It’s a new year and everyone I know is making resolutions. Not me. I used to make unrealistic resolutions like “always eat healthily,” or “lose 10 pounds in January.” These things worked for a few days and then went off the rails. Now I focus on goals. One of my goals this year is to continue the “menu plan” I started in December. Creating a menu plan can take some practice. It seems like a lot of hassle in the beginning, but it’s worth it once you get the hang of it. Here are some of my basic menu planning ideas to get you started.
How can a menu plan help?
*It saves money. How many times have you stood in your kitchen at 5 PM and thought, “What am I going to cook today?” Or is that just me? With no idea what to make I dig aimlessly through the pantry before realizing I am missing one ingredient of the recipe, I decided to make. That means I’ve got to start over for dinner plans or run to the store. We all know what happens when we run to the store, right? I go in for one item and leave with ten. With a menu plan, I know what I’m preparing for dinner and am sure to have all the ingredients. It also ensures that I don’t give up on dinner plans and decide we should eat out instead.
*It saves time. Remember all the last minute trips to the store or wondering what’s for dinner? When I go into the kitchen I’m ready to start cooking.
*It’s healthier. Once I began menu planning I was able to incorporate all those fresh fruits and veggies I would buy and push to the back of the fridge and forget about.
How To Start A Menu Plan
*Check out your freezer and pantry. Start planning recipes with ingredients you have on hand. Sure, you’ll still have to purchase some items, but this is a good way to get rid of those six cans of tomatoes lurking in the closet you forgot you purchased.
*Make easy recipes. There’s no need for fancy menus (unless you want). Make dishes you are comfortable preparing, dishes that don’t take hours to make. Once you’re more comfortable with menu planning, experiment with new dishes or more complicated recipes.
*Start by planning one meal a day. Dinner is the main meal at our home so I began preparing weekly menus for the “big meal.” I’m gradually adding breakfast and lunch items. Since no one in our family eats a big breakfast, I planned out breakfast sandwiches that can be kept in the freezer and reheated when needed or cereal. Lunch is leftovers, sandwiches, soup, or salad. Do what works best for your family.
*Plan around weekly sales. I’ve been able to save money by glancing over the sales papers and seeing which type of meat and veggies are on sale each week. Since my family seems to believe that almost every meal should include a meat item of some sort, I also check the mark-downs when I visit the store. I also stop by the vegetable markdowns and buy in bulk. I chop them up and freeze them until I’m ready to use them.
*Make a list of needed items. As I go through my menu plan I check and see what is in my pantry, freezer, and fridge. That keeps me from thinking I need something, like a jar of mayo, and buying another one to go with the collection already in my pantry. And, if your family is like mine, don’t expect them to let you know if you’re out of something. Just because you see that jar in the fridge doesn’t mean someone hasn’t stuck an empty jar back there.
*Prep in advance. On days I purchase mark-downs, I go ahead and chop/slice/or dice the veggies and add seasonings. When I found a 6-pound bag of potatoes and a 3-pound bag of onions for 99 cents each one day, I came home, chopped all the veggies, mixed in my herb seasonings and froze them in batches. Now, I have 5 batches of herbed potatoes and onions ready to be pulled out of the freezer and bake at a moments notice.
*Incorporate Leftovers. We usually have the leftovers for lunch or served with another meal, but they can also be “reborn” into different creations. Have leftover roasted veggies? Throw them in soup or casserole. Have leftover roast? Use it to make open-faced sandwiches with gravy later in the week. The possibilities are endless!
*Make extra. If you’re chopping up veggies and doing the prep work anyway, why not make a few extra and freeze for later use? Then, in case you know you’ll be short on time, you can pull a packet from the freezer in the morning and it will be ready to cook at dinner.
Sample Weekly Menu Plan
Remember that meals don’t have to be complicated! I’ve enclosed our two-week menu plan below. Notice that there are lots of easy recipes and meals.
What Not To Do When Making A Beginning Menu Plan
*Plan for the entire month. Start small. Plan a week at a time to get into the hang of things. This gives you a chance to get your feet wet without being overwhelmed.
*Think you must follow the menu plan every night.– Maybe you have chicken casserole planned for one night and you’re just not feeling it. Trust me, it will happen. You don’t have to make a chicken casserole. Use one of the other nightly menus and save that chicken for another day. Too tired to cook? It happens to all of us. Keep a frozen pizza, a box of noodles and some spaghetti sauce, or another easy dinner available. Sometimes things happen at the last minute you’re not expecting, like, in our case this week, a funeral visitation you must attend from 5 PM until 7 PM. I didn’t feel guilty at all about skipping the meal plan and grabbing fast food instead.
*Never have the same meal twice. Once you get into the hang of menu planning and decide on your family’s favorite meals, reuse that meal every three weeks or so. You’ll still have plenty of variety and your family can enjoy their favorite without burnout.
Do you make a menu plan for your family? What are your best tips?
For someone who has always worked food service jobs. Currently I work in a high end dining hall and I help with planning meals. It’s one thing when it’s for a household, it’s another when it’s for 500-1000 college kids or more.
These are such good ideas! It really does help to have a plan and then to implement the plan, with some flexibility built in, as you mentioned. It makes those hours between about 4 to 6 pm flow so much better and easily when you have that menu and meal plan established ahead of time!
I not good at making menu, because most of the time I end up making something else. But your tip about menu plan sounds good. I am going to give it try.
I used to menu plan weekly. Then I stopped for whatever reason and I’d like to start up again. It takes the guess work out of everything and makes the day less stressful!
I try my best to meal plan because it makes it easier to buy groceries that way. I think what I have to do is stick with easy recipes, you’re totally right about that!
This is something we should really do yet never seem organized enough to get organized. I’m going to share this post with my wife and talk about how our family should probably do this. It makes a lot of sense.
My sister and I decided to start menu planning this Feb because my parents will be away and we are not always available to pick up groceries and stuff. This is a great guide!
I am trying to learn to plan better menus. We convenience eat a lot. Too much. I end up running to the store nearly every day to get something for dinner, and then I get something quick because I don’t feel like cooking after going to the store.
This is a resolution for me. I’m always in awe of people who menu plan. It’s so smart! I want to do it for many reasons but mostly because we waste SO much food.
I need to do some menu planning because we waste a lot of food. I tend to scramble when it comes to meal prep and then we have random ingredients that get thrown out because they don’t get used. Thanks for all the tips.
I don’t meal plan often, but when I do, I find that it really relieves so much stress! I’m planning to do it more often this year!
Meal planning is a really great idea. Shopping for the week is smart for time and money too! Thanks for sharing your tips.
I try to menu plan for my family for the entire month. It’s such a life saver. It also allows me to focus on other things as well.
I tried menu planning for a while but it got to be a hassle. Nowadays it’s more of menu planning switch up as I cook enough to freeze for another day especially if I’m making soups, stews and chilis
I need to start doing something like this for sure. I hate cooking, so this might help me get organized in the kitchen. Normally I go to the store and I’m like, “Wait, what am I getting?”
I try to menu plan all the time and I am terrible at it because I just don’t like to cook LOL. I really should have someone come over here and make me do it. It is such a good idea because it saves so much money.
Prep in advance is the key for me. He helps tremendously in the time you spend in the kitchen. Your other ideas/tips are spot on.
Meal and menu planning is a great way to save money. I save money on takeout and can take advantage of sales at the market. It is also good for the kids to have a meal when they get home.
I just posted about this topic. Save time and money if you plan out your meals for the month. Less stress