One of my very favorite things to do each week is to plan our menu for the week ahead. I have a planner on my cookbook stand (handmade for me by my brother and sis-in-law!) that is basically my command center. I have a lovely wall calendar… but let’s be honest… the planner is where I plan!

I thought I would put together a few tips that have helped as I have gotten down a system that works for me. This may not work for everyone. You might like some of these notes, and you might not. But, they have certainly come in handy throughout my years of homemaking.

Why Menu Plan?

First things first. What is the big deal about planning a menu? Why should I even bother? I would say first and foremost is that it makes for running a more efficient household. Less time for stress and frantic piecing together at the end of a day; less money wasted on bigger purchases or more frequent eating out; and less chaos as life happens and things become busier.

If I am intentional and plan things ahead, I will reap the rewards later. Don’t we always enjoy things more when we have prepared for them? As my Sweet Husband says, ‘You get out of something what you put into it.’ We have all surely lived long enough to know that time gets away from us. In other areas of our lives we have become streamlined and make things happen! So, why not menu planning?

Make a List

One of the things I learned early on was to make myself a list of our favorite meals. I even saved a note in my phone with meals I could make using either ground beef or chicken. That way, as I planned, or even if I was at the grocery store without a plan, I could fall back on this list.

So, make yourself a list! What does your family eat? You may actually surprise yourself by how many things get on this list. Some categories may include:

• Meats: pork, chicken, beef, fish, lamb
• Veggies: salad, peas, carrots, medley, roasted, raw
• Fruit Sides: fruit salad, applesauce, scalloped pineapple, citrus, sliced, chopped
• One Pot Meals: chicken pot pie, soups and stews, skillet dinners
• Meat and Three (2 of the 3 should be veggies)
• Sandwiches: pulled pork, hamburgers, Italian Beef
• Kid Friendly: pizza, chicken wraps, chili, lasagna, toasties

You get the idea! A list can help not only show what your family likes, but you can almost make it into a game of mixing and matching, pairing new things together! I had to do this during No Shop February and it was a success.

Shop the Sales

If you are a weekly grocery shopper, shop the sale ads in order to make your weekly menu. For example, don’t say ‘We are having pot roast on Tuesday’ if pot roast is not on sale this week. Have chicken thighs instead if they are on sale! If it is in your budget, stock up on things on sale that you may need down the road. Don’t forget small things that can save lots on sale (dairy, pasta, etc). Also, I am seeking to run a from-scratch kitchen. No purist! But seeking to make it a habit to make things and not buy convenience foods.

Rotate Your Meals

If this is seeming overwhelming to you, just choose 5-6 meals from your list and rotate them every week! My grandparents still often have the same thing to eat on a particular night of the week. Monday may be chicken. It doesn’t need to be a roast chicken every week, but it can be helpful to use these same meals until you get the hang of the planning. Then, add something else. Don’t let this overwhelm you. It’s meant to be helpful.

Cook Once, Eat Twice

One thing I love to do is to cook something and use it for many meals. That doesn’t have to mean leftovers! Here is what I am talking about. 1) Cook a whole chicken in the crock pot or oven. Debone (and make that nutritious bone broth!!) and use the meat for several meals. BBQ chicken on Thursday and chicken n’ rice on Saturday… (hmm, that may be my exact menu this week). 2) Cook some dried beans in the crock pot- for example, pinto beans. Use half of them in chili on Monday night. Take the other half and puree them for super nachos on Wednesday. 3) Boil some eggs (or steam them!…post coming!). Use some to top your grilled chicken salad on Tuesday. Take the remainder and make egg salad for a picnic on Friday. Or eat them as snacks throughout the week…

Does this make sense? I hope it is starting to sound doable to you. This can actually be fun!

Leftovers Night

We love leftover night in our house. If I am honest, my oldest son and Sweet Husband routinely eat leftovers for breakfast. Leftover night can be as simple as it sounds. Warm up the food as you prefer and each person can fill their own plates with what they would like to eat of what is left. My Sweet Husband loves variety- so this meal fits him to a ‘t’. He can have several different flavors all on one plate!

Some of you may not eat leftovers. Why not? You are saving money and not wasting by eating them. Maybe some of you can make meals that don’t have any leftovers- and that is excellent, too!

Batch Cook

Along with cooking once and eating twice, batch cooking can come in handy. I won’t elaborate here, but an example would be making two of the same recipe and freezing one for another day. Meat can be easily made ahead and frozen in portions for later.

Let’s Get Planning

So, let’s get started. Sit down with your menu, your sale ad and grocery list pad, and your weather forecast. What? Why the weather forecast? I do this when the seasonings are changing especially. I don’t want to serve chili if we have one last day in the 80s at the end of autumn. Nor do I want to plan to grill burgers if a storm is coming.

In my house, we eat two meals together daily unless it is farming season and my Sweet Husband is in the field. So, when I plan, I write ‘L’ for lunch and ‘S’ for supper. But, for simplicities sake, we will only plan one supper meal here. Open your planner to the week ahead (I usually menu plan on Sunday evening). Have your meal list already made and keep it handy (phone, on the fridge, etc). From your planner notice what your week ahead looks like: do we have any activities in the evenings? Is there a day that will work better for a crock pot meal? Now STOP….

The next step is to go to your fridge and pantry and see what needs eaten first. This is a crucial step for less waste and using up what you have on hand. Fridge: thawed or cooked meat, produce, sauces, juices, broths, eggs… Pantry: pasta, canned goods, grains… What can you make with what you have? Ex. make a soup from leftover veggies, tomato juice, and broth; use the last of the shredded pork for tacos; make potato pancakes from the leftover mashed potatoes…

Now, begin to plan! What is on hand? What is on sale? And, what will your family eat?

• Weekly Menu Example 1:
  • M– roast chicken and veggies in crock pot
  • T– burgers, salad, and corn on the cob
  • W– leftover ckn and vegs in a pot pie
  • Th– kielbasa skillet with veggies on hand
  • F– pizza with roasted carrots
  • S– tacos and leftover corn off cob
  • S-leftovers

• Example 2:
  • M– ham and beans with cornbread
  • T– ham (leftover) and potato casserole w/ roasted peas
  • W– chili using leftover beans
  • Th– pork roast with salad and pasta
  • F– pizza with last of the salad
  • S– leftover shredded pork sandwiches with skillet potatoes and apple sauce
  • S– breakfast

How does this feel? Overwhelming? Doable? I didn’t cover everything about pantry keeping and food prep, but this is a good way to begin. Please let me know if this is helpful. I could even do more of this type of thing in the future. Enjoy!!