This week I am delighted to be hosting Kitchen Tip Tuesday’s for Tammy, a weekly feature at Tammy’s Recipes! We would love to have you join in and participate by sharing one of your kitchen related tips!
Menu planning, a topic many have a love/hate relationship with. For some reason it can be difficult to sit down each week and come up with a menu that your family will be excited about. It doesn’t have to be that hard. I have come to find it quite enjoyable and even fun at times!
First, let me share that I have not always planned out menus a week at a time. Before we had children, I was not nearly as much of a planner as I am today. Some days I’d come home from work, open the refrigerator or freezer and at 5:00pm decide what to serve. Many days that ended up in dining out or a meal that was lacking in nutritional value.
Since having children I have found that menu planning is not just nice in order to know what will be served for dinner each day; it’s essential for there actually being a dinner! Days are hectic. Messes need cleaned up. Diapers need changed. Noses need wiped. Babies need loved. Pictures need colored. Trains need to be assembled. There are so many things screaming for my attention.
Menu planning has allowed me to know first thing in the morning what needs to be accomplished during the day in order for the meal to be on the dinner table. I can plan ahead. I can chop veggies. I can precook meat for casseroles. I can make a salad during naptime. Life is easier this way. Children are happier, I am less stressed and my time spent in the kitchen is actually fun!
Here are several tips to making menu planning easier for you (or at least they have made things easier for me!) and staying within budget during the process:
1.) Make a List
A few years back I would struggle to be creative. And, I don’t mean making an elaborate meal. I mean not having the same five dishes every single week. It seemed like we had tacos, stir fry, baked chicken and spaghetti all the time. Throw in the occasional salad for dinner and that was about as exciting as it got.
No wonder we ended up eating out. We were always resorting to those same meals. There’s nothing wrong with routine or serving some classic family favorites, but everyone needs a little variety.
One day I decided that I was going to change. I was going to start incorporating new meals into our small rotation. But, first I sat down and wrote down a list of all the meals that we have had in the past and liked.
Guest what? That list was pretty long! My husband and I talked it over, discussed some new ideas and added quite a few items to the list. Today, that list continues to grow. It ranges from lasagna to steak, black bean tortilla bake to turkey pot pie, roasted garlic and herb meatballs to egg sausage casserole! You get the idea!
Now each week when I begin to menu plan, I pull out our meal list. I have over a hundred items on this list. It gives me a great start. I search for things that sounds good, or things that we haven’t had in a long time and make my menus based upon the list. Don’t get me wrong, we still try new recipes fairly often. Actually, we’re trying to make at least one new recipe a week. Those new recipes are then added to the list if they are a hit with our family!
2.) Check your Pantry, Freezer and/or Garden
What items do you already have on hand that can be turned into a full meal with the purchase of an additional item or two? For example, if you have ground beef, some seasonings, tortilla chips and some cheddar cheese you could easily purchase some lettuce and salsa to make a taco salad. Focus first on the items in your home. This will help to keep your grocery shopping in budget and make for a lot less waste.
3.) Check your Grocery Store Sales
What products are on a great sale this week? How can you incorporate those items into your meal plan? In our area boneless chicken breasts go on sale regularly for $1.99/lb. When I see that in the grocery ad I usually plan an extra chicken dish or two during that particular week. Instead of just planning meals around what food sounds good, I make my menu based upon sales to make sure our budget stays in check.
4.) Write Our Your Meals & Make A List
This might sound like a no-brainer, but do NOT go to the store without a list. Even if you have a menu plan in your head, you need to check to see what items you actually need to purchase. If you wait until you get to the store you will second guess if you have enough cumin in the cupboard for your chili, or how full the bag of flour was. If you check these things while doing your menu planning you will not make unnecessary purchases or even have to make additional trips to the store.
I now make a menu that includes all of our meals: breakfast, lunch & dinner! This way I know what we are eating every single day and I make sure I have enough food in the house for the week! The picture below was my planning in process. The breakfasts had yet to be completed…and it was also a menu plan for our South Beach diet, Phase 1!
5.) When Grocery Shopping Keep An Eye Out For Deep Discounts
Whenever we go grocery shopping we are always looking for products that are marked down. We don’t always find things, but a lot of times we do. However, do beware, an item even on a deep discount is not worth buying if you would never use it!! But, if there is an item that you like, will use, or could incorporate into your meal plan then purchase the item if you have room in your budget.
We occasionally find Bob Evans sausage marked down from $3.99/lb to $1.99/lb. We purchase that right away! This past week we found 30 oz. jars of Pace salsa marked down from $4.19 to $1.05! We purchased several. Doing this will give me items to base my menu plan around the following week. It helps to keep your budget down and your pantry stocked, but not by paying full price.
6.) Life Happens – Be Prepared
Even with a well thought out menu plan, life still happens. Be prepared! I try to have 1 – 2 quick meals on hand that I could make if I need to change my plan at the last minute. There are times when a child is sick, or an emergency arises. Instead of having to grab take-out, we have these meals to fall back on. Our meals for these situations are either spaghetti or a breakfast dinner of pancakes/waffles and scrambled eggs. Both are quick to make and are items I usually can make with my stock in the pantry or freezer.
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