Menu-Planning to the Rescue!

It's no surprise that folks would be intently interested in menu-planning at the start of the new year. There's not a better way to make your kitchen work and meal-management easier and more efficient--what a great goal to set for 2010!

If you've been a Cook'n user for any length of time, you have experience with our menu-planning feature and I hope you like it as much as I do. I don't want to sound like an infomercial, but I love how I can simply drag recipes into the days of the week to create a menu, and how I can choose from my own cookbooks or from the great recipes that come with Cook'n.

Well, enough gushing, here's my plan for next week:
SUN: crockpot pot roast, spuds and carrots
MON: beef stew (using some leftover potroast, spuds and carrots)
TUE: shredded chicken breast wraps
WED: beef enchiladas (using more leftover potroast)
THU: spud nest (a meatless meal using mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and grated cheese)
FRI: Cook'n's Turkey Soup (but shredded chicken breast is substituted)
SAT: fettucine alfredo (another meatless meal with leftover steamed broccoli added)

As you look this plan over, you'll notice a couple things: 1) a couple meatless meals inserted for health and to trim the grocery budget, and 2) two basic elements are built upon (the pot roast and chicken breasts). You seasoned cooks out there know how well this approach works and I'm here to add my recommendation--make a menu plan, include a meatless meal or two, and build the bulk of your recipes around one or two key ingredients.

Now, do YOU have favorite meals you could share? I'm always looking for new and interesting, yet tried-and-true ideas for my menus--why reinvent the wheel when we have each other? So please comment--share the good stuff. And until next time, happy cook'n!