The Food Nanny

I got a chance to see Liz Edmunds speak last night. She is such a fun, cute lady. She has a TV show called The Food Nanny where she does family dinner rescues on families kind of like how the Supernanny rescues families with out of control kids. It almost made me want satellite to see her show (but not quite :}). I think I mentioned before that I've been trying to simplify the whole menu-planning, recipe-organizing process. I was really excited because she basically suggested what I had decided to do. I did pick up a couple of great ideas, and I'm excited that a lot of her recipes are on her website. She demoed making her baguettes that will give you bread on the table in 45 minutes from the time you start it. It was delicious! Her husband was a pilot, so she has traveled the world. Then she would come home and try to recreate in her own kitchen whatever she had tasted in these great places like Italy or France. Sounds wonderful to me, and I am always up for trying a new recipe. She has a book, but I think I'm going to just explore her website for now.

So, here's my plan. I had already decided to do themed days of the week, and that is what she suggests. Friday nights are pizza night, Saturdays will be grilling night (or leftovers), Sundays will be slow-cooker or family tradition night. I really liked the family tradition idea. On Sundays she would cook meals that she remembered her mother and grandmother cooking and meals that her husband remembered from his childhood. What a great way to remember our ancestors and teach our children about their heritage. Mondays are breakfast night -- I usually end up cooking waffles on Mondays anyway, so I think I can mix it up a bit and add a few different breakfast ideas on Mondays. Always need something quick and delicious on that night. Tuesdays will be Italian or casseroles/comfort foods. Wednesdays are meatless/fish, and Thursdays are Mexican. I think it's going to be great.

She had the idea of planning two weeks of meals at a time, and I just thought -- well, of course. I completely agreed with her that planning one month is just too much for me, and I get tired of having to come back every week and make a new plan. Hopefully, two weeks at a time will help solve that problem.

As far as how I'm going to organize my recipes, I have decided that a binder just doesn't work for me. The old-fashioned recipe cards really are the best for me. I'm going to separate my dinner recipes into categories that correspond with my weekly themes. Then, when I'm planning my menus I will just take out the recipe that is at the front of each slot, and use that one for the week. Then, when I'm finished with that recipe I'll put it at the back of it's category and I'll be able to rotate through without ending up eating the same things all the time. We'll see how that works out.

Anyway, it was a really great experience last night to just be reminded of the importance of bringing our family together around the dinner table. It really is a wonderful work of love that yields incredible benefits for everyone in the family.