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MEAL PLANNING 101
By Toby Parsons – http://www.abundantlivingandgift.com
In our day of rapid inflation, I think the timing is prudent to write this article. “Meal Planning 101” is written to save you time and money.
For those of you who need help with meal planning, it is my sincere prayer that you will find this brief article helpful. Many young mom’s were never taught. If you know a young mom that could benefit from this, then by all means, please share it with them. All I ask is that you be sure to include my name and web-site link.
Design your menu form: Pick one day per week or if it works better and if at all possible for your family pick one day every other week to do your grocery shopping. From now on, you will ‘only’ do your grocery shopping on this designated day. On your computer or by hand, simply & quickly (nothing fancy) write out the days of the week. The menu form that you are creating needs to begin with the day of the week that you chose as your designated grocery shopping day. For example, say your designated shopping day is Thursday:
MENU’S FOR THE WEEK OF: 6-5-08
(Note: look on your calendar. 6-5-08 is a Thursday)
Cookbook Name
& Page Number
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| Write in the name of the cookbook & the page # the recipe is on here. Do this for each day on your menu. |
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Thursday: Plan something quick to make for this evening, as if you’ve been gone all day doing your grocery shopping and running errands.
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Friday: Maybe this could be casserole night? I would include lasagna and spaghetti in the casserole category.
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Saturday: Maybe this could be foreign dish night? Thai, Mexican, etc.
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Sunday: At our house, Sunday is ‘always’ leftovers day, which means I have to plan a dinner for Friday or Saturday that will produce enough leftovers for Sunday.
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Monday: At our house, Monday is often crock pot day, meaning I start dinner on Monday morning for this evening’s dinner.
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Tuesday: You get the idea. Use your imagination, and do what ever works for your family. You could use one night a week for trying new recipes. Call it ‘new recipe’ night.
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Wednesday: At our house, Wednesday is ‘always’ breakfast night, meaning I always plan a breakfast meal for this night.
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Tip for homeschooling mom’s: Make enough for dinner so that you have enough food left over for tomorrow’s lunch. This tip could also be useful for making hubby’s lunch for work the following day or plan accordingly if you know that you will be out of the house the following day for errands, shopping, etc. and will need to pack food along for you and your children.
Are you one of those people that can never figure out what to have for dinner? Begin a master menu list. Simply (again, nothing fancy) on your computer or by hand, create a form.
For example:
MASTER MENU LIST
| Main Meal |
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Cookbook |
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Page Number |
| Waldorf Salad |
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Everyday Wholesome Eating |
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97 |
| Brilliant Broccoli Pesto |
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From the Kitchen of the Two Sisters |
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143 |
| Berry Crunch Cheesecake |
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Rejuvenate Your Life, Recipes for Energy |
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111 |
| Chicken Noodle Soup |
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Better Homes & Garden |
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377 |
| Lea’s Amish Oven Chicken |
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Loose |
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---- |
| Cora’s Pineapple, Carrot, Zucc. Bread |
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Loose |
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| Corned Beef & Cabbage |
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In my mind, so I would leave this blank |
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| Potato Pancakes |
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Betty Crocker |
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314 |
| Etc. |
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There is no telling how many pages that ‘your’ master menu list will be. You may also want to create pages for strictly raw recipes or for strictly vegetarian recipes or designate a page strictly for desserts or soups, etc. The point is to organize it however it will suit you. Some peoples menu list is just a page or two, some people it is 10 +. Either way is fine!
Note: At a loss for menu ideas to write onto your new master menu list? Every night, you ate ‘something.’ Regardless of what it was / is, write it down on this list. In 30 days you will have written in 30 meals. Crack open a cookbook, any cookbook. Pick a few new meals to add to your list.
For ‘loose’ recipes, buy a 3-ring binder and divider tabs. Punch holes in recipe page / paper (usually a recipe that you acquired from your friends blog, off of the internet, or a friend shared with you in person). Categorize your divider tabs into meats / main dishes, breakfasts, desserts, soups, salads, etc.
Designate a place for these new forms, so you always know where they are. Perhaps a special binder for all of this.
Tip: Rate all of your recipes with a 1 to 3-star system. 1, being passable or maybe some family members love it, but not others family members, and 3, everyone loves it! If no one likes the recipe, put an X through it or throw it away. Start writing these notes into your cookbooks. You may wish to write in pencil.
Begin and maintain a running list that is kept in the same place. Make sure everyone knows to use it.
When you see that you are running low on something or run out, be sure to add it to your list. Remember to use this list as well when planning your grocery list.
Once you have a week (or two) of Weekly Menu’s planned, you need to plan your grocery list from these menu’s. You’ve already written on your menu’s the cookbook and page number that coordinates with all of your selections. Go get the cookbooks that you will need and look up the recipes. Read each recipe’s ingredient list. If you do not have or are running low on a particular ingredient, then add it to your grocery list.
By the way; do your meal planning and grocery planning at the same time. Designate a time to do this every week or two. Preferably do this one to two days before your grocery shopping day. You will need to look at your calendar when planning your week’s menus. For instance, if you see that your family will be out late on a particular evening of the week, you will know that you need to plan a meal that will be suitable for that situation.
Plan 2 meals that you could fix in an hour or less that you can keep ingredients on hand for in case you have unexpected company or a large crowd show up, if this is your lifestyle.
Life happens and every once in a while, your menu plan for the day simply doesn’t work out. This is the rare exception, ‘not’ the rule. So plan in advance 2 meals that would be super fast to fix, and be sure to keep those ingredients on hand at all times.
Using this planning system also allows you to fix more nutritionally sound meals for your family. You are now able to shop for things on sale. If you are a coupon clipper, you can plan your meals around the week’s coupons. You can buy in bulk when something is on sale, as you know that it is a reoccurring recipe that you make.
Planning ‘and’ planning ahead are the keys here.
Bon Appétit! ;-)
PS…Do not let any of this overwhelm you. It sounds much more than it really is. Just do one thing at a time, and it ‘will’ all come together soon. I ‘promise’ you that this is a huge time saver, stress saver, and money saver.
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