sing for your supper

The title of the cookbook on top of the pile pretty much sums it up: when Matt gets home from work it's time for dinner.  In order to be prepared for his growling stomach I do some list making nearly every Friday.  I start out by flipping through my recipe binder, recipe box, and any cookbooks I plan on using during the next week.  Some of my favorites are Time for Dinner, Make Ahead: Food Made Fast, and Everday Italian.

I reference this handy guide that I tore out of an old issue of Real Simple to decide on one or two pasta dishes each week.  I'm fond of brown butter and sage combinations and, lucky for me, Matt isn't a big fan of sage so I get to eat it all.  

This week it was cheese ravioli with butternut squash sauce (not from the guide) on Monday night, and I have plans to make a giant batch of gravy (that's tomato sauce to those of you who aren't married to an Italian living in the Cranston-Johnston region) using my mother-in-law's recipe.  I made enough for four pounds of pasta, so I'll store it in the freezer in separate plastic containers for use in the coming weeks.

My recipe box is filled with clippings from magazines, cards from Whole Foods and other stores, and scribbled notes on scraps of paper.     

After I select my recipes I pencil them onto this notepad (referenced here as well), mixing up the meals so we have a variety throughout the week.  This week is a bad example, but usually we have different types of main dishes Sunday through Thursday (pork, beef, chicken, pasta, fish, or vegetarian) and Friday ends up being leftover night.  I leave Saturdays blank because inevitably something will come up during the week and one of the meals will get bumped.  Another thing I left off of this week's menu is the place to find the recipe - typically I'll write 'binder' or 'TFD' (Time for Dinner) next to the meal, as well as sides like mashed potatoes and green beans.  Then I write out my grocery list using the recipes as a guide.  Any other helpful hints?  I'm always looking for ways to streamline the process that is getting dinner on the table!