Calming the Chaos – Menu Planning

I think there might possibly be just as many ways to menu plan as their are households that need to plan meals. But I never tire of talking about how other families plan and organize this needed chore. So, I am hoping that you all will share with me how you handle the menu planning chore in your home. But first here is how I like to put together my menu plan.

1. I start with “shopping” my freezer and pantry. I strive to put together as many meals as possible right from there as to use what we have and keep my monthly cost down. If I have to add a few simple items to round out these meals that is fine but I really like to create at least 5-10 meals with whatever I have in my “stockpile” or leftover from the month before.

2. I check the sale papers for the week I am shopping. I normally only grocery shop once a month. Now, I do make small runs to the store for fresh fruits and veggies (since we eat lots and lots of these) and to take advantage of any really good sales that might pop up in our area later in the month. If there is anything on sale low enough to be a “stock up” price then many of our meals that month will use that item. But sometimes I don’t find much “on sale” that I will use. Most of our meat we buy from my parent’s farm, so besides produce I don’t use much of what is on sale.

3. After I have checked the sales papers and my freezer and have made all of the meals that I can think of out of them I move on to special events or occasions that are happening that month. Any birthday parties, church gatherings, etc that I might need special food for are added to the list and then I just pull from my master list of meals to fill in the other slots. At this point my “menu” is really just a list of meals on a page in my household notebook. I just number the lines with the number of days that month and start writing. Now, I do try to pick meals that will fit well with our schedule on certain days. For example on Sunday I need something either in the crockpot or that can be prepared the day before and reheated. Since my husband is the pastor of our church we are often not home until 1pm or so. By then toddlers are hungry and my husband works up a good appetite when he preaches too. So I make sure I have meals that will work on the list.

4. Next it is time to shop. I am pretty careful to only buy what is on my list and I start at my local Aldi to stock up on the basics as their prices can’t be matched anywhere else and many times they even beat the sale prices. Our monthly budget is $300 (for food/paper products/cleaning supplies/personal hygiene items) so we eat meals that look different from other people. We have lots of side dishes with each meal to make the more costly things like meat go further. I bake homemade bread on a weekly basis and make almost all of our sauces and seasonings from scratch.

5. After the pantry is stocked and the freezer is full we move through the month fairly smoothly. I try to start each week with a menu plan that has lunches and dinners on it. This plan allows me to know what we are having for dinner first thing in the morning and then also allows me to choose meals that match our schedule for the week. As with lunches since all of the children are home each day and I now have 4 in full time school I need to be able to make lunch without a lot of thought. So planning it out at the beginging of the week helps with that.

And that is how I maintain calm in my menu planning. I try to avoid the chaos of nights with no dinner plan or days where the clock says noon and I haven’t even thought about lunch. How do you tackle the never ending chore of menu planning, grocery shopping, and meal prep in your home?