Protein Rich Once-a-Month Cooking Plan

For this round of cooking I focused on protein rich entrees and less sauces.  Below is the month-at-a-glance.  You could substitute your own recipes.  I hope this will help you see how to "attack" the food once you are home from shopping.

While the preparation is much easier (simply freezing some items), it will require more work on a daily basis.  Consider that when you choose your recipes.  You may want to sketch out what a week is like at dinner.  Here are some questions to ask yourself.

Are there days when you have little time to prepare a meal?  Plan something simple.
Are there days when you have along stretch of time before meal time and could bake something that takes 1-2 hours (lasagna, meatloaf, quiche, chicken bake, chicken cordon bleu for example)? 
How much do you enjoy the preparation of a meal? perhaps you only want to buy in bulk and separate the items for freezing and completely assemble a meal on the day you will eat it.
Plan a "leftovers" day.
Do you have a family member who needs a certain kind of meal before an event?
When do you need to be on the run after a meal?
When are you most likely to be tempted to go out?


Freeze fresh salmon.
Freeze prepared salmon and Tilapia.
Freeze beef roast.
Freeze pork roasts.
Cut steaks into smaller portions and freeze.

Make Spaghetti Sauce and let simmer.

Brown all of the ground turkey and place into separate containers: one for taco salad, two for Lasagna (one will be given away), 1 for turkey chili, 4 to freeze for Friday night pasta.

To the meat for taco salad add 1/3 C taco Seasoning and 3/4 C water.
To the meat for Lasagna I add an Italian Sausage Seasoning (about 4 tsp per pound).
Finish the turkey chili recipe.
Cool and freeze plain turkey meat.

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Birthday Party Potluck!	Huli Chicken with pineapple and rice	Pork Roast with steamed veggies	Mini-steaks with potatoes, veggies	Chicken and broccoli	Pasta with Red Sauce and ground turkey	Maple Dijon Salmon
Caribbean Chicken and veggies	Beef Broccoli	Tilapia	BBQue Pork Roast	leftovers	Pasta with Red Sauce and ground turkey	Chicken Tacos
Turkey Chili, corn casserole	Salmon	Mini-Steaks	taco salad	bean burritos	Pasta with Red Sauce and ground turkey	mushroom orange pork roast
Lasagna, garlic bread, salad	chicken fajita style, beans, veggies	veggie omelettes	Tilapia	cranberry chicken	Pasta with Red Sauce and ground turkey	leftovers
beef roast, carrots	French Dip sandwiches	Chicken of some kind		Salmon	Pasta with Red Sauce and ground turkey	Chicken Cordon Bleu Pizza

Freeze chicken in portions for each meal.  Cook 6 chicken breasts and season for chicken tacos and fajitas.
Huli chicken is on my blog.  Cranberry and Caribbean chicken can be adapted your family tastes.
Make omelettes fresh with veggies from the fridge that day.
Freeze Chicken Cordon Bleu (buy pre-made).