potstickers	Ham & yummy pot. Stew Roast			Pulled pork Stromboli
Misc	Red beans and rice Tilapia	Baked potato bar Pierogis Potato soup Ñoquis	Pierogis Ravioli/casserole Lasagna Fettuccini Macaroni & cheese	Red beans and rice Kielbasa & bean soup Burritos	Polenta Pizza Sandwiches Nachos Quesadillas Eggplant parmesan