jackson'smama Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 including all meals and snacks? if so, please share how you go about this: weekly? monthly? do you find it's worth the extra effort to plan in this detailed manner? i'm SICK.SICK.SICK of cooking and/or trying to come up with what to cook. and that includes just about every meal and snack. i keep thinking if i'd take the time to plan it out, it make my life easier. i dinner plan now, but that's it. any advice? maybe there's another trick (not planning related) that you have for getting thru a similar funk? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I plan all meals and 2 (high calorie for my kids) snacks per day. I have other stuff for snacks that they can have any time-fruit, yogurt, cheese, etc. Plan a week at a time, once you have 4 or 6 or 8 weeks of plans, then just rotate them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily_Grace Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 We don't, but I've learned what my limitations are in the kitchen and that's helped a LOT. Mama doesn't do anything before coffee, so that means I stock up on bananas and yogurt for the kid who can't get food for himself. I can chuck one of those at him and call it good for about 20 minutes, until I've had a chance to wake up. Lunch is usually leftovers redone. We make enough dinner to have a bit left over for the next day: roasted chicken gets diced that night for sandwiches or quesadillas. Taco meat becomes biscuit balls. And if anyone doesn't like it, the pb&j is right there, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackson'smama Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 I plan all meals and 2 (high calorie for my kids) snacks per day. I have other stuff for snacks that they can have any time-fruit, yogurt, cheese, etc. Plan a week at a time, once you have 4 or 6 or 8 weeks of plans, then just rotate them. care to share a sample of your meals? pretty please :001_smile: i feel like my brain has been drained of all food ideas that aren't currently in my menu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR the hs dad Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 This is the thread that finally tipped me over to registering for the forums! We typically plan for five or six meals at a time. (Our family is large enough that this fills at least one grocery cart.) We look at the grocery ads to see what produce and meats are on sale and pick meals that take advantage. For these reasons, and because fresh produce only lasts for so long, it doesn't make sense for us to plan a longer menu. We generally like to cook, especially when my wife and I can cook together, but there are certainly times when we just want a "quick and easy" menu for a few days. We have an ever-evolving list of favorite meals that is heavily biased toward quick and easy preparation. These are what populate most of our menu, with a new recipe or two from the latest Cooking Light thrown in. If we are sick of cooking or don't have the time or energy to spend on meal-planning, our next menu will consist entirely of familiar, fast, and easy meals. We also have a short list of super-easy meals that we can prepare with what we usually keep stocked in our pantry, for when our menu runs out or we're too tired to cook. We don't plan snacks - too much work for us! We just try to keep a supply of fruits and snacking veggies on hand (if 7 kids each eat just one piece of fruit per day, that's at least 35 pieces of fruit per grocery trip!), and enough bread to satisfy the pb&j desires. My wife makes breakfast (pancakes, waffles, or sometimes oatmeal) and we do leftovers or pb&j for lunch because I need a break at lunchtime after a morning of schooling. My advice would be to ask the family for their 5-10 favorite meals and pick out the easy ones that you would be willing to eat frequently, maybe even weekly in some cases. Write that list down and use it to populate your menus and throw in a little variety as much or as little as you feel like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 No. I keep meaning to, but I'm an abysmal failure at this. I've gone so far as to write down all our favorite recipes, but then when I get to the store I just buy whatever looks good and cook around the things that we have in the kitchen. There's a gorgeous system on pinterest with magnets and color coding... my hyper-organized dream self drools over it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Here are some ideas that I have listed here before, just copying and pasting. :) Breakfasts: Breakfast burritos baked oatmeal omelets crepes (they are mostly egg) boiled eggs and fruit migas huevos rancheros yogurt parfaits with homemade granola, greek yogurt (it's higher in protein and lower in sugar than regular) and fruit waffles with peanut or almond butter biscuits, sausage, scrambled eggs breakfast pizza various egg-based casseroles french toast with bacon Breakfast frittatas Quiche Lunches: Most of these are easy and nutritious and many are fairly low in cost. tostones, black beans and rice (I've posted my tostone and black bean recipes here before) tortellini with parmesan and veggies Baked Potatoes Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese sandwiches Hummus, Pita Bread and tomato/cucumber/onion/black olive relish stuff Baked Potato Soup mini quiches (these are super easy to make and freeze to re-heat at lunch time!) bean burritos with avocados and chips with salsa bean and polenta pies (put a slice of polenta in a ramekin and a red and black bean/onion mix inside topped with a little cheese and bake) homemade mini pizzas and pineapple funny-face egg salad sandwiches (open face sandwiches served with carrot sticks, slices of pepper, sliced olives, anything that the kids can use to make faces) homemade waffles with bacon (the kids LOVE this for lunch! but I do it rarely) flautas (make and freeze ahead) with cheese cubes and 7 layer dip ham and cheese bagels corn chowder wontons (yes, they are a lot of work for lunch but I love them, they are delicious and sometimes I want them!) and rice chili/cornbread pie pasta salad broccoli and cheese soup with rolls aloha mini-cheeseburgers-I mix crushed pineapple with the meat and make small patties, cook them on the griddle and add a slice of sharp cheddar to the top then serve on hawaiian sweet rolls. I like baked sweet potato fries on the side. veggies, bread cubes and cheese fondue 15 bean soup and cornbread Snacks: Homemade Pizza and pears PB&J sandwich with yogurt Naan, olives and hummus Tortilla chips with layer dip mini quiches and applesauce Apples and PB with yogurt s'mores and bananas Graham crackers with nutella homemade vanilla pudding applesauce and cheese PB and banana pinwheels Nachos and a smoothie PB&J sandwich with yogurt Nutella wontons with fried bananas Devilled eggs and veggies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackson'smama Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 THANK YOU!!!!!! Here are some ideas that I have listed here before, just copying and pasting. :) Breakfasts: Breakfast burritos baked oatmeal omelets crepes (they are mostly egg) boiled eggs and fruit migas huevos rancheros yogurt parfaits with homemade granola, greek yogurt (it's higher in protein and lower in sugar than regular) and fruit waffles with peanut or almond butter biscuits, sausage, scrambled eggs breakfast pizza various egg-based casseroles french toast with bacon Breakfast frittatas Quiche Lunches: Most of these are easy and nutritious and many are fairly low in cost. tostones, black beans and rice (I've posted my tostone and black bean recipes here before) tortellini with parmesan and veggies Baked Potatoes Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese sandwiches Hummus, Pita Bread and tomato/cucumber/onion/black olive relish stuff Baked Potato Soup mini quiches (these are super easy to make and freeze to re-heat at lunch time!) bean burritos with avocados and chips with salsa bean and polenta pies (put a slice of polenta in a ramekin and a red and black bean/onion mix inside topped with a little cheese and bake) homemade mini pizzas and pineapple funny-face egg salad sandwiches (open face sandwiches served with carrot sticks, slices of pepper, sliced olives, anything that the kids can use to make faces) homemade waffles with bacon (the kids LOVE this for lunch! but I do it rarely) flautas (make and freeze ahead) with cheese cubes and 7 layer dip ham and cheese bagels corn chowder wontons (yes, they are a lot of work for lunch but I love them, they are delicious and sometimes I want them!) and rice chili/cornbread pie pasta salad broccoli and cheese soup with rolls aloha mini-cheeseburgers-I mix crushed pineapple with the meat and make small patties, cook them on the griddle and add a slice of sharp cheddar to the top then serve on hawaiian sweet rolls. I like baked sweet potato fries on the side. veggies, bread cubes and cheese fondue 15 bean soup and cornbread Snacks: Homemade Pizza and pears PB&J sandwich with yogurt Naan, olives and hummus Tortilla chips with layer dip mini quiches and applesauce Apples and PB with yogurt s'mores and bananas Graham crackers with nutella homemade vanilla pudding applesauce and cheese PB and banana pinwheels Nachos and a smoothie PB&J sandwich with yogurt Nutella wontons with fried bananas Devilled eggs and veggies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackson'smama Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 There's a gorgeous system on pinterest with magnets and color coding... my hyper-organized dream self drools over it... mmmm...how might i best find this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnitWit Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I make a *meal options* list when I make my grocery list. I post a master list in the kitchen of what the options are for *this* week for breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks/dessert. If it's on the list, then all the ingredients are in the house. My dh likes to cook, as well as some of my kids. My three older kids each cook a night of the week. My dh makes homemade pizza one night. I get the other three, unless dh decides he wants to make something else. My younger kids like to make lunch or breakfast. I let them choose what they would like to make in the upcoming week and I fill in the other meals that are not spoken for. If one of them wants to cook a particular day, they mark it on the calendar. They also write their name beside their chosen *meal option* so noone else makes it. :) This has worked for us for a long time now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 (edited) I try my darndest. ON the right hand side of my piece of paper, I write down the days of the week and underline them. Then, under that, I write out the meal plan, making it as exact as I can (using what's on sale that week, too). The the left hand side of the paper, I go through each meal mentally, and write out what I need to buy for it that week. Then I shop, and when I'm done, I tear off the grocery list chuck it, and I post the menu on the fridge. That way, I can also switch meals around if I need, and I know I have the stuff on hand. Edited July 27, 2012 by justamouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edithcrawley Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 mmmm...how might i best find this? Here's the link http://robbygurlscreations.blogspot.com/2011/04/robins-menu-board-part-iii.html On the top of the page, there is a link called "everything menu board" If you click on that and scroll about halfway down, it'll have the rest of the tutorial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofsbandeg Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Groupon has a deal in the Back to School section for Emeals. For $39 for the year you get a subscription to E-meals website. It is a menu plan and grocery list for 5 "school" lunches and 7 dinners for each week. You log into your account each week and print off the menus and grocery list. It will keep last weeks and this weeks menu to print. There is a limited number of these for sale on Groupon so hurry if you are interested. I don't use Groupon very often but I did for this deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaspershiloh Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 We kinda do the same as one of the previous posters- we go by the sale ads and then tweak our menues around that for the week. Also what our garden is doing too. We try to plan about a week at a time, but it must stay flexible, for sanity sake. As for snacks - my kids are welcome to make their own pb&j's, grab a banana or snack on some homemade healthy granola cookies I always keep in stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tohru Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 We have the same thing for breakfast and lunch every week and then plan out dinner each week. Every Monday we have oatmeal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch Every Tuesdays eggs for breakfast, nachos for lunch Friday oatmeal again, but pizza for lunch It's easy and keeps me sane. We get to put our energy into our day rather than spending so much thinking about what to eat. And grocery shopping is simpler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aspasia Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 (edited) I plan all three meals, but not snacks. For breakfast and lunch, I have ten options for each and I just rotate through them on a two-week cycle. For dinners, I plan monthly and I LOVE it. I used to plan weekly but I much prefer this--I only have to get my act together once a month. We don't like to eat the same thing more than once a month, so this also helps with variety. For snacks, I have a snack basket that I keep stocked with applesauce and/or fruit cups, raisin boxes, and snack-size Ziplocs filled with cereal, crackers, dried fruit, pretzels, veggie chips, etc. The snack basket is in the pantry and accessible to everyone, but if i notice excessive snacking to the detriment of meal consumption, i'll lock the pantry and monitor snacks more closely. We also have fruit, vegetables, and string cheese available in the fridge or fruit basket. Keeps it simple. Eta: For organization, I highly, highly recommend using a home management binder. http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/2011/01/weekly-challenge-1-home-management.html Totally changed my life! (I linked to one blog post about it, but you can google it and find a million more ideas.) Edited July 27, 2012 by infomom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mynyel Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I want to go that route. However dh will not follow and menu or schedule I try so we don't do it. I plan meals but not a specific meal on a specific day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniBlondes Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I always plan dinners. Always. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks are kind of open ended. I buy things that I know we'll eat but I don't plan it. However I've been considering planning 3 meals/day so :bigear:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakim Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 We plan two weeks at a time, since that's how dh gets paid - so we do grocery shopping the day after payday, but I try to have the menu finalized the day before payday. We have to plan all meals and snacks because we have 3 separate sets of dietary . . . what do I call it? . . . needs/frameworks/etc. So our menus are crazy complicated, BUT the way we physically do it is pretty simple. I just got out a ruler and printer paper one day and made a grid with 15 horizontal rows, the top for "Day - Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner" and then one small vertical column to the far left for day/date and three columns for the meals. Dinner is a little larger. When I had that to my liking, I scanned it and now can print it out each week. Like pp, we have some areas of the menu that are on a rotation. For example, my highly allergenic dd's have a 5-lunch rotation for M-Sat. So that is written onto the original chart, as is a breakfast rotation for the non-allergenic non-working folks. So every 2 weeks when the menu is printed out ready for me to fill it in, these things are already on there. Also, I have a file on the computer that has the groceries needed for the pre-printed meals. So when I'm making the shopping list, I look at that file and fill in anything needed for those meals. I've tried a bunch of complicated systems. We do have a "meal binder" that we were using for quite awhile with 6 two-week rotations for dinners, with all the recipes in the binder. That was when my dd was cooking, because she HATED generating menus and didn't like to cook what I chose, either. Now I mostly cook, and a different dd, and we both like to learn new stuff, so we've ditched the binder for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandymom Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I use Plan to Eat. You have the ability to plan all 3 meals as well as snacks, but I usually plan just lunch and dinner. I sometimes plan breakfast and/or snacks if there is something special going on. I love being able to generate a shopping list based on my plan. I've used PTE the last two years, and my meal planning and the cost and time associated with it have been SO much more efficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 More menu planners I found on Pinterest (since the first has already been posted): http://momsbyheart.net/create-your-own-menu-planning-board/ http://www.thehomesihavemade.com/2012/02/magnetic-menu-board-part-1.html http://www.bhg.com/decorating/storage/organization-basics/free-printable-storage-labels/#page=9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3Munchkins Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I used to plan all 3 meals when DS was in PS and I had to pack his lunch and be out of the house early every morning. I've gotten away from it since starting to HS. I'm going to go back to planning all 3 meals as well as several snack options for the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I plan a week at a time. I plan 7 breakfasts, 6 lunches, and 6 dinners. Then I keep a rotating supply of fresh fruit and veggies, string cheeses, yogurts, crackers etc for snacks as needed. I usually do a Costco shopping once a month, and Publix once a week. I buy bulk frozen veggies, house hold items (toilet paper), apples, and a few other things at Costco. The fresh and smaller things at Publix. I make a menu calendar each week but I don't necessarily follow it to the day, it is more like I have that many meals on hand and eat them when we feel like it. I do schedule one out to each lunch and dinner per week and use them when I need them. I also always schedule at least one or two crock pot meals for when I need them. I posted a template menu calendar on my blog if you are interested. It helps me to see it written out. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 We don't, but I've learned what my limitations are in the kitchen and that's helped a LOT. Mama doesn't do anything before coffee, so that means I stock up on bananas and yogurt for the kid who can't get food for himself. I can chuck one of those at him and call it good for about 20 minutes, until I've had a chance to wake up. Lunch is usually leftovers redone. We make enough dinner to have a bit left over for the next day: roasted chicken gets diced that night for sandwiches or quesadillas. Taco meat becomes biscuit balls. And if anyone doesn't like it, the pb&j is right there, too. This sounds about right! :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I did this when my oldest was a toddler/preschooler. He was allergic to milk, but tended toward hypoglycemia melt-downs and needed protein at regular intervals throughout the day. I was also transitioning from eating a lot of processed "white" foods to a more "whole foods" way of life and avoiding any milk additives. Planning everything helped me be more efficient at grocery shopping, have the appropriate foods in the house, balance the diet, and have some sanity. I also was working part time, so this helped us have planned easy to prepare meals for the days I worked. I did it on a weekly basis. Once I had a few weeks under my belt, I rotated menus. Every season, I would have to change out the plan because pasta salads just didn't cut it in our cold winters and beef stew was not a hot summer meal:). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delirium Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I'm SICK.SICK.SICK of cooking and/or trying to come up with what to cook. and that includes just about every meal and snack. YES. I make a monthly plan because I loathe trying to come up with something all the dang time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delirium Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Here are some ideas that I have listed here before, just copying and pasting. :) Thanks a bunch, great ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excelsior! Academy Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 We plan it all. We have a rotating menu that is the same each week. It sounds boring, bur actually there is freedom in structure. Right now the garden is producing, so we are having more things that are not on the menu and using that extra $ to stock up. In the fall and winter we will vary less. Here is our basic plan. Breakfast is generally muesli or omlettes. Yes, every day. Once every couple of weeks we get breakfast out. Lunch M- right now leftovers like Sunday's roast made into BBQ sandwiches or roast beef salad. Fall and winter, crockpot spaghetti. T-tacos W-in the fall we usually have white chili. Th-this is errand day so usually sandwiches at the park. F-hummus, pita, and vegetable sticks. S-seasonal, summer grilling or quick like today's Quesadillas, fall soup. Dinners S-roast (our main meal is at noon), supper is ice cream M-variety, still trying out recipes around certain ingredients. T-mexican, usually enchiladas W-sandwiches Th-gyros F-homemade pizza S-kids get reheated pizza, dh and I go out. Snacks-popcorn It is varied, sometimes cheese, sometimes butter and salt, or kettle. We go by a pantry principle so we do have other options. We also have people over and go to fellowship meals at church so our menu does vary, but this plan keeps me from having to make x number of decisions per day. If we want peanuts and raisins or apples and cheese for a snack we have it. But this way we have a plan. It is so much simpler! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColoNative Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I plan a month at a time. We eat really healthy and most sale things (except produce) do not qualify for how we eat. We actually eat mostly raw (and I have so many good raw recipes!), with some carbs/meats for the kids. My DH also enjoys having a monthly rotation so we don't get in a rut making the same things (I'm sure I'm the only one who ever does that!;)). I do alter things a bit when I can get more fresh fruits in the summer than winter - same with other seasonal produce. Someday I hope to join a CSA - or have my own garden... I have my calendar in Excel, and then have a notebook of recipes that I need for all the menus...however I LOVE this (from a pp): Here's the link http://robbygurlscreations.blogspot....-part-iii.html I do plan snacks, or my kids eat everything in sight - 4 boys plus a baby boy eat a lot of food! I love all the suggestions here....:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toawh Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I plan all the meals and snacks around here a week in advance. I shop once a week and then it's done. Some how though I never make the meals in the order I planned them, but by the end of the week we've used all the ideas and I do it again. I actually LOVE meal planning. Breakfasts are always the same -- crushed raw oats, with almonds, raisins, coconut and milk. Kids serve themselves. Once a week, usually Saturday, I'll make eggs or banana bread or french toast, etc. Lunches are always the same too -- sandwiches. There are so many different kinds of sandwiches. Winter I might make a pureed type of vegetable soup to accompany them, in summer a salad. I don't plan these. I just pick up whatever deli meats and cheeses are reasonably priced and look tasty. I also have eggs, canned fish and avocados on hand. I buy a little stock of vegetable and keep the salads fun. Identical salads are a pet peeve of mine. Snack is always fruit and yogurt. I love fruit and keep a variety on hand. Once a week I'll make or buy a sweeter treat like ice-cream or cookies. So dinner is really the only meal I have to think too hard about or cook for. The others are just thrown together in a whirl a few minutes before the meal. For dinners I've been trying to tie myself to 2 bean based meals, 1 fish, 1 chicken, 1 beef or lamb, and 2 egg. I also try to rotate my starches. This gives me parameters, making my choices easier. Also using beans and eggs as proteins has cut down on my food expenses. For example this week. Cordon bleu/mashed potatoes/peas with carrots Quiche/salad Spaghetti/tomato and pepper salad Breaded Cod/fries/salad Bean and feta salad/corn/green beans Navy bean stew/salad/bread Asian rice egg dinner It goes without saying that there is always milk in the fridge and peanut butter in the closet along with fruit and more fruit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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