Ask a Food Blogger: How Do You Create a Menu Plan?

by Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger

07 Feb 2007 08:31 AM

I'm excited to answer my first food blogger question: I know I would eat healthier and we'd eat more meals at home if I had a weekly menu plan. But how do you go about creating one?

You are correct on both counts: menu plans will help you eat healthier, stick to certain goals, and it will decrease the likelihood that you have to get take out for lack of preparation. One thing that can help with menu preparation is recipe software. Most recipe software has grocery list features as well as menu planning features. I have written before about how I use my recipe software for creating grocery lists and choosing recipes that go along with my local grocery store's circular. However, I do not use my software to plan meals and create menus. I know, I know. . .how archaic of me. However, my laptop will not hang on my refrigerator and so I opt instead to do the menu planning on a piece of paper so that when I'm finished I can stick on the fridge. With that said, here is how I create our menu plans, step by step.

Step 1: Take a plain piece of paper and fold it so that there are 8 squares on each side. I plan for two weeks at a time.

Step 2: At the top of each square write the day and the date. Make sure to note any special events that are taking place. Get out your calendar! Think about what is happening over the next two weeks. Now choose a cooking method or type of food for each night based on what is happening. Ours looks like this:

Mondays is oven night. (Usually some type of casserole that can be prepared in the morning before my husband leaves for work.)

Tuesdays is stove top night. (Often it's breakfast for dinner night.)

Wednesday is crock pot night.

Thursday is leftover night.

Friday is roasted something. (Chicken, pot roast, pork loin, etc. I then can take the leftovers, slice them thinly, and we have sandwich meat for awhile.

Saturday is homemade pizza night.

Sunday is kid's help night.

Step 3: This is where I get out my circular and see what's on sale. However, you can see that your menu plan is really almost created. If for example, I see that chicken is on sale, then both Monday nights we'll have some type of chicken casserole dish.

How do I decide what to cook on what night?

We decide based on what's happening that afternoon. I cannot cook without a second adult at home. (Read a baby blog to find out why!) So I plan my cooking around my husband's schedule, and around my kids' afternoon classes. (On Wednesday for example, we don't get home until 6pm so it's worth the effort to get something in the crock pot in the morning so that when we come home dinner is ready.)

I don't think I need to go through quite this much trouble. . .

You might not. I have five kids and getting dinner on the table is not an easy task. We homeschool, have lessons for things like ballet and gymnastics and are very involved in our community. On the other hand, my mother in law is also very involved in her church and is very busy with her grand children. . .but without the five kids at home she just keeps a well stocked pantry and then goes to the store and buys whatever is on sale. Look soon for my next blog on what to keep in your pantry.

However, if you find that you are doing take out or "throw togethers" more frequently than you're cooking healthy meals for your family, planning out your menu a week or two in advance could really help you and your family get back on track. It also saves you money because you'll only make a trip to the store twice a month. It's a win/win situation!

Related Articles:

The Household Notebook Explained

Menu Planning Made Cheap

How to Save Money on Groceries

Learn more about Valorie Delp

Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line.

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Marily (836) 08 Feb 2007 01:17 PM

Great tips. I do a meal plan for our family, but it's just a little more flexible to suit our family. I plan for about two weeks' worth of meals, but don't have specific days of the week planned for most of them (unless there's a special event or something). After I have done my shopping, I put a list of meals up on the fridge. Then, throughout the week I can take each day as it comes and decide which of the meals I would like to prepare. Some of the meals are perfect for busy days, others are more time-intensive. I just have to think about dinner sometime during the day to make sure that I can defrost meat or start the meal at the proper time.

Valorie Delp (49340) 08 Feb 2007 01:51 PM

Right on Marily! I actually used to do it that way, now that you mention it. However, this is just one more example of how twins have taken over our lives. I cannot really cook unless there is another adult at home and even then it can get pretty difficult. So I really have to think about the kids' lessons and my dh schedule. Thanks!