Planning My Menu

Alright...down to the first steps...

Here's how my meal planning begins. I have a regular notebook (not fancy!), and I write out the days and dates. I used to plan 1 week at a time, but now I plan for 2 weeks at a time. We use an all-cash system, but I'll get into the details of that at a different time! smile emoticon

So, I consult my planner and Chad's work and travel schedule to determine what evening activities we have to determine both who and when we will be home for dinner each evening. Then I decide what meals we will have...I've started asking each member of the family for a request of something they would like this month. It's been fun, and they love it when their choice rolls around!

Once I've planned the menu, I make my shopping list, always making sure to consult my pantry, fridge, and freezer so I don't buy something I already have. Also, when I plan meals, I often choose a recipe because I have many ingredients on hand, which ends up saving money and decreases the amount of food we throw away!

You'll notice 2 pictures....one that looks neat and beautiful and new that makes me look like I have every day together and my life is put together and perfect. Then, you'll notice the paper that looks like I've lost my mind and started free-writing whatever food thought came into my mind. There are scratch-outs, erase marks, and then more scratch-outs.

Why such a difference?

Because the pretty piece of paper is a brand new menu, and the messy one is what happens when life comes along and changes everyone's schedules. smile emoticon (Although if you look closely, you can see a coffee stain on the "pretty" list!) Meal planning means you are prepared and you've thought ahead, but it also means you are able to roll with the punches and move things around a bit. Because you've planned and purchased with forethought, you can still make delicious, mostly healthy meals for your family, even if it wasn't what your "original" meal plan looked like!

Not every week has so many crazy changes, but sometimes, they just do. You'll also notice that it's not as if our family eats all organic, perfect, homemade from scratch meals every night. That is reality for some, and I think it's awesome. But, it's not my reality...my reality is that I do the best I can to feed our family well-rounded meals most of the time, so that some of the time we have Chick-fil-a and McDonald's and I'm able to cut myself some slack! My friend Dana calls it the 80/20 rule, and I love that!

Let me know if you have any other fun meal planning tips!! This is simply how I begin!