One of the things that works so well for me is menu planning once a month. If that sounds too overwhelming, a week at a time or every other week would still be quite beneficial. The reason I do it monthly is because I don't like to repeat meals too often so it takes a little time to sit down and create a meal plan. I'd rather just do it at once than to sit down every week or even every other week. I also like to buy the bulk of my groceries once a month as well. Again, its a time saver for me. I like to work in big chunks of time instead of small chunks more often. When I get working on something, I like to get a bunch done at once.
This really began when I was pregnant for Kaleb and Isaac was 18 months old. Since I no longer worked full time I wasn't in town much and I wasn't feeling that great. So, I started doing this plan and haven't stopped! It's wonderful. It does take some budgeting and lots of planning but well worth it. Not every month is perfect either. So, I thought I'd share my plan for the next 5 weeks. Normally I do 4 weeks at a time but am trying to squeeze 5 weeks out of a 4 week budget to see if I can use that extra week of grocery $$ towards another project. It's also a challenge to myself to be frugal.
There is also a method I use. I try to stick with "like" foods for each day of the week to keep planning and prep simple. Some evenings I have the time to make more than a main dish while other evenings I'm working so I just need to make sure the family has something hot to eat. Sometimes I stick to it and other times I do not. Please do not think that I stick to this all the time. I do not! Many times I find that if I have a plan I am more likely to cook better meals than if not. Sometimes I find that I did not get all the groceries I needed to make the meal so I have to substitute something else. And there are just some days I either don't feel like cooking or am not in the mood to eat what's on the plan. There is room for flexibility.
This is a 4-5 week plan because of how life looks in the next month. We'll be travelling and have other dates planned but you can still get some ideas! I tried to find links to as many recipes as possible. I have all mine printed in a binder or out of Pampered Chef's Casual Cooking Cookbook (which I love!)
Sundays -
Breakfast - cereal or toast & juice (every Sunday routine)
Lunch - Steaks on the grill (we love to use our grill in the summer). I vary the marinades I use. Salad from our garden.
Dinner - Smoked fondue, toasted ravioli, cold meat sandwiches, ham & cheese quesedillas - we love to eat appetizer food. Most of the time its not at all healthy!
Mondays -
Breakfasts - various muffins, fresh fruit and scrambled eggs (each Monday morning)
Lunches - leftovers from Sunday's lunch meat over a salad
Dinners - Grilled chicken sandwich, Italian chicken pasta toss, salmon with veggies, BBQ chicken sandwiches
Tuesdays -
Breakfasts - Sausage biscuit sandwich & various flavored smoothies
Lunches - leftovers from the night before or PBJ
Dinners - sloppy joes pocket sandwiches, sub sandwiches, Italian Salad Pizza & fruit kebabs, taco topped potatoes
Wednesdays -
Breakfasts - cereal or toast
Lunches - leftovers or chicken salad sandwiches
Dinners - Sausage & Potato kebabs, Cashew Chicken stir fry & fresh fruit, BBQ ribs & corn on the cob, Grilled porkchops & Hot German Potato Salad
Thursdays -
Breakfasts - cottage cheese & fruit OR yogurt parfaits with fresh fruit & granola
Lunches - leftovers or PBJ
Dinners - Pepperoni Pizzadillas, Baked Chicken & Stuffing, Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole, Tacos, Chicken Rice Casserole
Fridays -
Breakfasts - Biscuits & gravy, Breakfast Casserole, Pancakes & turkey bacon, Breakfast burritos, Granola covered French Toast
Lunches - Leftovers or PBJ
Dinners - Out to eat with hubby or some variation of our favorite pizza or burgers
Saturdays-
Breakfasts - cereal
Lunches - whatever you can find
Dinners - leftovers or our favorite go to meals (spaghetti, burgers, pizza, breakfast, etc)
I plan my meals one month at a time too and love doing it. It takes me about an hour, but it's worth it! I actually have mine on an excel spreadsheet like a calendar and only plan dinners. At the bottom, I have a section for ingredients by week. I just include the ingredients I don't usually have on hand. So when I run to the grocery store, I just check my menu's ingredient list and off I go. Saves tons of time and stress. We're also very flexible. I don't necessarily make Monday's meal on Monday, but planning it out ensures that I have all the ingredients I need to make food each night, even if I change it up a bit as I go. And since I save all my monthly menus, I only need to have about 4-5 and can rotate them so I don't actually have to do much planning anymore. I've also found it helps cut down on grocery expenses because I can plan meals that use the same stuff throughout the week so that I don't have lots of wasted food in the fridge that I didn't get around to using. :)
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