Photograph Credit: Food on the Table

As an avid menu planner, I love options that get the creative side of my brain formulating delicious meals to feed my family. Though having a set schedule for each night might work for some, I enjoy variety. Sometimes, I need an inspiration boost, and Food on the Table comes to my rescue.

Food on the Table is a menu planning service that matches your grocery store sales with recipes and provides a printable grocery list to get you on your way. This time-saving resource allows three free menu options before accessing a $5 per month fee.

Though reasonable, I prefer a free service, and Food on the Table is currently offering a free lifetime subscription to NEW users with unlimited menu planning options. Wow! Want a free lifetime subscription? Here’s how . . .

1. Click on this link: Food on the Table.

2. In the top right-hand sidebar, enter your e-mail address. (I used my junk e-mail account.)

3. Enter FEBFREE in the promotional code box, and select START MEAL PLANNING.

4. You can then do the following:

• Select your stores,
• Set your food preferences,
• Choose your ingredients,
• Select your recipes,
• See your grocery list, and
• Print your grocery list.

This offer is only valid through February 29, 2012. If you want, or ever think you may need, a menu planning service and have not signed up with Food on the Table, then register now!

NOTE: After you sign up, you can use the menu planning resources immediately. When you log out or close your browser’s tab/window, you will need to check your e-mail to re-access your Food on the Table account.

After registering, Food on the Table will send you a confirmation e-mail with your assigned password. Click on that link, enter the provided password, and select a new password. Now you can get access to your Food on the Table account when needed.

Though I am a lifetime subscriber of Food on the Table, I continue to maximize my savings by purchasing buy one get one free products and matching coupons to those sales. This menu planning subscription will supplement my current system as I continuing using time wisely to feed my family.

Question: If you signed up, was the process as easy for you as it was for me? 

Photograph Credit: Flickr (Bitten Word)

Scheduling a block of time to menu plan is non-productive for me. I will usually get mental block because I get distracted by my one-year old handing me objects, my 4-year-old’s questions, or my son’s need for attention.

Trying to formulate meals while curled up on the couch or at my desk is not my food-creative space. To keep my menu planning at least a few days in advance, I add meals to my menu plan during these times throughout the week.

Preparing Dinner

As I go to the freezer to get a package of meat, I will scan the contents of my freezer. I might notice the bacon and consider BLT sandwiches or a breakfast for dinner meal option. When I get these ideas, I will go to my refrigerator door, get my pencil, and add that option to my planner.

Cooking

When I am waiting for water to boil or the microwave to defrost an item, I will look through my pantry and add a meal or two. If I was just at my freezer, then my creative juices may already be matching ideas together for other options.

Grocery Shopping

When I get inspired at the grocery store, I jot myself a note on my grocery list. I can add my ideas to my plan when I get home.

Sample items. Many times I get inspired by the samples provided at Sam’s Club. When our family shops at Sam’s, I like to plan the trip around lunchtime. My children look forward to the samples, I get inspiration, and we get our needed supplies.

Recipe cards. Our Publix offers recipe cards at the brochure station in the lobby. Though I may not make that exact dish, I can get ideas from the ingredients for other meals my family enjoys.

Observation. Sometimes viewing a picture of a dish on an advertisement, television screen, or product packaging can offer inspiration.

Unloading Groceries

When I arrive home from the grocery store, I unload the car. While I am putting away the groceries, I notice the ingredients I have on-hand. If I get an idea for a meal, I put it on the plan. Sometimes I get great inspiration having just come from the store and then seeing all the ingredients.

Listening

At least once a month, I will ask my family what meals they would like to eat since I am making the meals for them. 🙂 When they reply, I will add those meals to my plan at the bottom of my planner. If I have all the ingredients, then I will move that meal onto the planner and assign it a day. If I am missing ingredients, I will watch the stores for a sale. Once I have acquired all the ingredients for that meal, I will schedule it on the planner.

By creating my menu plan while preparing dinner, cooking, grocery shopping, unloading groceries, and listening, I keep my planner current with extra days planned for additional options. When planning while surrounded by food, I get inspired and the ideas flow. By using my time wisely in short increments of time, I can quickly create my menu and then spend time with my family. The benefits of menu planning continue to save my family money, energy, and time. Happy planning!

Question: Where do you find inspiration for menu planning? Please leave a comment with your answer.

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?

Photograph Credit: Flickr (Amy E. Bivins)

Oh, no, did I lose you already by using the words: menu planning?

If you are envisioning a page of columns with the days of the week covered in detailed descriptions of masterpieces to create, then I would be disheartened as well.

If your expectations are too high to obtain, then you will be discouraged before you have a chance to begin.

The Menu Planning Tool

Before tackling the “how to” of menu planning, let’s put this tool into perspective. Yes, a menu plan is a tool. Can a tool be frustrating? Oh, yeah!  Let’s consider a basic tool: a screwdriver.

When I need to change the batteries of a toy with a back compartment, I will need a tool to assist me. In my husband’s tool box is a plethora of tools at my disposal. However, a screwdriver is the best tool to accomplish this job.

Though I have narrowed down the tool I need, I still have lots of options. Not knowing which one is best, I choose a flat-head screwdriver. When I attempt to remove the Phillips-head screw, I am met with disappointment and total frustration since the screw won’t come out. Is it the screwdriver’s fault that I cannot extract the screw? Well, of course, not. I am using the wrong type of tool. I will still need a screwdriver, but I need a different type: a Phillips-head. When I get the Phillips-head screwdriver and use it properly, the screw easily comes out.

From this illustration, the tool was not the problem. The problem was finding the right type of tool to offer assistance rather than frustration.

The Types of Menu Planning Tools

If the thought of planning a month’s worth of menus is overwhelming, then consider another type of plan. You could use a daily plan, weekly plan, or bi-weekly plan. If you need a template for the weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly menu plans, try these options from Vertex 42.

Try a daily plan. If it works, then stick with it. If you would rather work a little more in advance, then try the weekly plan. Keep trying until you find the right type of menu plan that works for you.

By using the best type of tool to meet your needs, you can accomplish your goal of menu planning without frustration. Menu planning does not need to be complex with every meal and snack itemized. You don’t have to plan a month in advance or even a week in advance. The menu plan is a tool to help you use your time wisely.