7 Weeknight Dinners in 6 Easy Steps

The only way to avoid the whole "What's for dinner" question every night is to have a plan.

Know what's in the freezer, what you have a taste for, and how long it's going to take you to make it. This is called menu planning.

You can search for templates all over the internet, but here's one I think is particularly handy. If you want to make your own, just follow these simple rules:

1. Decide what you would like to eat each day this week. Include sides, salads and breads.
2. Make one meal morph into the next if you can. For instance, make a baked chicken dish on Monday, then use the leftover chicken in an enchilada dish on Tuesday. This way you maximize your effort in the beginning of the week and the rest of the week is smooth sailing.
3. Make a list of everything you'll need to make the dish, no matter how small. Include the salt, pepper and other spices.
4. Go through your fridge and pantry to see what items you have and what items you don't.
5. Make a grocery list based on the items you don't have and then go out and buy only those items along with the staples.
6. Once you get home, take a look at the next couple meals. Does every meal have chopped onions, peppers or garlic? (You'd be surprised at how many do.) Chop them now, before you put everything away. You might feel very '50s housewife, but it'll be one less thing you have to do the day of. Plus, you'll have a head start on dinner so you'll be more likely to cook instead of order a pizza.

And there you have it! A menu for the week. Not so hard, right?

Some people like to do menu planning for the month, but I think the week-by-week approach because it's hard to tell what you and the family will be in the mood for three weeks from now or how packed your schedule will be. If you know during the upcoming week, it will be next to impossible to get dinner finished before 7:30, you'll be able to improvise and prepare for that.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes for you!

Best dishes!