One of my biggest foes in regaining my throne as Queen of the Kitchen was The Question.  The Question was unwaveringly relentless, insatiably ruthless.  The Question would haunt me all day long, or even worse, wait until 5:01 p.m. to ambush me mercilessly.  I found myself avoiding the kitchen, dreading The Question which was almost certainly waiting to pounce on me the moment I turned my back.

“What’s for dinner?”

When first faced with The Question, I could only stammer something along the lines of “Ack!!  Dinner?!  It can’t be time for dinner already!”  After a short time, however, I realized that my caught-off-guard responses did nothing to free me from the stranglehold of The Question.  I was faced with The Question – what I needed was The Answer.

I grabbed a notebook and began jotting down every dish I could remember making.  This took some time, as my mommy-brain was busy with, uh, what was I talking about?  Anyway, over the course of a few weeks I developed a decent-sized list of meals I could make.  When finished, my list looked something like this:

Lentil soup, banana bread
Quiche, blueberry muffins, fruit salad
Lasagna, French bread, green beans
Taco salad, fresh guacamole
Chicken adobo, brown rice, sweet potatoes
Pot roast, turnips, potatoes, carrots
Spaghetti & meatballs, salad
Quesadillas, fresh fruit
Asian Beef & Green Beans, brown rice
Chicken soup, muffins
Alfredo, salad
Burritos, salsa
Sinnegang, brown rice
Burgers, fries, corn
Manicotti, French bread, salad
Stir-fry
Chili, cornbread
Roasted chicken, brown rice, carrots
Pizza, salad
Taco soup
Salmon, brown rice, butternut squash, broccoli
Beef & barley stew
Angel hair pasta with pesto & veggies
Liver & onions, fresh greens or coleslaw
Chicken & dumplings
Zuppa Toscana, pumpkin bread
Stuffed peppers, melon
Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, scalloped corn
Black bean tortilla bake
Grilled fish, summer squash, brown rice
Beef stroganoff, peas
Cannellini salad
Jalapeno chicken
Kare-kare, brown rice
and my all-purpose WFD Casserole

Well!  How’s that for an Answer!  I no longer find The Question intimidating.
Every two weeks, I sit down and create a menu with the above list as a guide.
Seasonal produce is often a big influence on which dishes will be prepared during my two-week window.  As a time-saver, I often double or triple a recipe and freeze the remainder for future meals.  I also choose one day out of my two-week schedule to try something new.  If the new recipe is a dud, I chuck it.
More often than not, though, I add another yummy dish to my existing list of meals to rotate.  A sample menu looks like this:

Sunday      - Chicken adobo, brown rice, sweet potatoes;
                   leftovers for Wednesday dinner
Monday      - new recipe
Tuesday     - Quiche, blueberry muffins, fruit salad;
                   leftovers for Wednesday lunch
Wednesday - warm up leftover adobo etc.; soak beans for Thursday dinner
Thursday    - Taco salad, fresh guacamole; leftovers for Saturday lunch
Friday        - Liver & onions, coleslaw
Saturday    - Grilled fish, summer squash, brown rice; leftovers for Sunday lunch
Sunday      - Burgers, fries, corn
Monday      - Pot roast, turnips, potatoes, carrots;
                   leftovers for Thursday’s Beef & biscuits
Tuesday     - Manicotti, French bread, salad
Wednesday – Stuffed peppers from freezer, fresh melon
Thursday    – Beef & biscuits; leftovers for Saturday lunch
Friday        - Pizza, salad
Saturday    - Chili, cornbread; leftovers for Monday dinner

My favorite meal planner template is here.  I print the template on both sides of my paper, fill in my meals, and put it in a notebook when my two weeks are done.  Soon, I will have a whole year of ready-made menus to flip through and adjust at will.  Here is a good resource for pre-made menus and recipes if you need a little help getting started, and be sure to check back for more articles to assist you in your quest to regain your throne as Queen of the Kitchen!