My Current Menu Plan / Routine
- Print out menu planner. Fill in all activities for the week that could conflict with cooking (ie. sporting events, appointments, work, etc.)
- Pantry. Note items in fridge, freezer and cupboards.
- Collect ideas. When I see a recipe that I want to try, I add the link to my blog or send myself an email. I will look on my list of family favorites or ask my family what they want for dinner.
- Plan meals based on evening activities, food in the pantry, perpetual grocery list (items I buy every week) and suggested meals.
- Prep food
I assign one night of the week for each family member’s favorite food {ie. my son loves tacos and my daughter loves cream based soups.} This has made menu planning so much easier!
I also do the following:
- On Monday and Thursday bake 2 packages of sausages and make mini hamburgers. Breakfast is easy; warm up the meat and cook eggs.
- Monday – cook a chicken in the crockpot in the morning, then add water to the bones and make broth. Monday night is KISS night {serve the same thing on the same day every week – currently it’s Chef Salad}
- Make ground beef crumbles: fry 3 pounds of ground beef with onions and garlic. ½ of the meat is served for dinner one night and the other ½ of the meat is served for dinner another night. To this meat I can add taco seasoning, BBQ sauce, wing sauce, make chili etc.
I wrote a post over at my other blog HummingbirdHomemaking that might help you out.
** This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting my blog. This post has been linked to WeAreThatFamily.
Read more posts about creating a menu plan/routine that will work for you.