Menu Plan

Previously, the thought of creating a menu plan made me want to run and hide. I *KNOW* without a doubt that without a plan we spend more money at the grocery store.

However, (and it’s a big however) for many reasons, my menu plan looks MUCH different than most plans you will see posted on the net: 

1. I usually post my menu plan every Monday over at HummingbirdHomemaking. Once I hit publish my plan is guaranteed to change, usually within a few minutes. That’s okay – a menu plan is simply a TOOL to use for your family.
2. I don’t make a plan for breakfast (we eat the same thing every day).
3. I don’t make a plan for lunch. My husband has lunch at work and my kids eat at school. I eat leftovers and/or salad. If I had to provide lunch I would make more dinner and my family would eat leftovers (that’s what they do on the weekend.) Menu planning is much easier when you only have one meal to plan.
4. We eat primal and/or paleo “ish” meals which limits the amount of food that I buy.
5. I always make sure that there is meat, blueberries, green beans and peas in the freezer as well as rice, black beans, and tomatoes (AKA the pantry principle.) I have a pre-printed grocery list of items that I want to buy (and eat) weekly.

Lately I’ve been showing on my blog the questions I look at as I go through my menu routine:

• What outside activities will conflict with dinner? (2 minutes)
• What foods are in my cupboards, freezer and fridge? (5 minutes)
• Gather ideas: What dinner can I make for my son that he’ll love? My daughter? My husband? Myself? (4 dinner ideas right there) (10 minutes – ask your family!)
• Make a plan: 4 dinners from up above plus 1 KISS night (fix the same thing on the same night every week) = 5 dinner ideas already. A lot of people will add a leftover/out to eat night as well. (5 minutes)

Sandy said in an email to me ( I LOVE her last sentence!):

We try to eat a balanced diet with lots of meat or dairy as the bulk because otherwise we’re hungry, like you said, all the time. I buy ground beef at 2.58 a pound and chicken breasts at 2.49 a pound, 18 count eggs for about 3.00, sausage patties and biscuits every week. With that we have rice or pasta and a vegetable. I’ve cut back on the carbs and we rarely ever eat fast food.  I used to make a menu every week but found it was starting to cost me more because I would wind up needing to change a meal because something came up and the meal I planned would take too long to prepare or not be enough for everyone (unexpected guests). So, I was throwing together something else and had to go buy more ingredients. Lately, I’ve been making a guide line and having very similar meals each week. This way I could improvise if something came up. I also try to have a couple of extra meals in mind so I don’t have to run to the store every Friday because we’re out of food. Lately, I have been putting off shopping a day or two, which makes me feel like I cheated the system and only have to buy 5 or 6 meals that week (weird I know but perspective is everything to me.)

Important!

Perhaps a system or routine will work better for you than having a traditional menu “plan”.

 Is there anything I can help you with?
I hope so! Please send any questions or comments to:

JAEBROEDER @ YAHOO . COM

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This post has been linked to: GroceryCartChallenge, LifeAsMom and WorksForMeWednesday.