Rather than a culinary tip, I think of this as more of a time management or meal planning tip...

Invariably, we end up preparing the same meals over and over again. It happens innocently enough, you look at a package of chicken or ground beef and you automatically think of the last couple of things that you made with it. Sounds pretty good so you make one of them again. Even being in a "culinary" household, my husband and I tend to do just that. There are limitless different meals that we can make with any particular ingredients.

One thing that can be a big help is to keep a list of meals that you make and/or your family likes to eat. Be specific, don't just write "pasta", put ravioli, manicotti, lasagna, spaghetti, angel hair with parmesan cream sauce, angel hair with lemon cream sauce, etc. Keep adding to your list - if you keep it on the fridge you might be more likely to keep it up to date. I'll bet that you are amazed at how many different things you come up with. You can do this not only with entrees but with side dishes or desserts as well.

For some, this is far enough. For others, you might want to organize further into categories, i.e., chicken dishes, vegetarian dishes, ground beef dishes. Or you might prefer grouping by cuisine types, i.e., Italian, Chinese, Mexican, etc.

Another way to organize your list might be by the cooks in your family. Does your teenager make dinner one night a week? Then list the meals that they are capable of or like to cook.

The next time that you are standing in front of the freezer with a package of frozen chicken breasts in your hand, simply go over to your list and see what you might be able to make with it. I'll bet you end up making something you haven't had in a while!

--- © Chef Raven

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