Breaking down meal planning

Basic Menu Planning

Menu planning is definitely not high on my list of favorite things to do. I do not love the tediousness of sitting down and grinding through my memory for foods that my family will/will not love, that I will/will not like to cook, etc. However, I love having the plan in the end. I love being able to get good healthy food on the table. 

If I do not have it planned, meat thawed, ingredients on hand, I will gladly drop it all and opt for fast food, or a dining out option. And we all know the value of a greasy fast food burger and fry! So...

Hi ho, Hi ho...its off to plan I go...

The very first thing I do is get my Google calendar for the month open on a device or a print out. Then I start the brainstorm process. Here are some of the rules I follow when brainstorming.

• I consider the time of year. The month I will be working on is July. July is HOT. I try to plan for a lot of BBQ'ing, outdoor dutch oven, crock pot, and instant pot cooking. Lots of summer meals.
• I look for schedule conflicts like when my husband is working, kids activities, etc.
• I look at what order I am serving food. Too many nights in a row of chicken? Mexican? Asian?
• I assign each night a theme for guidance. It is not set in stone and can be very flexible.
• I do not worry about sides yet. Those I will fill in later.

Where do I put all this info?

I have stored my menus various different ways. My current favorite way is in my bullet journal/planner.  I have found that keeping all of the calendars from past menus together, helps me with planning. I can go back and reference older menus and that really helps with ideas and popularity of the items served. I have even starred ones that the family loved or hated. 

Where do I get my ideas?

• I love cookbooks. Some that I put together myself and some in my collection of favorites.
• I like pinterest for a lot of ideas, but please check the ingredients...if they seem off to you, they probably are. 
• Friends and family. I get a lot of the tried and true recipes that way.
• I reference my old calendars for most of the meals even though I love variety. For really easy planning, you could do a 4-6 week menu that just repeats itself.

   

Where do I begin?

This is truly the hardest part. This is where you pick up whatever calendar you are going to be putting it on and just start brainstorming dinner ideas. Use a pencil, it is much easier to erase and move items to different dates. This will take care of the hardest part of menu planning...Dinner's main course.

What do I do now that I have a month of dinners?

This is where I break down the monthly menu to this next week. These are the steps that I have found most helpful in reducing waste in the fridge and in the pocket.

• Do a written inventory of everything in your fridge that is perishable. All the must-go's, all the open jars, all the fruits and veggies that will go bad soon. This is probably the most important step of planning and the hardest. Just do it...you will be so glad you did.
• Set up your menu for the week utilizing the inventory of your fridge, your monthly menu of dinners and your arsenal of recipes.

If you like to have your breakfasts and lunches planned, now is the time to do this. I will break this part down...

For breakfast, I always have certain things on hand. 

• Oats
• eggs
• chia seeds
• fruit
• sourdough starter
• Sourdough bread
• bacon
• sausage patties, links, ground
• heavy cream
• potatoes
• frozen fruits

I don't often plan breakfast. With these items always on hand, I can make smoothies, sourdough starter biscuits and gravy, hash browns with meat of choice, and eggs, quiches, egg frittatas, both overnight oats or cooked oatmeal served sweet or savory, chia puddings, sourdough pancakes or waffles, toast, etc. Add some fruit or veggies to these and you have a great start to your day.

For lunches, we often do leftovers, but again, I always have certain things on hand

• flour tortillas
• sourdough bread
• deli meat
• lettuce 
• cucumber
• carrots
• celery
• broccoli
• fruit
• cheeses
• corn chips
• homemade canned salsa
• home canned fruits, meats, pickles and veggies

I can always make  quesadillas, sandwiches, salads, finger snacks, etc. If there are must-go's, I try to heat those up first and then add fruits and veggies for sides.

For dinners, this is where my calendar of brainstormed main courses comes in.  

I usually sit down on Sunday and plan out the week ahead and I plan my dinner weeks from Tues. to Tues. I avoid grocery shopping on Saturdays. So by Tuesday for dinner I am often running pretty low on fresh produce so I try to plan with more of our "on hand" items like frozen or canned veggies.

For this week in my fridge inventory (see pic above) I had some veggies that needed to be used up - lettuce and grape tomatoes for Tuesday. Zucchini that we will use up on Wednesday. I have cucumbers that we will use in a salad on Fri. the rest of the veggies I will shop for on Tuesday. 

Here is an example of a week of dinners;

Taco Tues - Frito Dinner with lettuce, tomato, olives, salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, corn chips, and chili

Slow Cook Wed. - Spatchcock Chicken with Zucchini stir fry (Onions, Zucchini, bacon bits, garlic, cheese melted on top)

Throwback Thur - Fried Hot dogs and Potatoes with onions, served with green beans

Italian Fri - Build your own Pizza Sourdough crust pizza with mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, red onions, sausage, pepperoni, olives, pizza sauce and cheese. Served with green salad.

Casserole Saturday - Steak Fajita Skillet Steak cut into strips with peppers, onions, mushrooms, and zucchini that will be seasoned with homemade fajita seasoning, topped with a sourdough and corn meal topping and then cheese. Served with beans and rice.

Traditional Sunday -  Grilled Chicken Burgers with lettuce, tomato, BBQ sauce, sauteed onions, served with homemade coleslaw.

Meatless Monday - Brinner Sourdough starter waffles with scrambled eggs, topped with melted cheese. Served with fruit and orange juice.

Trial Tues - Chili Lime Chicken served with rice and black beans and fresh Pico De Gallo.

Now to the Shopping List

I make my shopping list according to what I will need for the week. I make sure all my pantry items and the "usuals" are going to last the next week. 

Prepping and planning

I like to pull the meats that I will need the night before. Sometimes I will pull three days worth and leave them in my fridge. If I have time, I will prep some veggies as well, but often do those the night of.

 

The things I often keep prepped-

• Onions, chopped in a jar in the fridge or in the freezer
• fresh broccoli florets
• chopped celery, celery sticks
• baby carrots, carrot sticks
• homemade ranch dressing
• homemade honey mustard dressing
• cooked ground beef, frozen loose
• cooked sausage, frozen loose
• bacon bits
• shredded cheese
• sliced cheese
• lots of canned beans and meats

I know this seems like a lot and its probably a lot harder to read it all, then to do it all. But if you just begin the process, it becomes easier and easier and you will develop your own routine. I hope that this gives you some incentive and maybe some ideas to incorporate into your own meal times.  Good luck and I hope you enjoy the journey!!