Weekly Meal Planning. - Hayden,ID

Try the website PlantoEat - it allows you to import recipes, set up weekly menus, and generates a grocery list for you. Pretty slick site.

I sit down with my 3 kids (my husband is pretty easy and doesn't overly care what I make for dinner) and let them each pick 2 meals for the next two weeks. I write down a total of 10 meals for two weeks and list ALL of the ingredients under each meal. Then the kids go on a hunt. I call out the ingredients and they tell me how much of it we have or if we don't have any at all. So I cross off the ingredients as I go and write what I need on a new sheet of paper to come with me to the store. Certain things are staples (fruit, veggies, pasta, milk, oj, bread, lunch stuff, etc...). Once all of the ingredients are crossed off, we go to the store and the meals get stuck to the refrigerator. It lets me know what I have groceries for and makes it easy to pick a meal a night ahead of time so the meat can thaw out. Plus this gets the kids involved. I always end up going to the store in between my bi-monthly run to stock back up on fresh fruits and veggies :).

Our grocery ads come out on Wed. So I take a look at what is on sale and try to use as many Sale items as possible.

I then make a list of what we alway have on hand to start my list.. I know we eat a salad everyday. I know we munch on carrots cucumbers, celery all of the time.. My husband loves crackers, so that is on our list.. The 2 types of milk.... You know what you all eat each week.

If ground meat is on sale, I decide what would I use that for.. I also decide to break it into smaller portions if it is a large amount that is on sale.
Taco meat
meat balls
Fideo
burgers
sloppy joes
Lasagna

Chicken Breast on sale?
I buy a lot of it and plan on grilling all of it with just salt and pepper. I freeze it.
Chicken fajitas
Chicken salad
Chicken casserole
Chicken and dumplings
Chicken Pot pie

Pork
Again we grill it. Salt and pepper. and freeze it.
Can be serves with rice, potatoes, pasta, fresh veggies.

Pork Roast. If it is large, I either cut it into pieces or I cook th whole thing in the crockpot. Once cooked, this meat can also be stored in the freezer.
Cuban sandwiches
Pulled Pork with BBQ sauce

Ham
Add to casseroles,
serve it for breakfast with eggs
Have a ham slice with a baked sweet potato and a salad

Veggies that are on sale, those are the veggies we eat with each meal.
Especially when they are in season.

Dried beans are great and can start out as a side dish and then turned into soups, dips, chilis.

Eggs and cheese
Omlettes
sandwiches
Homemade mac and cheese, you can add veggies or meat and make it into a casserole.

We love fish. It tends to be expensive here, so when there is a deal, we may eat it 2 or 3 times a week. Again we grill it very simply in foil, or I will poach it with herbs or it an be lightly browned in a skillet with a little bit of butter and olive oil. .

Canned tuna
Tuna noodle casserole, Tina with a cream sauce over rice, Tuna sandwiches

Cook what you know and then move on to recipes that look good and easy.

Hi E.,
I am no expert, and i am sure someone else is more efficient than I am, but this is how I do it: I usually do my grocery shopping on Mondays. So Sunday night I sit down with my recipe box and choose 6 - 7 dinners (some I know I will serve as leftovers another night) then I make a list of the items I'll need to make the dinners. Do you have a crock pot/slow cooker? If you are interested, send me a message, I have lots of recipes. It is so nice to throw everything in the crock pot in the morning and at dinner time it's done! I just put it on the table with a salad.

When I first got married (almost 19 years ago), I was having this very discussion with my best friend who had gotten married 3 months before I did. I told her I was so frustrated with cooking up meals and coming up with ideas. I didn't have any. Me and hubby were working full time, coming home with nothing to eat and we'd both venture to the grocery store every night after work to select our dinner. Many nights we would sit down to dinner at 8 or 9 P.M. I hated it. So my best friend told me how she was organizing/planning her meals and once I tried it, I adopted it for myself and I have been doing it ever since. I swear it is so easy to do and makes my grocery shopping a breeze!

First of all, what I did was create a menu sheet, 10 days worth. NO, I do not follow a Monday, Tuesday, etc. menu. I simply create 10 menu ideas and each day I select which one I have a taste for. For example, if I was going to make lasagna one night, I would write "Lasagna" for menu idea #1 and if I was going to serve something with it, I would write, "served with" garlic bread. I created a grocery list on my computer and have it organized by how my grocery store is set up...so I am not running all over the place. I have a huge selection of recipe books, and quite a few web sites that I visit to find ideas. Once I have written down my menu ideas, I create my grocery list (simultaneously) and I only buy the things I need. I never end up with more than I need (no waste) and if I have a lot of produce, I plan on making the dinners with the most perishable produce items first (ie. mushrooms). I go shopping every two weeks, on my husband's pay day since I'm a full time SAHM. Some web sites I use are below:

http://allrecipes.com/
http://www.rachaelray.com/food.php
http://www.foodnetwork.com/

I hope you find these ideas helpful. Good luck.

This is my specialty! One of my favorite parts of being a full time wife and mom. I use my cookbooks, recipes I have created, or new ones I come across in a rotating fashion. When the grocery store ads come out, I use those as kind of a guide (example, if there are deals on particular items, I work those into the menu for that week, so I can save a buck or two). I also print coupons off target.com and coupon.com and clip Sunday coupons too. I believe in using coupons, but only for things I buy anyway or a new item we want to try. I don't fill my house with junk we won't use just cause I can get it for cheaper.

I usually shop on a weekday morning, (it's an added way to ensure fresh items, and low crowds) But that's not an option for everyone. I make a list for 7-10 days of meals, try to not do similar things back to back and then I make my grocery list around what is needed for those meals (many things may already be in the pantry) I highly recommend a cookbook with a basic pantry items list in it-this will save you time and money ! Whole Foods does one on their website too. I also try to make things that make good leftovers cause hubby takes his lunch usually 4-5 days a week. To give you an idea-here is this week's menu in our house:

Monday-Spaghetti Squash (regular spaghetti made with spaghetti squash instead of noodles and I load up my sauce with tons of veggies like zucchini, peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc)

Tuesday-Fish Tacos

Wednesday-Beef Stroganoff

Thursday-BBQ chicken with potato salad

Friday-Date night, so we'll eat out

Saturday-Fajita Tacos on the grill

Sunday-scallops with mushroom quinoa and sauteed spinach

These are all pretty basic, easy prep meals. I don't do meals out of a box. Most of those things are actually so easy to make anyway without all the garbage in them. I have my own variations of everything so that it stays fairly healthy. Like, all our meat is cruelty free, organic raised, etc. I use ground turkey instead of ground beef for any ground meat meal, leave skins on potatoes, use low sugar, low fat sauces, no corn syrup, pack lots of veg into every meal anyway I can, serve a salad when in doubt for a side dish. Some helpers for quick meals is flash frozen wild fish and flash frozen vegetables or potato side dishes. On a down day or when you're cooking another meal and chopping, do some extra chopping of onions, garlic, peppers and other multi use vegetables and aromatics and put in Tupperware for quick use. Make a big salad on a weekend and you can eat on it for 3-4 days-just leave tomatoes separate or it will get watery.

Some weeks we eat more typical all American meals, sometimes I toss in something more fancy, some weeks more fish than others...just keep it rotating. I highly recommend Rachel Ray's cookbooks (they are easy, fun dishes you can put your own spin on) watch food network for ideas, take old recipes from mom or grandma and rework them. I guess this comes easy to me because I have a passion for food and being in the kitchen. A lot of people like AllRecipes.com.

Get the family in on it. I try to make one of my son's favorites once a week and let hubby pick or two dishes for the week when menu making. I treat it like a project because I think that way. I made a clean organized list, put it in order of the grocery store I shop in so that I can move quickly-it's like a challenge to be as efficient and frugal as possible and still make great meals.

Best wishes!

Hi E.,
My attitude about the whole thing is different from yours because cooking is my passion so to me it's not a chore. I spend a lot of time on recipe websites like foodtv.com & allrecipes.com (there are about a million more, but those are my 2 main go-to websites). I sit down with the grocery store advertisements on Saturday morning & make a grocery list based on what's on sale or just what I'm feeling like making. I ensure that I always have the staples on hand like butter, flour, spices, oil, etc., but also canned tomatoes, beans, rice, potatoes, noodles, vinegar, and anything else we use on a regular basis. That way, when I grocery shop, I can buy big packages of chicken or hamburger meat, separate & freeze them into family-sized portions for when we need them. In the morning before I leave for work I usually pull a package of meat out of the freezer & stick it in the fridge then I've got al day to decide what to do with the pork chops/chicken/whatever I pulled out that morning. As long as we have enough staples, meat, & fresh veggies on hand, I can come up with plenty of options for us to eat for 2 weeks!

Firstly write a list of the things your family likes to eat. Come up with 10 or so things you know you will all eat and use it as a base. Then get the weekly sale flyer from your grocery store and find things on sale. Now you have variety and some old staples. Also think about your schedules ... are there some days when you get home late? That would be a good day for a slow cooker meal or leftovers. Then you can plan accordingly.
Write a shopping list. Don't shop hungry.
The slow cooker is your friend. There are some wonderful menu planning websites around.
One suggestion I saw was to pick a theme for each night for example Monday is slow cooker day Tuesday mexican, Wednesday italian...
So you are not eating the same thing on the same night every week just using some guidelines.

E.:

Go to your pantry and see what you have. Pull out a cook book and see what you would like to make - if you work full time - then I would suggest getting a slow cooker cook book so you can put something in on low in the AM before you leave for work and it will be done when you walk in the door at night.

I look in my freezer and see what I have. I then check out my cupboards and see what's there....then I ask the kids for suggestions.....it's not all about me (darn it!! It's SUPPOSED TO BE!! :) )

I make a menu for the week based on that and do my grocery shopping based on the items I don't have. Now that it's baseball season - I am doing the quick and easy meals - things that I can prepare during the day and pop in before we go to practice (i.e. enchiladas, chicken, casserole, etc.)

When I've been really busy listing stuff on ebay and calling potential candidates - i make sure I have the Bertolli frozen meals - they are absolutely the BOMB!!!

HI,

It would be better if you could come up with specific menus for the day so that when you go to the grocery, you know what exactly are you going to shop for. This could minimize time, energy and a lot of savings as you could avoid buying for things you won't be needing. I also agree with Katie that you could make use of leftovers and make them to an entirely new menu.Tell me what mostly your family would like to eat, are you more of meat, vegetable or mixed? Then I could help you further for menu tips.

You have a lot of good advice I wont repeat. Sounds like you know how to cook, you just aren't inspired.
My suggestion is keep your freezer and pantry stocked with staples and easy meal starters. If you always have rice, pasta, can soups, a variety of jarred pasta sauces, frozen meat, veggies, cheese, eggs, and fresh veggies on hand it's much easier to whip something up. I usually walk to my pantry and stare at it until inspiration hits. You have to have a good stock of stuff in there to spark your inspiration. Also keep yogurt, and string cheese on hand for when you just dont feel like cooking but still want her to get something healthier than chicken nuggets.
Shopping at a gourmet, ethnic, or at least unfamiliar stores always spraks inspiration in me. You see differant ingrediants displayed that may spark something in you.
Also, watching food network can get your creative juices flowing. Even if I don't make exactly what they make, I always get a lot of ideas. Let your baby watch with you and get her involved inthe cooking. Maybe you would enjoy it more if you do it together.

There are websites that will give you a menu with instructions on how to prepare it and a shopping list. The one we use is e-mealz.com. It costs $15.00 for 3 months. In addition to the regular menu, they have many other options to choose from such as low fat, vegetarian, low carb, and even one based on weight watchers points. Another thing, some of the menus are based at a store's (Wal-Mart, Kroger, Target) weekly specials.

A- Buy a good book on organic cooking. This will save you doctor bills, time lost to illnesses and make your custodial child a very healthy human being.
B- Develop a series of recipes you can make any day of the week. For instance. I cut 5 to 7 different vegetables and cook them together so they can be eaten on different nights with different spices. Cook brown rice in a rice cooker and have it available at all times.
C- decide if you want meat and fish meals. Then learn the easiest way to cook them. Fish in a frying pan, water on the bottom, a couple of pats of butter or a tablespoon of olive oil. Slice mushroom or lace pan with thyme, rosemary and other herbs. Cook until flakey. Takes about 20 minutes.
D- Teach your child to cook so you can do it together which makes it a family activity including measuring spoons and cups and learning how to use a timer.

You sound creative enough to make anything fun. Can you get your daughter and husband involved? They can contribute ideas and help in the kitchen. I don't love to cook, but I can definitely think of things far more boring:)

Every week before I go grocery shopping I look through my recipe box and pick a few meals. Usually 3-4 meals for the week and leftovers for the days between. That way we can pick and choose what meals to make on what day. I try to make a bigger meal requiring more time on weekends.

I grocery shop once a week. Each week I pull out a piece of paper and list each day with space for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for each day. Then I just start filling it in, taking into account days I won't be able to cook and days we'll have leftovers. I try to make enough food to have leftovers for one more meal.

Then I list all the ingredients I'll need for the entire week on the back of that paper. I put them in categories like: produce, pantry, meat, cold/dairy, and frozen - so that I'm more organized at the grocery store.

I also cook fairly simple meals that are pretty healthy. I put lots of finely chopped onions, celery, and bell peppers in casseroles to up the veggies. We eat a lot of homemade chili, spaghetti, and casseroles.

Ask your friends and familly for their absolute favorite easy recipes. This would be a great place to start.

Like many have already said, I go through the recipe book and plan for at least 7 meals. We have our own recipe book that we have created based on what we have tired and know we like to eat. Then write down all the ingredients for those meals. You can cross off your ingredient list anything that you already have in the house so that you don't buy it again.
To organize grocery shopping this is what I do, I write my list based on how the store is set up. You can usually get a copy of the store lay out on line or at the service desk. It will also tell you what food groups are in those isles. Then you make your grocery list based on that layout, so that you get everything you need as you pass by it and you won't have to come back around. I would suggest waiting to choose the frozen things for last, simply because they have a shorter out of the freezer time limit. If you make it easy for yourself, it is not such a burden to do, it is not fun but you get done quickly.

I'm not sure how old your child is but my 3 and 5 year olds are kind of picky. I try to make kid friendly food that is mostly healthy. Here are some that they like. I always have canned fruit (pears, peaches, little oranges, applesauce) as a back up side dish. Also have some frozen veggies that can be microwaved quickly.

English muffin pizzas (whole wheat english muffin, spaghetti sauce, mozzeralla - add veggies or meat if you like, 20 minutes at 400)

Box mac-n-cheese with veggie hot dogs cut up in it (2-3 per box) and a handful of cheddar cheese added.

Bean and cheese burritos with avocado chunks on the side.

Costco (and probably other stores) have chicken nuggets with whole grain coating, serve with baked beans and fruit or veggies.

Scrambled eggs - if she will eat it add some steamed veggies to them and top with cheese.

As a working mom with young picky eaters I struggle to find and prepare healthy meals that they will actually eat! Hope that helps.

Take some of these suggested meal items and write them, along with some favorites on a paper plate. Unbend a paper clip partway and poke it up through the center of the plate for a spinner. Have your daughter spin 4-5 times and you have your menu for the week. For the other 2-3 days, one should be leftovers and one should be going out and giving yourself a break. You can either use the 3rd, if there is one and eat leftovers or give yourself another break, order pizza, whatever. This way your daughter gets involved and if old enough can help cook with stirring, etc.

My kids love to help in the kitchen. It takes a lot longer, but we enjoy bonding over cooking and just seeing them light up with doing what grown ups do, so rewarding.

The other night, we had waffle sandwiches for dinner and some fresh cut veggies. So easy. The sandwiches were basically grilled cheese with bacon. You can do ham, make BLTs, etc. with soup. Easy and yummy.

Hi E.,

I like cooking, but hate figuring out what to make for dinner. Meal planning has been my saving grace, especially since becoming a mom. Here's idea of how I've been going about it recently:

1. Try planning for two weeks at a time. That way, you can really streamline your grocery shopping--buy all of the non-perishable and frozen/freezable goods for the whole two weeks, along with the first week's dairy and produce. Then on the second week, you only have to buy the items that don't keep--milk, fresh fruit and veggies. I'm actually moving to a monthly plan now that I have two kiddos.

2. Come up with a short list of breakfast and lunch options. For us, breakfast is usually cold cereal with milk, hot cereal (oatmeal or cream of wheat), and yogurt with toast. Lunches tend to be cold cuts, chicken or tuna salad (using canned meat), leftovers, nut butter sandwiches, Bocca burgers (I like the bruschetta flavored ones topped with a little spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese.)...Things that are quick and easy.

3. Make a list of your simple meals: grilled meat, veggie and microwaved baked potatoes; soup and sandwich; pasta with sauce; ready-made frozen meals; stir-fry; taco/burrito meat made with ground turkey. If she's old enough, have your kiddo help you find some new recipes that you'd both like to try. Look for recipes for your favorite take-out meals. The result will be much healthier than if you ate out. And I have a formula: 1 protein, 1 veggie, 1 starch/grain to make a meal. Some main dishes will have all, some will need to be a main and sides.

4. Look at the calendar and make a menu. Figure out which nights are the best for you to cook a more involved meal, which nights need a quick fix, and which days you could use the crock pot. Do you have a traditional meal on a particular day of the week (we almost always have homemade pizza on Sunday nights)? Fill it in. Plug those easy meals in on some of your busier days.Put new recipes on days when you'll have time to cook. Put your most perishable items at the beginning--use fresh fish or asparagus on grocery day, or you'll have to toss it. Plan canned or frozen veggies for the end of the week. And plan for leftover nights. Otherwise, you'll never eat them.

5. Make your grocery list based on your menu. Include quantities to make sure you have everything. I organize my list by department: dry goods, produce, diary, meat, frozen, non-grocery. It makes my shopping much more efficient because I don't have to go back to find things I missed quite as often. I try to do this the day BEFORE I go shopping.

6. If you use coupons, clip and put the ones you might use with your shopping list.

7. On the nights you make a big meal, double it and freeze some so you have it ready to go for the future. Soup, chili, pot pie fillings, taco meat are great for this. Then you'll just have to thaw, heat and eat later. Check out freezer cooking books (like "Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer") for ideas.

8. Let your kiddo help in the kitchen! There are tasks even my three-year old can do. It will teach her important life skills and give you an opportunity to talk. It slows things down a bit and can make a bigger mess, but it's worthwhile.

9. Always keep a couple of no-brainer pantry meals around as well for the nights the unexpected happens. I usually have grilled cheese/tomato soup/veggie sticks and some premade frozen meals and frozen chicken breast/canned green beans/microwave seasoned rice packs available. I don't plan to use them, but they're there when I can't do what I planned.

Best wishes!