Menu Planning

We didn't used to plan menus . We used to walk back and forth from the fridge to the pantry, asking each other "What do you want?"  "That doesn't sound good".  "How about this?" over and over.  After adding a child to the mix, I knew evenings would be hectic and that is when I started planning menus.

Here are some reasons to plan your menu in advance:

1) We KNOW what is for dinner!  No more wasting time thinking or talking about it.  It is what it is.

2)  It lowers your grocery bill.  You write it all down, then make a shopping list, and follow the list!

3)  You can plan according to your schedule.  If I know I am working a long shift, I plan something simple or plan a crockpot meal.  If I know I have the day off, I plan a more labor intensive or time consuming meal.  If I know the weather is going to be 70 in December, dinner will be simple that week so we can enjoy those days outside instead of cooking.

4)  It lowers your eating out bill.  Instead of panicking over what to eat and automatically going out or ordering in, you've got a plan in place.  We still schedule meals out, but it is planned and budgeted for in advance (most of the time).

5) It prevents frequent repeat meals.  "Didn't we have this three days ago?  And two days before that?"

Tips on planning a menu
1)  First, write down all your favorite meals and side dishes.

2) When planning your first menu, start small.  Plan 3-7 days in advance.

3)  Write down the days of the week.  Start filling in some of your favorites.  Be aware of scheduling conflicts.  If hubby is working late, I don't want to make his favorite dish that night.  If you have to be somewhere shortly after dinner you don't want to pick something that takes longer to prepare.

4)  Use choosemyplate.gov to help you calculate how many servings of each food group you are getting.  You can personalize your free profile so you know how many calories you need to maintain or lose weight.  You want to shoot for 100% in the grains, veggies, fruit, and protein categories. 

5)  Brainstorm.  Share ideas with friends and neighbors.  In the beginning, I really struggled with coming up with a variety of meals.  I started asking people what they were having for dinner to get ideas.  Flip through a cookbook or two for ideas.  Try new things!  I also often browse www.wholefoodsmarket.com for ideas.

6) Once you have a menu planned, make a shopping list. 

There are tons of menu planning websites and blogs with cute ideas using notecards and color coded devices.  I just jot it down on scrap paper and stick it on the fridge.  Be as fancy or as simple as you like!

Some people base their menu planning off what's on sale in the weekly store ads.  I have tried this, but found that most of the food items on sale were processed, so it wasn't worth my time to flip through all the ads. 

Do you have any more tips on menu planning?  If so, let me know!  I love new ideas!