As you may or may not have noticed, I neglected to post my weekly menu on Monday. There is a good reason for that. I didn't make one. I started to make one, but gave up and never bothered to finish it. Which means I did very little grocery shopping. So, we reverted back to our old habits. We had fast food twice this week, plus even when we ate at home it didn't amount to much nutrition. Then one night I didn't even eat dinner. I did manage to scrounge something up for Christian. We've had bagels with OJ (milk for Chip) for breakfast every single day this week. (Once again, a couple days I didn't even eat breakfast.) We have spent so much more on food and still have nothing in the house.
I was sick this week and I think that is why I was so lazy about the menu. I think it takes a lot less effort to come up with a menu than not to. So, in the future, I think I will make a menu even if I am sick. Plus, if I have a menu I can easily create a list and send Dave to the store.
Speaking of the menu concept...I've been thinking of creating a Dinner Recipe Box. Nothing fancy. Just something I could have easy reference to help with menu planning.
My first idea was to write a whole meal on an index card with a list of all the ingredients and quantities needed to make that meal. I think I would have to have more than just an index card to have enough room. Plus it would be nice to change up the sides, veggies, etc. depending on the season and so forth.
My second idea was to write each dish on a card with all ingredients and quantities needed. Then I could file them in categories under Main Dish, Side Dish, Vegetable, Fruit, Dessert, Salad or whatever I have. From that I could create a meal with a little more flexibility. This would take some time to compile, but I think would be very helpful in the end. I think this would be easy to maintain and add to as time goes on.
Do you have a system that works well for you? I would love any suggestions! Hopefully we will stumble upon the right method for our busy family. And if you would like to share any recipes with us we are in desperate need of new ideas! Please, nothing too complicated...and I don't do seafood of any kind (if it used to live in water, I don't eat it).
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Our menu plan went right out the window this week.
ReplyDeleteI have seen these really elaborate menu planning ideas, but they are way to much work for me. I like to keep it really simple. I have a list of main dishes that I know my family will eat and rotate through them. I don't usually plan side dishes. Again just keeping it simple I usually have veggies with every dinner -- unless dinner is something like hot dogs then my side dish is chips or something equally bad. As far as breakfast -- okay this is embarrassing to admit -- my kids eat cold cereal EVERYDAY. Except the weekends. And we are total ghetto with malt-o-meal cereals.
Just to let you know when I started my menus I planned 6 weeks at a time. Now I usually plan 2 weeks at a time, but only post 1 week at a time. That gives me a little flexibility. And usually groceries are purchased once every 2 week (except milk which we always run out of because the kids eat cold cereal everyday).
We have found that we save a ton of money with our menus. We were eating fast food 3 or 4 times a week.
Okay I will go away now. I guess I get really excited when it comes to menu planning and I am just a rookie at it.
I've got no good ideas. I try really hard to plan things that are good, but I always fall short. That's something I need to work on.
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