Menu Planning

I thought I would share how I do menu planning in our home because it really makes life easier. I hate to grocery shop so the thought of stopping multiple times at a grocery store throughout a week is enough to make me shudder. I've found that menu planning is not that hard and it has a lot of other perks as well:

• It gives you more TIME. I only have to plan once a week for 30 minutes or so, go shopping once, and then I don't have to think about it until the next week.
• Variety. I don't enjoy eating the same meal for 3 days in a row.
• It saves money. You can plan your meals around sale items. And you only buy what you need. Our fridge looks empty most of the time- but it has everything we need for 6-7 dinners. Ben has gotten in the habit of asking "do you need this one half of tomato or can I eat it?" because if it's in the fridge, chances are I'm planning on using it for a meal.
• It's healthy. When you plan ahead, you can plan well balanced meals and don't have to rely on eating out or eating processed food. It's also easier to control your cravings in the grocery store than it is at home. If you don't buy it, you can't eat it.

Here's the method I've found works best for us.

Step 1. I sit down every Saturday. First I look at the weekly ads online at our grocery store and make a mental note of what meat and produce is on sale (chances are if it's on sale it's also seasonal which means it will taste better- bonus).

I'm not very creative, so instead of racking my brain or flipping through endless recipes, I streamline this process by using a spreadsheet. I made a simple table in Microsoft Word with columns like Chicken, Beef, Vegetarian, Pork, Soups, Side Dishes, Other, and Dessert. Every time I make a recipe that we like, I add it to the appropriate column. Then all I have to do is scan the table and see what looks good. Is pork on sale? I look down my pork list. Do I want something vegetarian? Do I feel like making a soup? Easy peazy.

Bonuses to this method: it helps you create a well balanced menu because you are fully aware what the main category of meat/produce is that you are working with, it keeps variety because you don't have to rely on your memory and end up eating the same 7 meals over and over, and since you only list recipes that you want to eat again, you know everything on that spreadsheet is food worth cooking!

Sometimes I ask Ben what he feels like having this week. He'll come look at the spreadsheet and pick a few things out. I also have a list of new recipes that I pick a few recipes to try. If it turns out well, we add it to the spreadsheet.

Here's a rough picture of half of my spreadsheet (you can tell what we like to eat because my vegetarian list is about three times as long as my beef list):

Tips for planning:

• I type my meal plan in the space above the spreadsheet (main dish, a veggie, and occasionally another side). That way, I can easily move meals around if something changes (like when I get home late and don't have time to make what's on the meal for Tuesday but I do have time for Wednesday's meal). I try to plan a mixture of quick meals and longer meals.

• I typically plan meals that feed four. That way, I immediately box up the leftovers in two containers and lunch is ready. We rarely buy lunch food.

• Think ahead about your schedule. On the night before our small group, I'll make a meal that feeds double so Ben can have it for dinner while I'm at group. If you get home from work late on Thursdays, plan the throw-it-in-the-oven meal for that night.

• Since you are buying all your food a week in advance, you have to think expiration dates. I plan a lot of the meat dishes or dishes with fresh veggies early in the week. Towards the end of the week, I go for items that won't spoil (beans, lentils, pasta) and I usually use frozen veggies for the last few days since our area's produce doesn't last long. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is an easy go-to Sunday meal. If I ever make a meal with mushrooms it is always on a Monday- our mushrooms spoil unless we eat them within a day or so.

• Use ingredients for multiple dishes to save money. If I'm making homemade pizza one night, I will plan something else at the end of the week, like calzones or baked ravioli, so I can use the rest of the spaghetti sauce and it doesn't go to waste. If a recipe calls for bacon, I will usually make at least two dishes that require bacon because we don't buy it often.

 

Step 2. Make a grocery list. Glance over each recipe you are making and jot down the items that you need to buy. We keep a list on the fridge for random items that we run out of so I just add the items to this list. Easy.

Step 3. Go shopping. I make a note to see how fresh the vegetables are and the expiration dates on the meat. That way, I can switch around a couple of meals if I think the meat needs to be eaten early in the week but the veggies will last for 4 days (do this as soon as you get home while it's on your mind or you will forget and find rotten food in your fridge!)

That's it! You don't have to think about dinner for the rest of the week and you know everything you need is in your kitchen.