Spaghetti
Pesto chicken with sun dried tomatoes
White Enchiladas
Meatloaf
Baked ziti
Tacos
Fajitas (usually chicken)
Chicken dill orzo
Grilled cheese and tomato soup
Chili
Chorizo stew
Lentils and sausage
Grilled flank steak

We usually do take out at least once during the week, and we never cook on Friday or Saturday nights.

I sort of do this, but it is not the exact same 5-6 meals each week, but close. Usually I rotate the same "protein" each day (eg, vegetarian on Mon, fish on Tues, chicken on Wed and Thurs (bc like a pp said, chicken breasts have gotten so big and I can grill a bunch on Wed and re-purpose the leftovers into Thurs dinner), pizza on Fri, often we go out on Sat, and a dish with ground meat on Sun, something like lasagna or a sausage stew that takes more time to cook. Then within that, I hve a couple of standard ways I cook chicken, fish, etc. My biggest time saver is that my meals are simple - grilled or broiled chicken/fish made unique with marinade or topping, and simple sides like boxed rice pilaf and steamed veg.

We're actually cutting back on chicken because it just seems like chicken breasts are getting bigger and bigger... it's weird.

I rotate a short list of easy meals at random -- baked salmon with rice and veg, chicken or beef stirfry, spaghetti (I freeze a ton of homemade meat sauce in one-meal bags).

I turn to the "easy meals" when I'm uninspired or just tired. But I usually find I get bored quickly and want to try something new before too long. Occasionally it becomes a new favorite and gets added to the rotation.

Anonymous wrote:Why do people eat so much chicken?
Signed, not a vegetarian.

I eat so much of it because:

1. It's pretty healthy, as far as eating animals go
2. It tastes good when prepared like 14 different ways
3. It's easy to prep AND cook all the different ways I make it
4. Everybody likes it

Anonymous wrote:Why do people eat so much chicken?
Signed, not a vegetarian.

Relatively healthy? Versatile? Inexpensive compared to other meats?

I like a good steak as much as anyone but I can't afford to eat that every week.

Why do people eat so much chicken?
Signed, not a vegetarian.

Saturday or Sunday -- chicken breasts (Sat is our farmer's market day so I want to eat it while it is fresh). during the week -- pasta, burgers, quesadillas, fish, roast in crockpot, stirfry, tacos, rotisserie chicken, etc. always with a veggie of some kind. I usually base it on whim and whatever veggie I got at the FM that week...but yes, I cycle through a series of easy, no-recipe meals I can toss together in 15 minutes or less.

I don't really plan it out, but there are meals we eat more often than others:
- roast whole chicken with roasted veg (broccoli, asparagus, whatever) and potatoes (roasted or mashed) or bread
- stir fry or chicken curry over rice
- pasta with assorted vegetables and pepperoni cut into strips or crumbled sausage or diced chicken; sauce = olive oil and lemon juice
- quesadillas
- chicken salad sandwiches (made with leftovers from roast chicken)

In the colder months, I also make a lot of shepherd's pie, chili, and pasta casseroles. These are good to make on weekends and reheat during the week.

Yes, spaghetti, chili, grilled chicken, roasted/stuffed whole chicken rotisserie-style

Sunday = large meal that will have leftovers for easy dinner and lunches throughout the week

Monday = usually meatless or fish, something easy and quick from Epicurious

Tuesday = Taco Tuesday

Wednesday = Grilled meat w/ a salad (in winter it's broiled meat usually)

Thursday = Leftovers or something easy like crockpot meatloaf

Friday = pizza or takeout

Saturday = Grilled meat/fish and salad...same approach as Wednesday

I have a few tricks that I rotate and in between I try to introduce something new for the little palates. I only cook Mon-thurs though.

I used to keep a spreadsheet of six weeks worth of meals and do the meal planning and grocery list accordingly. Then I started during the summer keeping the weekly "menu" in a "note" on my iPad. I add the new menu each week, so I can scan back down through the note and see what we've had each week since about May.

I have about 20 meals I rotate between. We usually eat at home Sunday - Thursday. So I pretty much just mix and match them depending on the week ahead (busy week = more simple meals) and depending on what ingredients I have that need to be used up.

I always think I should do this, too, OP. I think having two weeks of meal ideas would keep things more interesting than just one week. In general I try to save the easiest dinner ideas for mid-week, and I usually lobby for take-out or pizza on Fridays. Looking forward to hearing responses to OP's post!

I like to cook, but my constant attempt to reinvent the wheel and try something new is just not working in my life right now with two little kids. I have been doing fresh 20 on and off during the last year, but I need meals that are a bit less labor intensive. My husband suggested I build a "repertoire" of a week or so amount of meals and just repeat. This is starting to sound like a good idea. Anyone do this? Do you go so far to have, for example, "meatless Monday", "Taco Tuesday," etc? I would love some ideas.