I mentioned back when I gave a tutorial on creating a Household Management Binder that I would write about how I menu plan in a future post, well; here it is!
I have been menu planning prior to grocery shopping since I married "Mr. Home Centered" 10 years ago and its one of my favorite oranizational tools. It is also a way to control spending at the grocery store and helps solve the "whats for dinner" dilemna. I'm going to show you how I do this twice a month and then offer you my blank templates for your own personal use.
(disclaimer: it has become very apparent to me that I need to upgrade my camera, hopefully you can get the idea from these pictures)
So here is how I do this:
I use two forms. First, I make a menu using the following template:
You will notice that I have not included spaces for breakfast. We pretty much eat the same things around here for breakfast: cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, toast, etc.. and I don't need to write it down to remember to put it on my grocery list. I have used a handful of different methods for the same task (calenders, etc..), but I like this format because it is specifically tailored to my families needs. In the morning (if I'm on top of things) I decide what I'm going to make for dinner (using my template above) and pull meat out of the freezer to defrost. The list hangs in my pantry on a clip board.
I don't make the items in any particular order, its totally up to what I feel like that day and how much time I have. I always have a few quick and easy meals on the menu for the days I want to just pull something premade out of the freezer and put it directly in the oven (this is usually
Now, to make the list I reference this template (bad picture alert):
This is a list of meals I often like to make. It doesn't include everything I cook, but it's a great quick quide to help me make my menu. This helps me avoid sorting through multiple recipes in my cook books, recipe car box, and recipe binder. I printed it out on card stock and filed it in my recipe binder for quick reference.
I have a VERY IMPORTANT TIP regarding menu planning if you are just getting started or find this method too tasking. Make the menu when you are hungry. Seriously, get up in the morning and skip breakfast, your snack, whatever, until its done. It's very difficult to make a menu for two weeks when your are not hungry and nothing sounds good.
Once you have the menu, make your grocery list off the menu. This is where you can save money, or avoid going to the grocery store every other day.
Now, if you would like these templates I am more than happy to give them to you for your own personal use. For some odd reason, Blogger doesn't have a feature for uploading pdf files and so I am going to have to figure out a way around this (long story). For now, if you would like these templates; you can email me at wellnessheather@gmail.com; leave me a comment on this post with your email address in it; or facebook me and I will email you the files. I am more than happy to share and would love to give them to you!
If you've never menu planned, try it!
The trouble I have is that my family groans over me trying something new. I, of course, want my children to be more adventurous when eating. They are ages 10 and 15. What is your opinion on tricking a tween and teen into a non-hostile food environment? Incidently, my Husband only want meat and potato stuff. I wish we were just all vegetarians sometime. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting!! Its so hard to deal with picky eating, which I deal with around here. I love almost all foods and love to try new and unique recipes. With kids at ages 10 and 15 it can be particularly tough because you can't "hide" the veggies from them. With the kiddos around here, I let them eat a breakfast and lunch I know they enjoy eating, but dinner is up to me. If they don't like it, they go hungry. Now in order to get the fruit and veggies into picky eaters, I actually make a fresh veggie and fruit juice every night that I serve with dinner. It's about 50% veggies and 50% fruit. Juicing, though it removes the fiber, packs a very nutrient rich drink. When it comes down to it, they get more nutrients from the fresh veggies in the juice than they do from the canned green beans I have to coax them to eat on their plates. We talk about how our bodies need fresh veggies and fruits to stay strong and healthy. They have to try a bite of their dinner and can be done, but the juice is not optional. They have to drink it. No toys, videos, life, etc... until that juice is gone. Another way to accomplish this would be by making green smoothies. With a decent blender you can get a lot of greens and fruit in one drink. I could throw advice at you about what I think would work with teenagers, but making the fresh juices is one way that i have dealt with picky eating and it has worked really well. Our immunity has gone up and now everyone looks forward to drinking the juice. Hang in there Momma and keep throwing the veggies at them!
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