What's for Supper?

"What's for supper is" certainly in the Top 5 of the most taxing questions ever asked. In fact, I can't think of a question that jolts my nerves more, other than "Have you seen my overdue library video?" or "Do you know where my shoes are?" Many, many years ago I resolved to eliminate this one stress in my life by creating a weekly menu and shopping according to this menu. I have been fairly consistent in keeping up with this system for years, but the weekly menu had a downfall: it required asking the question, "What would you like to eat this week?" before each grocery list could be made. Usually Randy would say something helpful like, "I can't think of anything right now; I'm not really hungry"; Laurel would say, "Beans and rice"; Jesse would say, "Steak" (2008 update: Jesse doesn't eat red meat anymore); and Duncan would say, "Candy."

This fall I got smart and made a list of all of our favorite supper choices. I keep this in my "menu" section of my 3-ring binder, right after the "grocery list" section. When it's time for grocery shopping, I pick out a few things myself, then hand the list to Randy for his picks. I don't necessarily pair a certain supper with a certain day of the week, except for those couple of days when I know I will need a crockpot meal.

And so, here is our list. With over 50 choices, we're doing pretty well, but we add things to the list regularly as we remember old favorites or find new ones.

Grilled chicken with mashed potatoes and corn
General Tso's Chicken
Chicken and Rice Soup
Ginger Beef
Tortellini Stir Fry
Tomato Chipotle Soup
Chuck Wagon Soup
Chicken with 40 Garlic Cloves
Black Bean Stoup with sandwiches
Vicki’s Favorite Chicken with Grapes, Couscous and Roasted Asparagus.
Calzones
Lasagna, bread, salad, broccoli
Beans and rice, tortilla chips, quesadillas
Chicken and vegetable kabobs with rice or spicy noodles
Bread, cheese, and deli meat with salad
Chicken with mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes, corn
Pasta salad with grilled chicken and french bread
Rainy Monday Beef Stew
Spaghetti and meatballs, veggie
Tilapia with rice and veggie
Fettucine Alfredo with bread and veggie
Chili over rice or Fritos, cornbread
Salmon, baked potatoes, veggie
Kung Pao Chicken
Hamburgers, baked beans, french fries
Jambalaya over rice, cornbread
Randy's Famous Fettucine Alfredo
Randy's Famous Sunday Night Fried Rice
Grilled drumsticks, potato wedges, veggie
Home-made pizza with salad
BLTs, corn
Hawaiian grilled pork chops, rice, pineapple, corn
Spicy pork cutlets with fried potatoes
Smoked Turkey quesadillas
Tortellini Chowder
Ranch Style Chicken
Mexican Lasagna
Taco Soup
Greek Pasta Bake
Tacos, rice, corn, Mexican layered dip
Fajitas, chips and salsa, rice, corn
Chicken piccata or marsala, mashed potatoes or pasta, veggie
Vegetable, bread, and cheese night
Fruit, bread and cheese night
Enchiladas, rice, refried beans
Pork chops and rice
Meatloaf and mashed potatoes
Chicken roll-ups
Shrimp on the grill
Pasta Primavera
Baked ziti, salad, bread
Pork loin
Pot roast
French onion soup with sandwiches
Baked potato soup with muffins
White chicken chili with chips
Chicken tortilla soup with quesadillas
Penne a la Betsy
Enchiladas
Indian chicken with lentils and rice
Thai chicken or shrimp with rice

APPETIZERS and PARTY FARE
Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip

SIDES
Roasted Cauliflower
Buttery Bread
Spicy noodles
Roasted Brussels sprouts
Applesauce