Planning Menus

[barbszy]

Do you plan your menus for a week or month at a time?

I've found that doing a little planning ahead helps me with grocery shopping (both knowing what I need, and being able to take advantage of sales). I had been planning my menus a week at a time, but recently decided to challenge myself and try a month at a time. My family thought I was nuts to try but it really has been helpful.

What tips for menu planning can you share?

[crowemommy]

I want to start planning, I used to do it a week to two weeks at a time, but then life got too busy and I stopped planning. Life is getting a little more manageable and I want to get back into the habit of planning out meals so I'm not running to the grocery store or grabbing take out.

I also used to freeze meals - need to get back to that too!

Lisa

[ajrsmom]

Do you plan your menus for a week or month at a time?

I've found that doing a little planning ahead helps me with grocery shopping (both knowing what I need, and being able to take advantage of sales). I had been planning my menus a week at a time, but recently decided to challenge myself and try a month at a time. My family thought I was nuts to try but it really has been helpful.

What tips for menu planning can you share?


Barb, Do you ever find that you get bored with the meals planning them so far ahead? I think that there is something wrong with me that I cant plan like this and actually stick to it. I find that if I do this, I get bored with everything being preplanned. What is wrong with me!?! :eek:

[barbszy]

Tami, maybe that's too far ahead for you. Try a week or 2 weeks & see how it goes.

Before I started planning a month at a time I spent a couple of months filling in a calendar each day with what we had to eat each day. Then I could see any patterns, how often things were repeated, etc.

One thing I did find that I needed to do was NOT specifically plan weekend meals. Often DH "unplans" what I plan anyway. So if I knew we would be eating at home on at most 6 weekend days in a particular month I would make a list of 6 possible weekend meals. I make sure I have the ingredients on hand. If we're home, I can make one of those dishes.

That might work out better for you. Make a list of 25 possible dinners you can make from what you have. Then just work out of your list. Cross off a meal when you make it. If you have enough for 3 spaghetti meals, write it on the list 3 times.

[DeBora4BobbyL]

First, Lisa, welcome to MM!

Although I have at least a months worth or menu ideas, I plan for at least a month at a time, unless school gets too hectic. Then, I am glad just to grab something and go!

[vjumpstart]

Hi!

I plan (usually) 2 weeks at a time. I try to get input from DH (usually get a: I'll eat what ever you cook) and the kids (all they want is pizza, spag, hotdogs, etc.) Even with only 2 weeks I feel like I always am cooking the same thing. But that is partly because I want to make something everyone will eat.

V.

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Welcome to MM VJump!

[RobertaD]

I make a list of 15 main meal dishes that I have the ingrediants on hand for which will feed us for 25-30 days with leftovers, dinner out with the inlaws, takeout or meals not on the list like grilled cheese sandwiches & soup at request of the kids. When I've made the dish I scratch it off the list and off the deep freeze inventory.

I started doing this when I defrosted the deep freezer about 5 weeks ago and discovered I had meat for about 50 meals in there and needed to use it up.

Roberta

[barbszy]

Roberta, this is what throws a monkey wrench in my whole system. I go to the trouble of inventorying the freezer (just did it yesterday) but I always forget to mark the list when I add new stuff or take out stuff. How do you keep up on that?

[cat lover]

Well Barbszy; I'm in the same boat there! I have a nice clipboard hanging over the freezer and I decided to look at it and...... it is a nice list with hardly anything crossed off it and nothing much added to it since I did it last winter after I defrosted the freezer. So here I am waiting for the cold weather to sit in so I can defrost again and.... make a new list to hang on the wall a year?.......... It seems like a very logical thing to do(maybe that is the problem; LOL

No one else seems to have come up with the answer yet so.....anyone before I defrost again!

[mamab]

Oh yeah, I think quite a few of us can go "shopping at home" and possibly find most of what we need for a week's worth of meals already are in the house. I really need to start being more careful to use the food I buy rather than let it sit and not be used for quite some time.

[happy2bg33k]

We started out planning weekly menus but it fell by the wayside as the kid's activities got in the way of cooking certain things, etc. Now what we have is a list of possible meals for which we have the ingredients handy and we consult the list in the morning to take the ingredients for one of them out of the freezer. I don't feel quite so planned oout that way.

[mamab]

I guess I really do need to start planning meals more than I do. Well, it would help if I were doing the cooking, but since I've been having health problems, my husband does most of the cooking. I just can't stand for long periods of time, so I'm limited in what I can do.

[katharina]

I want to start planning, I used to do it a week to two weeks at a time, but then life got too busy and I stopped planning. Life is getting a little more manageable and I want to get back into the habit of planning out meals so I'm not running to the grocery store or grabbing take out.


I planned a lot more in the past than I do now. I don't actually plan out menus for a week (or two weeks like I used to do) but I *do* choose a few new recipes that I want to try, so at least they're being planned into a menu. I guess that means I'm halfway there since I *do* at least know what some of the meals will be. :)