I need to make 8 lunch and 8 dinner menus and I am having a hard time creating varied menus. What is a good way to do this?

foodasaurus
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6 Comments

luvcookbooks September 15, 2010
Can you refine your question a little bit? I don't know if that's an acceptable answer, but I think it would be helpful.
 
pierino September 13, 2010
That's a really broad question. I would follow Amanda's advice and add that if your lunch course is going to be meat then I wouldn't include it in the dinner menu and vice versa. And yes, when you read that instuction in a recipe "set aside for another use" it's worthwhile considering when you are preparing a week's worth of meals. A very versatile ingredient is quinoa (we had a big dinnertime conversation about this last night), as it is both a grain and a complete protein.
 
loubaby September 13, 2010
If you are still interested, just email me at [email protected] and I can send it to you....
 
loubaby September 13, 2010
Sorry, I didn't save it as a webpage first...hope this shows up this time.
 
loubaby September 13, 2010
I had to do a similar thing by coming up with 2 weeks of menus with lunch and dinner according to a low fat/low salt diet and including the foods the client likes. I have attached what I came up with if this helps.
 
Amanda H. September 12, 2010
I'd start with the dinners by making 2 lists -- 8 main course foods (for instance, leg of lamb, pasta, cod, shrimp, etc.) and a list of in-season vegetables (tomatoes, beets, zucchini, etc). Then I'd focus on the mains making sure you mix up the styles of the cuts of meats, so that you have a mix of dishes that are seared, braised, grilled, etc (and you might want to throw in an entire main course dish like paella, for fun, one night). Then mix and match vegetable dishes with the main meats.
For the lunches, I'd see if there were any way to utilize some of the leftovers/byproducts of the main courses -- ie. using the bones from roasted chicken to make a broth for a lunch soup, or the beet greens for dinner and the beets in a lunch salad. And I'd try to mix up the lunch offerings -- salad, soup, frittata, grilled sandwich, etc.
Hope this is helpful -- good luck!
 
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