For me, this step is crucial. A big part of my food budget woes boil down to lack of planning. Dinner time, it seems, rolls around every day at the same time. As my husband and I like to joke, "Didn't we just feed those kids yesterday?"
Seriously, on most days I'm just not motivated to figure out dinner as the crucial hour approaches, so having a plan in place saves me from myself.
It may seem logical to just sit down with pen and paper to plan the first week's menus. But that's when writer's block can set in. In that case it helps to back it up a step and create a Master Menu List.
If a Master Menu List sounds scary, it's not. It is simply a list of all the meals your family likes to eat. And to make it simpler still, think in terms of categories as you create your list. Mine looks something like this:
Chicken:
Fajitas
Grilled Chicken
Chicken and Rice
Chicken Caesar Salad
Chicken Parmesan
Ground Beef:
Spaghetti
Lasagna
Tacos
Sloppy Joes
Meatloaf
Chili
Other Beef:
Pot Roast
Swiss Steak
Brisket
Stew
Fish:
Baked Salmon
Tuna Casserole
Boiled Shrimp
etc.
You can create categories any way you like. I have categories for salads, soups, Mexican, Italian. And depending on how detailed you like to get you can also list summer menus and winter menus. For instance, I don't make chili in the summer and we don't do as much grilling in the winter.
There are no rules here. Anything that makes sense to you is good. The idea is just to brainstorm and create as large of a list as you can so when that writer's block I referred to earlier sets in, you have something to consult. That will make moving onto the next step much easier.
Edited to Add: I submitted this post as part of 'Works for Me Wednesday' at Rocks in My Dryer. Visit Shannon's blog for hundreds of other great 'Works for Me Wednesday' tips.
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6 comments:
Thats such a great idea!!
I keep thinking I need to do this, and yet...have yet to find the time. Thanks for the encouragement!
What a wonderful idea...in fact, I'm pretty sure I did this a year or two ago and it's floating around in a cookbook somewhere! I'll go dig it out...maybe it will help dig me out of this fast food and freezer chicken nuggets RUT I've been stuck in. Thanks!
I did this about a year ago and it has really made a difference in my willingness to cook rather than eat out.
I really like your categories and the "big picture" view of the family recipe "repertoire" if you will. I've started this many times, but have gotten sidetracked and never finished it.
Here's my problem. I want some way to keep track of the ingredients needed too. I also want something portable because sometimes I need that info WITH me at the grocery store.
I often say "I'm allergic to paper" and I'm a big Palm (Treo) girl. I just can't find software I like. I want duel platform (windows desktop/laptop AND Palm software).
You've motivated me to look at my software options again. It's been a while, maybe there's something new.
I have done this, it makes menu planning almost mindless. LOL I just look at my master menu list and pick and choose things that I think will go well for dinners or lunches or breakfasts each week.
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