Menu Planning
I was on twitter uhh the other day and we were talking about menu planning.
Since my surgery my menu planning was pretty much null & void. I didn't do ANYTHING. Didn't want to. Didn't have to, so I didn't lol.
Normally things run like a well oiled machine here. MOST TIMES. EVERY now and then things just kinda go crazy. I have these lazy spells where I don't want to do ANYTHING, so I don't. *shrugs*
Anyway, we were talking about menu planning and seems like my entire TL seemed to think I was crazy because I plan for the whole month. YEP. THE ENTIRE MONTH.
**clutches pearls**
That is what works for us me.
I've tried to do it a week at a time and it would work for a little while but I found myself spending more and more time in the grocery store. I mean I have OTHER stuff to do lol.
So I changed it to monthly.
AND THE ANGELS SING. It WORKS for us me.
I don't have picky eaters, so feeding them is fun. I love to cook, they love to eat. It's seriously a win-win situation.
The way it works, normally I will take some things that I've previously cooked that I know everyone likes and just pick some days and put them on the calendar.
The kids will sometimes get online and find things they want me to cook or sit and look through the cookbooks and find something. Tony has fallen in love with all the food on pinterest and he will look for something on there lol.
They all give me ideas. It works.
I strategically place the items on the calendar. ANYTHING involving a crock pot is made on Tuesday OR Saturday so we can have leftovers. I don't like cooking on Wednesday or Sunday.
There are a few days during each month when I'm "off" or I'll put "feed yourself". Hey I'm entitled.
Once it is all finalized, I print it and put it on the fridge so EVERYONE can see. Do NOT ASK ME WHAT IS FOR DINNER. LOOK AT THE CALENDAR.
I make my grocery list. I check my pantry and cabinets for things I already have (I keep a pretty well stocked pantry) so I normally don't need much unless I'm replacing something I've run out of OR trying something super new that requires me to buy stuff I don't normally use.
It is THAT easy.
I did my shopping for May yesterday. Only took a couple of hours, I did have a list.
Yep I'm a little late in the month but hey I'm still healing. I put up the cold stuff left all the other stuff for everyone else to put away.
TECHNICALLY we are supposed to be having leftovers tomorrow BUT they killed it and I doubled the recipe. I said ok. Tomorrow is Friday soooooo they can eat whatever lol.
Planning a menu for the entire month has ONE drawback… what if I have a craving for something else.
I will do one of two things. I will either just cook it and make what I was going to make that day later OR add it to the next months calendar. It works for me.
I normally work on the next months menu as soon as I print the current menu out. It stays open on my computer and normally by the middle of the month I'm about ready to make my grocery list. I know how much we use certain things so I can always tell if I'm going to need more for the next month.
The ONLY time I go to the store during the month is if I have forgotten something OR if I'm buying fresh items. That's IT. I hardly ever forget to put anything on the list OR pick it up but it does happen lol.
Ok, that's about it. Any questions? Feel free to ask!
Toodles!
Rachelle/ 11.05.2012
Now that’s what I call planning!
Shakhan/ 11.05.2012
Love it. Thanks for the extra info in this blog. My goal is to plan monthly while trying to break picky eaters habits. They are coming around slowly. Lol.
Nik/ 11.05.2012
wow. I was totally impressed with how well organized this all sounds.
robin/ 11.05.2012
You too? I thought I was the only one like that! It’s like we’re meal planning twins. It’s like I was reading my own story. I do allow for pizza day(usually Friday or Saturday). Every other Sunday we eat out after church. The Sundays we eat in, most of the dinner is cooked the night before. It sure saves time, money, and unneccesary trips to the store. And a crockpot is a gold mine! I even found a website ‘A Year of Slow Cooking’ to get ideas. I also like the ‘Pioneer Woman’ website.
Pam/ 11.05.2012
WOW! I can barely figure out what’s for dinner TONIGHT much less a month in advance. I’ve been meaning to try a one week menu plan. This is just the inspiration I needed. Thanks!
Shawnta/ 11.05.2012
I would love to be able to meal plan for a month!!! Small apartment and no deep freezer kind of limits me in the shopping once a month, but I THINK I could get it down to 2 times a month instead of shoot every two days 🙁 Thanks for outlining your plan! I will try it out on a smaller scale.
Tameika/ 11.05.2012
I am so impressed and a little bit jealous! I think I’m going to try that for June – if the hubs agrees. I’m at the grocery store EVERY week and it kills us trying to determine what we’re going to eat each week. Too much! So thanks so much for the tips. And now I’ll be eyeing your blog even more closely for recipes and meals. 🙂 Thanks again!
Monica C./ 11.05.2012
Wow!! I have had a hard time keeping up with meal planning for the week. My problem is that I am a WOHM and I work long hours – so I try to do a lot of cooking on Sundays. Recently – “a lot” = 2 meals, one for Sunday and one for another day. I usually buy one thing my husband can cook (salmon or ribs) and then one or two other meals – in *case* I happen to arrive home early enough to cook dinner (rare)! I’d love to meal plan for the month, though!!!
CarlaF-in Atlanta/ 11.05.2012
Wow. That’s amazing. I’m single so meal planning is hit or miss. I like the idea of monthly instead of weekly planning. It might be worth a shot.
Faye Lewis/ 11.05.2012
Sounds like a great plan to me!
Susan C/ 11.05.2012
No way! Really???? I seriously bow down to you! How does this happen? I would be satisfied to just go to the grocery store every 2 weeks. Do you do any freezer cooking? I have tons of books on this and can never quite get it together. Also, I need to use my crock pot about 2X per week because we need quick dinners those nights but am woefully short on recipes my son will eat too, i.e. he is a picky eater. I’m thinking I should just make myself do a one month meal plan, shop, prep or cook what I can, and just do it. Thanks for the inspiration. Susan
dana/ 11.05.2012
Wow – that’s my dream plan. When I was single I hated to cook – stuff like that just took away too much of my sewing time! Now, I’m a single mom with one moderately picky eater and one who will pretty much only eat pizza (he used to eat chicken nuggets, waffles, pancakes, and pizza). Even when I play the mean mommy and only make something I like and tell them eat it or go hungry, I’ve got too much food for just me. Any advice?
MrsTDJ/ 12.05.2012
I love this! I currently do 2 weeks at a time, but I think with some pushing, I could get it to be a month. Convincing to DH to roll with it might be tough, but I’m gonna try. Thanks for sharing!
Susan in Oz/ 13.05.2012
Yay!! Another ‘weirdo’ (as my friends say). I plan for a month at a time but still shop once a week. That way I can pick up my fresh fruit and vegies and papergoods/toiletries/cleaners etc as required.
I started by writing out a list of our favourite meals and putting them into rotation. So, for example, Sunday night is always roast night but it’s either beef, chicken, lamb or pork etc.
I also put say just ‘chicken’ on a night and that allows me to experiment with something which may or may not go onto the Master list in the future.
It’s a fabulous time saver once you get into it.
Valencia the orchidophile/ 13.05.2012
Love it! Thanks for this post because it reminds me that I have been seriously slacking with my planning. Because of the slacking, I’ve been eating so much more fast food. Ugh!
Valencia the orchidophile/ 13.05.2012
Happy Mother’s Day!
Kelly/ 14.05.2012
Now that you’re finished with yours, can you come do mine? You said I could ask a question.
Moe/ 14.05.2012
My only question is can the month plan when you finish and the you shopping list lol.
No but seriously I always wanted to try to menu plan but didn’t know where to start.
Sister P/ 20.05.2012
You’re so awesome Adrienne :o)
Nikki/ 21.05.2012
I love this idea! The thing with my family is, I do have picky eaters. And it works my LAST nerve because I love to try new & different things. BUT thanks to the internet, I’m about to put them on Pinterest and let em go from there. You can NOT lose with Pinterest, lol.
Edris/ 01.06.2012
Girl- thank you for this motivation. I spend so much time at the grocery store that it is ridiculous. I do the weekly meal plan but I am going to move to 2 weeks then 3 weeks. I will still go weekly just to grab the fresh stuff – we go through fresh fruit and veggies fast!
KimT/ 19.06.2012
gonna try it this way! SOunds very efficient. I only have 3 mouths to feed and one of those mouths belong to a picky 3 year old! So, I only need to cook a few time a week. I think this way will work well for us.Plus planning will help me to broaden my repertoire!