I don’t know how people make and keep a menu for a whole month because I can’t keep one for an entire week. I look at the weather for the upcoming week when I make my menu and yet I still can’t get it straight.

We look forward to eating soups once the temperature gets a little cooler but don’t like eating them if it is warmer. Well, this time of year, temperatures fluctuate quite a bit. The key for me is to have the key ingredients for some of our standard meals like spaghetti, tacos, burgers, and such on hand. That way if it gets too warm to have that soup I’d planned on the menu, I can switch out for one of the meals we have at the ready.

It’s really easy to switch out chili and have spaghetti instead, as long as I have the pasta on hand because they take very similar ingredients. However if I’d planned on split pea soup, burgers is a decent switch up even though the ingredients aren’t the same. Both are simple meals and require few ingredients. Chicken stew can be switched with chicken fried rice or a chicken pasta dish.

Basically, you just take the main ingredients and switch them from a soup base to casserole or main dish and sides. It just takes a little creativity.

I guess I’m going to have to give a little more thought to switch-ups. I had my menu flipped because it got a bit warmer.

Grilled sandwiches is a nice way to make sandwiches a bit upscale and seem a bit more special. Of course, you can go super simple and just do eggs, but if you add breakfast meat it is received much better. And hamburgers is always a good switch up.

I hope this helps you think of menu items you can switch up when the weather is not conducive to your planned meal.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº