Back when I was a stay at home mom with B, I would carefully plan out our monthly menus. Every first Sunday of the new month I would seek out my recipe books looking for new culinary adventures I could introduce to B. Some recipes were a success and others, well, not so much. Live and learn. Cook and learn. Either way you had it, I really had my act together as far as organization and getting things done around the house.
Since returning back to corporate America, I have found that my days are no longer leisurely on those Sundays. Each minute I have off from work I take advantage of and try to keep the house, Airstream, etc. organized, but sometimes I fail and run out of precious time.
I still do take the time to plan our menus but instead of the entire month, I take it week by week now which has really worked out well. I designed a spreadsheet that I could fill out weekly (and quickly). My sheet has the days of the week at the top and beneath each day lives: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In each block I write what we will be having for that particular meal and the block under that goes ingredients I don’t have on hand that I need to shop for.
I modified this spreadsheet for our Airstream trips to include a place at the bottom where I can list the ingredients that I do have on hand, in my brick and mortar fridge. This method, for me, ensures I won’t forget a single item — or should I rather say, it ensures that I don’t bring the entire contents of my fridge with me. Also, I keep the menu simple and leave room for days where markets are on our list to visit. Bringing home goodies from local markets and cooking them up for dinner is something I relish during our road trips.
If you would like to give my method of menu planning madness a try, you can download my spreadsheet below by clicking on the image of it.
Click Here To Download a PDF
In addition to my freebie spreadsheet, may I also share this most perfect and delicious fudgy brownie recipe with you. I have been making this for years. My dad learned how to make them from one of Julia Child’s recipe books and it is the best. Of course I am partial because my dad taught me how to make them and I have a vivid memory of him telling me, “Monica, the trick with these brownies are to not over bake them.”
Be warned, there is a fine line between these brownies being perfectly baked and over baked so make sure to have toothpicks on hand when you cut into the center to test their “doneness” out. But if you do miss that mark, they are still pretty darn good :)
I hope you enjoy :) xoxo
Monica xoxo
Dads Best Brownies — adapted from Julia Child
Ingredients:
Steps:
Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients:
Steps:
A Sweet Bon Appetit :) xoxo