Monthly Meal Planning: What's Worked for You?

[chef greta]

For those of you who do one recipe for the whole month, what has worked well for you? What did you do in January and what are you doing for February? Just trying to decide if i should use this format or offer my host a couple of choices.

TIA

~Gretchen

 

[DessertDivaFL]

I have never tried this. Interested in hearing everyone's thoughts.

 

[pamperedlinda]

I typically chose a couple of recipes that I offer for the month. However, I wind-up doing the Chicken Fajitas in the DCB for 90% of my shows. I like to try and showcase the DCB and use it whenever I can. I'm going to start offering the Cheesy Chicken Chilaquiles from the new 29 mins cookbook (page 27) as an alternative to the fajitas. I like doing the Mexican themed recipes b/c I can showcase the Salad Choppers when making salsa and the Mix N Masher for making guacamole along with the SS bowls to make them in.

 

[janezapchef]

I'm with Linda. I do the fajitas as much as possible. If I have someone request a dessert, I'll do it, but otherwise I try to stick to the same recipe for the month. The fajitas are my favorite show recipe for so many reasons -- shows a lot, esp. the DCB but doesn't result in a million dishes like some recipes do. But, I will be switching it up a little for February. I'm going with a Taste of the Tropics theme for wishful thinking purposes up here and giving the choice of the fajitas or Jerk Pork Tenderloin Salad and a drink recipe as an option. I'll attach my recipe choices sheet so you can see it. As is always the case with me, I didn't come up with the idea.

 

[ahinchey]

I usually do the Chicken Broccoli Braid -- alot. Everyone seems to like the recipe, and how nice it looks (and how easy it is to make). I sell alot of Food choppers and All the best cookbooks. In January, I was making the mini-pesto pizzas; which are good, but I adjusted the recipe due to nut allergies (used red onion instead). In feb. I've decided to offer a choice-- we'll see how that goes.

 

[Get_Pampered]

In January, I did the 30 min chicken show with biscuit bites
For Feb: Power Cooking Chicken (or beef)
March: Back to the DCB with some Dinner in No Time recipes

I find it much easier on my sanity to do one recipe per month for several reasons. I can buy the ingredients in bulk/on sale and then my hosts can pay less for groceries. I get REALLY good at showcasing that recipe by all the practice. I get a good flow going for the show if the recipe is old hat for me (I am still working on show flow).

 

[janezapchef]

Yeah, that's another reason I love doing the same recipe too -- I don't have to worry about missing something in the recipe. I pretty much can make all the recipes I do in my sleep. So, I can focus more on my show than the recipe.

 

[PamperChefCarol]

January was Vegetable Chicken Alfredo Soup with garlic pull aparts.

February is Power Cooking, with one exception the new Pineapple Mango torte because a hostess had to have dessert.

Last year, I did the cheeseburger salad for 2 full months. People loved it. I will bring that back again once we get more into spring summer.

I was always the person that wanted the host to be happy and have whatever they wanted, but as I built a stronger show schedule I found that I was constantly packing and unpacking my kit, not to mention confusion about what I was doing what night. I started this 1 recipe a month last year and will never go back. Like a previous poster said, you get really good at the recipe and this allows you to focus more on the products and guests.

 

[ChefJWarren]

I need some help with Power Cooking. Maybe I'm not understanding it correctly, but it seems like a LOT of ingredients to buy.

 

[PamperChefCarol]

I need some help with Power Cooking. Maybe I'm not understanding it correctly, but it seems like a LOT of ingredients to buy.

The way I am doing it is preparing the meat, and then making one of the other dishes. During that time, I will talk about the other recipes and how you could prepare them, bag them and freeze them and be all set. I am not expecting my hostesses to have all the ingredients.