Menu Planning is difficult!

this whole menu planning thing is hard to do, especially when your trying to eat healthier. How do you girls do it every week?

Re: Menu Planning is difficult!

I've been incorporating all the fresh produce from our garden, family garden and local farmer's markets into every meal.

This morning I just made fresh sauce, I also have zucchini, onion, eggplant and canned tomato going on the stove.

I am making a spaghetti squash in advance in the oven right now.

I am making penne pasta with ground meat mix and sauce as well.

We had a bunch of green beans from our garden as well, so I am steaming them as well with cut up tiny pieces of ham.

I also tend to make big salads during the week, or a yummy cucumber salad and we just rotate the types of meats we make on the grill.

I find if I prepare a bunch of stuff in advance (especially since I work F/T), it's easier.

We then use this stuff for lunches and dinners.

Re: Menu Planning is difficult!

I made a list of every meal that I know how to make from scratch and then put down the page numbers and cook book name of every meal I want to make as one big list. I then look at my local weekly circulars to see what is on sale. Some times I get the on sale item but other times there is nothing there that I like so I don't. I then go through what we had the previous week and try to incorporate all of our left overs from the prior week. I think about what my kids like to eat and try to make sure that every meal has at least one thing for them. I am not a short order cook so they get what is made for dinner. I ask my family and get input. If it was up to my 3 year old we would eat chicken nuggets and pizza all the time. Lol

Re: Menu Planning is difficult!

Lately I've been doing it by preference/requests, then season, then sales.

So I'll ask if anyone has any special requests for the week - kids will almost always want tacos, chili or breakfast and Rob will want some sort of chicken.

I then consider the season - I tend to cook lighter meals and grill a lot more in the spring and summer. Late fall and winter bring on more soups, stews and roasts. I shop the farmer's markets until they close up around November - so I look to use in season produce.

Then I check out the sales flyers and see what the local butcher has to offer.

I still do an old school menu usually - 1 protein, 1 starch - and then a couple of veg. I know it's outdated, but it's what I like.

Then I build my menu - I try to not do the same protein or starch 2 nights in a row (which isn't always successful but whatever). I try not to do too much beef or pork (I look to limit it to 2x a week max).

It sounds like a lot - but all of that takes maybe an hour out of my life on a Saturday and makes shopping and cooking a lot easier for the rest of the week.

Re: Menu Planning is difficult!

I keep a word document of recipes I find online that seem good and easy. Then the week before I try to choose 4 recipes and make my shopping list based on them. we usually cook 4 nights, eat out one night, have leftovers one night, and eat with DH's parents one night. I also have down time at work that allows me the time to do this.

Re: Menu Planning is difficult!

thanks all for the suggestions....

I asked DH for suggestions for the week and then found some recipes. I made my shopping list based on the recipes and typical things we eat as snacks for the week. I started an excel spreadsheet so I can keep a log of what recipes we decided on and a list of the stuff we bought.