Menu Planning: Solved!

I don't generally have a hard time with menu planning, except that there are only about a month's worth of meals we like and so juggling meals so we only eat them once a month sometimes takes skill.  My posts on menus are here, including our standard 4 week rotation.

Normally I do my planning Monday morning, but because of a Sunday afternoon Costco run, Sean was at the table with me Saturday night when I was making up the menu for the week.  He commented that there must be some online tool to keep your recipes in that would automatically generate a shopping list based on all the ingredients needed - he has some good thoughts, that man!  I'm sure there are a few, but there is one that I'm familiar with, and it's pretty slick.

It's called Plan to Eat, and it's got a place for all your recipes (adding them is even easy!), a drag and drop menu planner, and a grocery store assistant for your mobile.  I first heard about it through Kat at Inspired to Action - I've mentioned her before because of her Prayer Calendar for Mothers that I use every day (via twitter).  She had posted about it in the fall and I had checked it out then; I was impressed, but didn't feel I needed it at the time.  I still don't feel like I have a big need for change in this area, but I have been wondering how I can better organize the recipes we do use, and low and behold, Kat is this week offering a Meal Planning Boot Camp - walking people who want to use the site through it with tutorials and assignments and stuff.  I wanted to let you know about it in case it might be something you are needing to help organize and simplify your life.

The nitty gritty:  Using Plan to Eat costs $4.95 per month or $39 a year, but there is a free one month trial, and there is a coupon for 30% off on Kat's site.  So it's quite reasonable.

Check out Plan to Eat.

Check out the overview for the Meal Planning Boot Camp.  It's only day 2, so you can still jump in without having too much homework to catch up on!

Let me know if you jump on the wagon - I'll add you as a friend over there and check out your recipes.  :)

School Lunches

Ah, school lunches...  No, I'm not strapped for ideas yet - it's only been two days!  I am always open to hear what others are packing, though, so if you want to leave a comment with your great ideas, we'd all love to hear it.

Or do you have guidelines you want to share?  I go with a main (often supper leftovers or a sandwich), fruit, vegetable, dairy (cheese string or yogurt), and usually one other (crackers, granola bar, rice krispy cake).  I don't often send a drink, because they've got a water fountain handy (she keeps a water bottle at school to fill up), but once in a while I'll throw in a juice box or a crystal light or iced tea infusion to add some variety.

Do you send notes?  I found some Printable Lunch Box Jokes you can send for a laugh.  A little note tucked in a lunch is a wonderful treat to add some encouragement and a reminder of you in the middle of the day.  One day this summer I was getting some food ready to take a lunch to work, and M packed it in my bag for me.  Imagine my huge smile when I reached for some food and pulled out a scrap of paper with a happy face and "I love you, Mom" on it.  It works both ways.

Happy lunching!

Monthly Menu

Ever since Sean & I have been married, I've used a monthly menu plan.   (I've posted a sample before.)  There were some years it was more on the back shelf, but because it's a great tool  and makes my life easier, I've been pretty faithful at using it.  I've got four weeks laid out, and just cycle through them.  Monday is my grocery day, so I pull out the list, adapt the week's menu to suit our week, and make my shopping list from that. 

When setting up the plan, I kept in mind a balanced diet, our weekly schedule (piano after school Tuesdays means a shorter prep time, Friday can be a meal that's not great for leftovers), and food likes and dislikes.  I plan for six days - the last W means weekend, which for us is usually flexible; as long as I've got the fixings for one meal on hand, we're good.

Where there are two meals listed, I alternate and make one one month and the other the next.  I often switch up which chicken meal I make, too.  I have the Company's Coming Chicken Cookbook and like lots of the recipes in there.

Week One
M - Spaghetti
T - BBQ Steaks / Shepherd's Pie
W - Honey Baked Chicken
T - Lazy Perogie Casserole
F - Fish in Brown Butter
W - Burgers

Week Two
M - Tortellini Alfredo
T - Hamburger Helper / Meatballs
W - Parmesan Chicken
T - Lasagna
F - Tacos
W - Stirfry

Week Three
M - Van Raes Mac & Cheese / Penne Rose
T - Perogies & Sausages
W - Chinese Chicken
T - Hamburger Casserole / Canelloni
F - Fish Sticks & Fries
W - Frozen Pizza

Week Four
M - Roast Beef
T - Sloppy Joes / Hot Beef Sandwiches
W - Any Chicken Recipe
T - Chicken Lasagna
F - Pork Chops / Mexican Fish / Experiment with Something New
W - Chicken Fingers & Fries

Do you use a menu plan?  What are some of your family favorites or standbys?

Monthly Menu

The last day of February!!  That means March starts tomorrow and then my birthday is in one week!  I noticed looking at my fridge today that it also means I need to make a new menu.  For the first few years that Sean and I were married, I used a four week rotating menu; every Monday I'd pull out the next one and make my grocery list based on those meals.  I've gotten off that specific plan, but I'll still make a menu for the week every Monday, and look at the last few weeks to make sure I'm not repeating too many meals.  In February, because I was tired of making a menu every week, I sat down and made one for the whole month.  It's been nice to have that chore looked after; maybe I'll just re-use it for this next month...

Here is a copy of my menu for the month (click on it to enlarge); I hope some of you out there find this is helpful or maybe get some new meal ideas.  Of course, since I've scanned this instead of writing it out for you, you'll see that this is including all our nights out, too, and you'll notice that I made more and more switches as the month went on.  It's harder to project what things come up in a week when you're four weeks ahead.  When making my menus, I have to take in to consideration that I don't always get my groceries on Monday, so something I've already got on hand is safest.  Then Tuesdays, because of piano lessons (and often Wednesdays because of staff meetings), I have to plan something that doesn't need to bake for an hour.  These will be the quicker meals or the crock pot meals. 

Have a great last few hours of February!!  (And GO CANADA GO for one more Gold!)