Photograph Credit: Stock.xchng (Maxime Perron Caissy)
With so many web sites, blogs, and services to help plan your menu, one can quickly become overwhelmed.
Some services will make your menu for you with your shopping list. Though this would save time, those lists do not consider your local store’s sales, your family’s preferences, and what you already have on hand.
Since I have been menu planning for over 10 years, I am going to share my menu planning system that has gone through more revisions than I can remember.
When I first started menu planning, I was working full time, feeding two people, and a casual couponer, meaning I used coupons for items I routinely purchased. I planned meals that I could make quickly and my husband liked.
Looking back, I wish I could teach my younger self how to maximize those menu plans with savings, but I can’t go back. What I can do is impart to you the wisdom I have gained along my journey of mistakes, attempts, and successes.
Tracy’s Menu Planning Process
1. Choose my Tool. Last week, I shared some menu planning tools. To begin, I get my preferred menu plan which is this Monthly Menu Planner. Towards the end of the month, I will print my new calendar and add the date to each day. Since my plan only contains 4 weeks, I usually need to add a few days at the top and/or bottom to complete my month.
2. Put Tool on refrigerator door. Once the calendar has all the days assigned, I put the empty page (no meals planned) on my refrigerator door.
3. Consult my Calendar. If we are scheduled to attend a dinner, participate in a free event, or away from home, I will make a note on my menu plan. These are meals that need some different considerations. For example, if my son has a soccer game, then I will need a picnic dinner that evening; for days when we have an evening event, I may need an easy meal to clean up to assist in getting the family out of the house quickly; or, a dinner party where I have volunteered to bring a dish.
4. Go to my Freezer. Just open the chest or the door, and take a look at my options.
5. Open my Pantry. After the freezer, I check my options inside my pantry. By this time, the ideas are beginning to flow. I am thinking of meals that I can make with the ingredients on hand.
6. Assign Meals to Dates. When the ideas begin, I grab a pencil and assign a meal to a date (e.g., baked chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and bread on Monday). I continue to add meals until I run out of ideas.
7. Put the Pencil Away. When I have added all the meals I can contrive with my on-hand ingredients, I stop. I put the pencil away. If I think of something else, I can always come back to write it down.
Menu Planning Benefits
1. Just having menu options helps me save time. When 4:00 p.m. arrives, I do not need to spend time staring into my pantry, then going to the freezer to look, and coming back to the pantry with no idea what to do for dinner. Been there? Me, too. The result is usually a phone call to Paul saying, “Do you have any ideas for dinner?” When he comes up short, we will probably be going out for dinner. Then I am using a larger portion of my food budget to feed my family this one meal where I could have spent our money better had I planned ahead.
Before the downward spiral gets out of hand with giving up on saving at the grocery store, clipping coupons, and menu planning, I need to stop and plan for tomorrow before tomorrow arrives. Just making the plan gives me a point of reference.
2. Mix and match. Remember that your menu plan is a tool. I have planned meals for a few days. If I get to Monday and I just do not feel like chicken, then I can swap Monday’s plan with Tuesday’s meatloaf plan. With a few days planned, I can mix and match the items since I have all these ingredients on hand. I am not bound by my plan. It is just a tool to help me use my time wisely and feed my family.
Using a menu plan has helped me use my time wisely. Just a few days of ideas help to keep me on track to know when to take out meat to defrost, prepare a crock pot meal, or enjoy some extra time in the kitchen teaching my kids how to cook. The menu plan is a tool that saves me money (not running to the store for a needed item), energy (back and forth from pantry to freezer searching for something to make), and time (waiting for an idea to come to me). 🙂
Question: For you, what is the hardest part about menu planning?