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Recently one of my readers asked if I have any special method for menu planning. When planning a menu, I usually ask myself these questions:
- What do we have going on this week (field trips, soccer games, events, church activities, company coming, etc)?
- What is Matt’s work schedule this week?
- What do we have in the fridge that needs to be eaten up?
- What did we eat last week? (so I can offer a variety if possible)
- What do I have in the freezers and pantry?
Then, I plan meals accordingly. If we have soccer games, I’ll try to plan a quick meal before we leave…or plan something easy to heat up when we get home. If Matt is working in an evening, I’ll plan a bigger meal for lunchtime so he can share it with us. If we have a homeschool activity in the morning, I’ll plan something quick to heat up when we get home (or something transportable so we can eat on the way there or back).
I try to plan a variety, so that we don’t have three chicken meals in a row or the same veggie all week long. This helps keep food exciting for the kids…plus makes sure we get many different kinds of nutrients each day.
What about you…do you have a special way of planning your meals?
Sunday, April 11
Oatmeal, peaches
Leg of lamb, baked potatoes, honey glazed carrots, peas, honey wheat muffins
Homemade pizza pockets, fruit
Monday, April 12
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Fried chicken legs, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans
Bean and cheese burritos, clementines
Tuesday, April 13
Mini breakfast pizzas, oranges
Spaghetti, tossed salad
Chicken fried steak strips, potato wedges, steamed broccoli and carrots
Wednesday, April 14
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins (recipe coming THIS week – finally!)
Beefy enchilada bake, tossed salad
Simple soaked pancakes, turkey sausage
Thursday, April 15
Breakfast burritos, applesauce
Cheeseburger macaroni, steamed carrots
Italian roast wraps, fruit salad
Friday, April 16
Giant breakfast cookies, pears
Corn dog muffins, fruit-kefir smoothies, carrot sticks
Homemade pizza
Saturday, April 17
Scrambled eggs, toast, fruit
Leftover buffet
Grilled cheese sandwiches, pasta salad, carrot sticks
Hey, question for you of the UTMOST importance (not really)…
We got our toaster as a wedding gift and it has lasted 15 years (which means it’s actually 105 years old in toaster years – impressive). It’s been good to us and has toasted hundreds upon thousands of bready items. It is now on it’s last leg…sometimes toasting…sometimes forgetting to toast…sometimes sleeping through the entire process.
It’s time to get a new toaster. My question is…do you have any recommendations? Do you know of a great brand of toasters? OR do you think we should just get a toaster oven instead?!
See, I told you my question was important.
Lindsy says
You should absolutely get a toaster oven! I use mine all the time for lots of different things besides toast. I love having it to warm up left-overs that would get soggy in the microwave (pizza, burritos, chicken nuggets, etc.) It also is great for warming up frozen foods (like your pizza pockets!) when I don’t want to turn on my big oven for only 1-2. It’s an energy saver and keeps my house cool on hot summer days when I still want to cook. Definitely get a toaster oven :)
Lindsy says
Sidenote: My husband does complain because he thinks the toaster oven takes longer to make toast, but I think the benefits outweigh this little caveat.
Amy says
How about both? :) I got a toaster oven for my wedding about three hundred years ago – love it! But then again, my trusty stainless, four-slice Black and Decker we’ve had forever, too. Quickly toasts four perfect slices every time. I would never want to wait for the toaster oven for the five of us. Not on a school morning anyway. We’d never make it to school on time!
Cindy says
I also LOVE toaster ovens (haven’t had a regular toaster for at least 15 years). It’s great for toasting 4 slices of bread at a time and baking for 2-3 people, reheating pizza. Often if it’s a hot day and I don’t want to turn on the oven, I’ll use the toaster oven…but then I have a husband and three (almost 4) *small* children, so we’re not eating as much as your family. Another cool thing is making garlic bread…not something you would ever try in a regular toaster, but you can pile on the toppings in a toaster oven.
Jen says
I’m another toaster oven fan. We got ours as a wedding gift just this past summer and we really love it. We were given a nice big one that will bake a 12″ pizza. I use it all the time when it’s warm out to bake anything that goes in either 8 or 9″ round or square cake pans. Ours sees a lot of use and has never let us down. I also love the “Keep Warm” feature for when I have a major breakdown in timing our meal components.
Jen says
Oh, since you actually need yours to make toast, I should comment that ours makes fabulous toast and it’s a Black & Decker that you could get at Kmart or any place else.
Alicia says
Someone gave us a toaster oven about 5-7 years ago. I never used it. It was a small one that only toasted two slices of bread at a time. We are a family of 7 and most of the time we eat 2 pieces of toast each. So I just use a big cookie sheet and cook in the oven for less than 10 min. The toaster oven was taking up storage space, so it was sent to work with my husband to be put in the break room.
Megan says
Mine doesn’t take up any space. It sits on top of the microwave :)
Danielle says
I never used a toaster oven… never bought one, grew up w/o one, no desire to have one. Not to mention I think they would take up too much counter space.
The brand we have is Cheftmate…it’s OLD as dirt, but is excellent!
Marla says
Toaster oven! Definately! I love having a toaster oven. I don’t use it as often as I should because we have a VERY small kitchen, so I keep it under the counter. And it often gets forgotten. But, I would never have a regular toaster. It only has one use, and to me that is a waste of money. I prefer to spend a little more and have multi-functional appliances. Like I said, I have a small kitchen (and 5 kids to feed), so I don’t have room for a one function deal. I love using ours to make cinnamon toast. Yes, I have to run about 3 rounds through it (only does 4 at a time), but it doesn’t heat up the whole kitchen like the oven, and my kids can do all by themselves. Plus you can use it for all of the things mentioned in the above posts.
You should get one!
Christy says
We recently bought a toaster oven that has slots on the top to *toast* like a toaster. We can only do 2 slices of bread at a time, but that is all that my toaster could do before the heating elements went. We really like it and it is a space saver since it functions as 2 appliances. I LOVE that!
Christy says
Oh, I forgot to mention, it is a Hamilton beach Toastation.
Rochelle says
Now that’s awesome!!
Rebecca says
I have a Cuisinart 4 slice toaster which has been going strong for years. Its toasts beautifully and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Tami says
In my 28 years of marriage I have had three toaster ovens. We keep them until they die a fiery death, and then I always worry if it was a fire hazard all that time. The first one was the best, a black and decker, but when it died after only about 15 years, I found that new ones got terrible reviews on Amazon. Also, it seems that toaster ovens have grown over the years, and each of ours has been bigger than the last. The last one barely fit on the counter space I have for it – between the cooktop and the ovens.
Anyway, just last month I had to replace the third one. I looked at Walmart and Target and they were all so HUGE. So I decided to just get a plain old toaster. Big mistake – it was so puny that bread didn’t fit in the slits! It was a Sunbeam and it went right back to Walmart. Then I looked online and found the coolest thing! It’s a Back to Basics TE500 toaster and egg cooker – it makes egg mcmuffins in 4 minutes! It also cooks hard or soft boiled eggs. We’ve had it about a month and so far it’s great – my 8 yr old makes her eggs for breakfast almost every morning. Ours only makes 2 pieces of toast at a time, but they make a bigger one that toasts 4 and poaches 2 eggs. I got mine at Bed Bath and Beyond, and w/ their 20 percent coupon, it was $28. It works for us!
Sarah says
Just to add to Christy’s comment: I also have a toastation and I love it. I originally bought the “2 pieces” size and when I opened the box, it had a picture of the “4 pieces” size. I took the small one back and had to order the bigger one, but it was SO worth it.
Christy says
Oooh! I didn’t see the 4 piece size! Oh well! Glad someone else loves it as much as I do!!
Jessica says
I really do love having a toaster oven. In fact, I’ve never actually owned a regular toaster and only barely ever used them, so I can’t compare. :)
Amy says
We got our toaster at a yard sale for 25 cents a year ago. It’s brand new. Search the yard sales for them. A decent one shouldn’t cost more than $2.
Kristy says
I’d say to get both :). I love my 4 sloted toaster but I also wish I had a toaster oven, seems like they heat up much faster then the big oven. And maybe save a little energy, I don’t know though, check out your options.
Shannon says
I LOVE my toaster oven. I grew up with a regular toaster and only after caring for a disabled woman who had a toaster oven did I realize what I was missing! My favorite feature is to make melts in the toaster oven. A great quick meal in the summer is bread with sliced tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cheese slices. Or tuna melts! It works great and doesn’t heat the whole kitchen. I just bought a second one after my first died. I realized that there are tons of bad ones out there, so it is worth it to do research on amazon or google products. Also, some of the smaller ones work better than the huge ones.
Bri says
We sold our toaster last summer and I don’t miss it at all! It was just me and my hubby at the time (I was pregnant then and we have a son now). We use our toaster oven for lots of things besides toast. It is great in the summer as it doesn’t heat up our whole house. We can make just 1-2 of something (like cookies) so we can control portion sizes. I also like it to heat up things like pizza, make a few slices of garlic bread, or a few cinnamon rolls. If you would JUST use it as a toaster then just get a toaster :)
Holly says
Oh I definitely think you should get a toaster oven. We use ours all of the time. One added benefit is that you can have yummy cheese or other toppers on the bread when you toast it. Our toaster oven is pretty large and can hold a decent sized pizza. When we were remodeling our kitchen, we used it exclusively. Of course, there are just the two of us at our house for now:) Like others have mentioned, it is nice to use in the summer months, but my husband uses it almost daily for toast. On a side note, it is also wonderful for heating up leftovers, especially things that should have a crunch to them. We use it to reheat chicken strips and things of that nature, that the microwave will leave soggy. Happy shopping!
Danielle says
I’m soooo curious… I use my oven all Summer long, and have never noticed it heating up the house. The kitchen doesn’t even get that hot. What kind of houses do you all have that an oven heats the house up? Are they older houses?
Joann says
Yes, an older home in a Southern area.
We put a window air conditioner in the kitchen each summer just to make it confortable while cooking. The ceiling fans just don’t do enough.
Teresa says
I have both and I do use them both. My mother-in-law got me a Cuisinart covection toaster oven for Christmas a couple of years ago and I love it. I don’t have a double oven so it has come in handy to bake all of my side dishes in while my main course is baking in my big oven. So, it’s like having a double oven. I make your ranch potato recipe in my toaster oven and they turn out so yummy and get nice and crispy. It’s great for heating up leftover pizza in and I think it makes the best baked potatoes and sweet potatoes. I’ve also made meatloaf and squash in mine too. My two sister-in-laws have the same one and they love it as well. I have a Philips four slice toaster as well, which I still use one in a while, but I use the toaster oven more. Before my Philips toaster I had went through two Cuisinart four slice toasters in less than five years. They both just stopped working, so I don’t know if I just got two bad ones or what happened, but the Philips toaster has worked great for us when we use it.
sarah says
Looks like there are lots of votes for the toaster oven and I’ll add mine! I’ve never had a toaster but have had the same toaster oven since we got married 9 years ago. I love it! I use it for everything from toast to baking small casseroles to baking muffins (currently have a small batch of bran muffins in there right now!) If a couple has a toaster oven on their wedding registry, that’s always one of my top choices for a gift just b/c I know how much I loved mine, especially in the pre-kid days :-)
amy says
I recommend a toaster oven. You can heat up smaller items and save on your big oven. My oven broke a few years ago and we used our toaster oven for over a year, mind you it is just my daughter and I, so the meals were small. Good luck in your toaster journey.
Amy says
I’d say a toaster oven is more versatile…we reheat food in ours. My hubby will only eat leftover pizza if it’s reheated in the toaster oven. He also prefers hot dogs cooked in the toaster oven if we don’t have any charcoal for the grill. I say an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich is best in the toaster oven too…happy toaster shopping!
Ami says
I got rid of our toaster and haven’t yet regretted it. I just toast stuff in the regular oven. I have three children and it takes forever to toast enough for everyone in a little toaster. Plus, it pops up and just sits there and gets cold and stale.
So I just put my toast, waffles, pancakes, etc. on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven. It takes a little longer, which actually works better for our family, and it’s all done at the same time so that mama can finally SIT DOWN! (for a minute)
Beth says
I would avoid Cuisinart. I’m on my second Cuisinart toaster. The first one started toasting very unevenly within a year. The company replaced it, but the second one has never done much better than the first. Good luck finding a good one!
HUNIE says
“What about you…do you have a special way of planning your meals?”
Planning? What is that? I wish I could keep a menu, but for the life of me I can’t.
My husband has dwindled our menus down to mostly meat and vegetables. This usual converts to a stir fry of some sort or a piece of meat with a salad. Breakfast is a breadless quiche for the work week.
Maybe you can do a blog posting of how to start menu planning for us slow learners….
Melissa says
We have a toaster … somewhere. We have a toaster oven that we use almost every day. I’ve heard of problems with toaster ovens that have a push-down switch (like a toaster), so we avoid that design. We also unplug the toaster oven when it’s not in use, just to be extra-safe.
Erin says
TOASTER OVEN!!! I use my toaster oven all the time. Just think you can melt cheese or butter in the toaster oven and even heat up small meals efficiently. I threw away my toaster after a mouse jumped out of mine at me one night. Shudder to think of it. I have never bought another toaster since.
Sam in Destin says
My family and I have both a toaster and toaster oven. I tried doing without a toaster, only using our toaster oven and it wasn’t the same. Toast isn’t toast without the actual toaster. My children complained that we needed it back and so did my husband. We use our toaster daily and our toaster oven is currently in the garage collecting dust on a shelf.
Joann says
I guess I’m in the minority, but I hate my toaster oven. It’s headed to the yard sale this weekend.
I should never have parted with my cool-touch wide-slot toaster. It worked great and fit in the cabinet when not in use. The toaster oven is a monster and takes up too much room.
I don’t have a microwave either.
I just use the regular oven (convection) to heat up items for us. There are 9 of us (7-8 at breakfast and lunch). That’s just too many items for a toaster oven. And, we don’t often have one or two things to heat up (leftovers are rare). When I make toasted sandwiches, I do it on a cookie sheet in the oven. When I make pizza, it’s on the stone on the grill. Casseroles are reheated in the oven, too.
Joann says
I forgot to mention that I’m seriously considering
the Michael Graves Design Hamilton Beach 4-slot toaster from Target.
It got the highest marks from Cook’s Illustrated testers.
It says it cooks evenly…yeah. Costs about $35.
Joann says
Okay, rethinking that. Not available. Hmmm.
Lisa says
“What about you…do you have a special way of planning your meals?”
I really only plan dinner (or supper) at our house. I write it right on the bottom of my regular calendar. I try to do about a month at a time. As I write it all down, I make my grocery list. Everything for the first two weeks and non-perishables for the second two, and another list for parishables for the second two weeks. Then we make the 2 hr drive to go grocery shopping out of town where it’s less expensive. Then after two weeks, I take the second list to the local market(that’s more expensive). I try to make sure to have things on hand for breakfasts and lunches without planning them to closely. We often eat leftovers for lunch.
Jennifer says
Although clearly in the minority, I got rid of both many years ago, and I don’t miss either one. They just took up valuable counter space. I find it just as easy to use the broil feature on my oven to toast and the bake feature to reheat, etc.
Amanda Y. says
Wow. Heating your oven up all the time doesn’t bother you? Doesn’t that get hot in the house??
Jennifer says
Not at all. We have a gas oven. It toasts just as quickly as a
toaster oven, does more at one time, and I haven’t had a problem,
even in our small kitchen, with the house heating up – it’s just not
on long enough. My Mom does the same with her electric oven, broils
to toast and finds the same thing, it just doesn’t take long enough
for the “don’t want to heat up the kitchen” argument to hold any
weight. For me, having the extra counter space is MUCH more important!
Molly White says
Another vote for a toaster oven! I didn’t grow up with one, but it was the one thing my husband wanted on our wedding registry. Fourteen years later, I am so glad he mentioned it to me!
Andrea says
I really enjoy my toaster oven. It’s worth the counter space to me. I love making cheesy bread or hot subs for one or two. I like spreading the butter on, THEN toasting it to get a nice melted effect. Anyway.
Thanks for answering the meal planning question. Now to keep probing: When do you plan your meals? Friday while the kids do schoolwork? Five PM on Saturday? Do you need to make a weekly shopping trip? If so, when do you do that? Between Azure, local milk, frozen meat, etc. how often do you have to go to a local grocery store, what kinds of things do you buy?
See, I want to be JUST like you! :) Some homeschool ladies from Church are getting together to make a home organizer notebook on Thursday, and I’m really trying to streamline some things that I know are really inefficient in my life and home. Thank you!
Danielle says
See, I don’t like stuff on my counters… I don’t like the clutter on counters. The toaster goes in a special spot, has a roll up cabinet thingee. There are VERY few items ALLOWED on the counter, calender, pens, paper (in cube, for grocery lists), a crock for the cooking utensils and fruit!
Andrea says
Our rented apartment is in a house from the 60s. My little galley kitchen has HORRIBlE kitchen storage. I had to move a full size bookcase and a white cabinet into the area nearest the kitchen and STILL have to use the garage for food storage. Getting pots and pans out is frustrating to impossible and my large plates don’t even fit inside the cupboards (if I want the doors to close). Argh! I wish my counters were as pristine as yours. Maybe someday when I am blessed with a kitchen that is a little more usable.
Danielle says
Awww the stinks!! So sorry! I was able to design my own kitchen, lots of big cabinets, a large pantry etc. (with WOODEN shelves, not those metal shelves that things can fall thru easily!
Before marriage, I lived in an apartment like yours. My first one was a galley kitchen, no counter space. And in my 2nd second, a bigger one, but the cabinets were
tiny, and I had to put the dishes on an angle and put them in the cabinet.
My mom instilled the need for clean counters all my life. And it just stuck.
Megan says
I am all about clean counters as well. I’ve never been one to keep non-kitchen items on my counters. There may be a little grime sometimes, but not junk.
Danielle says
That’s why I LOVE granite! Easy to just wipe down.
Denise F. says
I’m partial to toaster ovens myself….a multipurpose item that is used for all sorts of things…toasting, baking, broiling (you get the idea).
Tara says
I bought a cheap toaster (not even a brand name) when I moved out on my own about 13 years ago and I have had no problems at all! Of course tomorrow it will break I’m sure! I would look into another cheap brand if I needed to buy one.
Alex says
I have a toaster oven. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’m of the Alton Brown school of NO uni-taskers in the kitchen. I heat up leftovers for lunch in it directly on the plates(no microwave for me), make melts in it, etc. My kids can make their own toast or cheese bread or english muffins in it. Mine is very small – it can hold three or maybe four small pieces of bread (not homemade) and you can get a Pampered Chef small stoneware bar pan that will fit it nicely. Bed Bath and Beyond carries the cutest little bamboo tongs to pull things out of there. The cooking function on mine burned out a while ago, but since it still toasts and heats up, I can’t justify getting a new one just yet. It’s my second Black and Decker. We had a toaster when I was a kid, and I always loved the surprise of the toast (or pop-tarts) popping up out of there. Other than that, I can’t think of any reason to have a toaster.
lisa says
I would say both. I recently got a new toaster oven (see my blog for my post on how my 3 month old Black & Decker’s glass door exploded- don’t get a B&D!!!) And a lot of the reviews say they don’t make good toast. I’d get a cheap-o toaster & nice toaster oven (I got a Euro Pro at Target & I like it). I don’t use the microwave at all anymore- so that little oven gets used a lot for quick heat ups that will not work on the stove-top (that’s also why I got the Euro Pro- it is a convection oven which heats faster). I also used it to cook your soaked biscuits the other day – I will be posting about that soon on my blog too :)
Margie says
After almost 25 years of marriage (7 children) we have gone through umpteen toasters -new cheapies, garage sale specials, gifts, the works. Several years ago, I broke down and bought a pricy Hamilton Beach toaster with four wide slots, and a special bagel-toasting feature. We love it, and it is still going strong. Definitely go for the wide slots if you get a toaster; home-made bread slices seem to be wider than “average” toaster slots allow. Our toaster sits on top of a toaster oven (when not in use – then it sits in front of it) that I hardly ever use. We do grilled sandwiches on our big electric griddle – I’ll have to try the toaster oven one day when we don’t have so many to fix at one time!
Jamie says
We opted for a toaster oven after our ancient (2 slice!) toaster died a few months ago… Hubs found it on clearance for $15 because the box had been opened (and we’d be ogling toaster ovens for many many months).
Now it’s a battle to decide who gets to toast each morning.
Bibi says
Great tips for meal planning.
They don’t make toasters like they used to. Every toaster I buy seems to stop working well after a year or so.
I found your blog on MPM.
I started weekly menu link up on my blog today. You can come over and link up if you like as well.
http://www.freeguideforbusymoms.com/weekly-dinner-menu-4/
Amanda Y. says
Definitely a toaster oven. They have larger ones that might be best for your family. We had a cheap Sunbeam for many years and just got a wonderful Black & Decker one for Christmas. Toaster ovens do toast and waffles, but in addition, you can make and reheat so much more. My personal favorite is bread pizzas (put slice of bread with some spaghetti sauce and cheese on top and toaste–voila! lunch pizzas! It has cut down on our microwave and oven use (saving on electricity and extra heat for the stove). We still use a microwave from time to time, but I do wonder how safe and nutritious they are, so if I have a fast and easy alternative, that’s my pick as often as possible!
Amanda Y. says
Another big perk with the toaster oven is that you can toast homemade bread or bagels without worrying whether the toaster is wide enough. It doesn’t take much longer (if at all) than a toaster and they have ones that hold 6-8 flat slices now.
Mama D says
I like toaster ovens for baking things or warming up leftovers, but I never liked the way it did toast! Finally broke down and bought a toaster, and I love it! Still have my toaster oven, and I love it, too. So I say – you need both! :-)
Mrs. Gryphon says
When it comes to menu planning, my system is simple:
Monday: Poultry
Tuesday: Beans
Wednesday: Beef
Thursday: Beans
Friday: Pork
Saturday: Beans
Sunday: Seafood
Convincing my husband to eat beans three dinners a week was simple. I told him that beans are always about 90 cents a pound and meat rarely comes on sale for less than $2 a pound.