Menu With Cook's Notes {freebie}

Earlier this year, I took the baby and  flew to Michigan for a cousin's graduation, leaving the house and the rest of the children to the care of my husband. I was gone for almost a week. My oldest daughter (age 13) took over all the cooking during that time.

I had no doubts about her ability to cook (she's been doing it since she was about 6 or 7), however I was concerned that she might not be able to handle all the organizational details that are involved in feeding a family of  eleven nine. In preparation for the trip, I planned the menu (not unusual since I always plan my menus ahead of time) and precooked as much as possible. My secret weapon was a menu with space for "cook's notes" along the side.

my "secret weapon"

In the "cook's notes" I told her things like "Mon: Get out bread and place on counter to thaw for lunch. Get out two packages of hamburger and place in fridge to thaw for Wed. Cook rice for tonight's casserole." Her orders were to look at the menu every morning and find out what she needed to do to prepare the food for the day. Other than a couple of phone calls concerning the location of certain items, it went off without a hitch.

I'm really thinking I ought to make use of this menu for my own benefit. I don't even want to admit how often I forget to thaw the meat for supper. :)

Menu With Cook's Notes