How to start weeky menu planning

[workingmom]

I've done this in the past using a repritore of recipes we usually eat, but it sorted went wayside as I cut down my work hours. But now with wanting so spend less time on deciding what to eat I need resources for healthy, interesting meals. Preferably something that I could use leftovers from one meal for another in the week.

 

Any free resources, links, etc

[Linda in Oregon]

Well, there's a free service where you can get a weekly email sent to your inbox with a menu plan for the week, plus the recipes and grocery lists.

 

http://www.menus4moms.com/

 

 

There are other ones out there that are available for a fee....but, I'm assuming you don't want to pay for one. I know I don't.

 

I'm in major planning mode right now and the menu plans I'm making up are coming from the book - The Eat-Clean Diet, by Tosca Reno. I like how in the book she offers complete healthy menu plans for the family, vegans, gluten-free people, etc. I'm trying to eat this way to be healthier, lose some weight and be within a budget (for the first time!).

 

Meal planning to me means eating healthier and hopefully spending less money.

 

Good luck,

[LaxMom]

I've always had really good luck using Cooking Light recipes to plan meals. They have a wide assortment and you can now create a My Recipes account and save the ones you like to that, rather than printing them out. I know they used to have specific recipes that were 2-meal type of things, so you would make, say, roast chicken, then use the leftover chicken for enchiladas verdes (huge favorite here) another night.

 

Robin Miller also has five-night menus that coordinate so you cook off or prep parts of the coming meals each night, if that makes any sense. Those are on Food Network's website.

[PiCO]

I've done this in the past using a repritore of recipes we usually eat, but it sorted went wayside as I cut down my work hours. But now with wanting so spend less time on deciding what to eat I need resources for healthy, interesting meals. Preferably something that I could use leftovers from one meal for another in the week.

 

Any free resources, links, etc

 

I pay for a service that someone here recommended- SavingDinner.com

 

They have regular menus for 6 or 2, heart-healthy menus, low-carb menus, all for the same price. I checked in to a lot of menus and tried them for a week (even the pay menus offer a free week.) This was the one I thought my kids would object to the least while still being reasonably healthy and using real food- not mixes like bisquick in the recipes.

 

I've been amazed at what my kids will eat just because it's on the menu. The variety is great, and I know I'm saving money and eating healthier.

[melissel]

I already reported the spam, all.

 

About menu planning, I found that what worked for me is making a list of the healthy meals my family already likes and making sure I always have the basic ingredients on hand. For us, that means always having a stock of basic ingredients in my pantry and chest freezr: typically, this means whole chickens, chicken legs, ground beef, whole wheat pasta, cheddar cheese, organic American cheese, milk, rolled oats, and a variety of frozen veggies (broccoli, corn, peas, and eda mame). I do keep bread in the freezer as well, but when necessary, I use the bread machine to make an extra loaf to avoid having to run to the store. With those basic things available, I can cover just about any meal, even if it means throwing some burgers in the pan or chicken legs in a casserole dish in the oven. If my original meal plan for the night falls apart, I can thaw chicken legs, ground beef, or chicken breasts in a water bath quickly to make a new meal, or we can always just make pasta with some olive oil and shredded cheese, and a veggie on the side.

 

These days, I try to do a once-a-month stock-up on our basics (we're in a farm co-op that provides a lot of what we use), and go to the store only for fresh fruit and veggies. I'm finding myself saving a lot of money by staying out of the grocery store!

 

I don't have time right now, but later on I'll try to post some of my simple meal links. You probably already know how versatile a whole chicken can be (roast it one night, pick the leftovers off the next day for chicken salad, boil on the third day for soup, etc.), but I have another cook once-eat twice link somewhere.

 

HTH!

[yslek]

Looks like someone's having SPAM for dinner...

 

Anyway, I subscribe to a service called the 6 o'clock Scramble. (http://thescramble.com/) The focus is on healthy, balanced meals that don't take too long to prepare. One feature that I love is that you can remove/add meals from the weekly meal plan (or create your own from the recipe database) and it'll spew out a customized shopping list, broken down by section of the store. Each ingredient also has a number next to it, so that you know which meal it goes with. There are side-dish suggestions for every meal as well.

 

I used to do Saving Dinner & loved the ease of having my menus planned for me. Unfortunately, my family didn't enjoy most of the food, so a lot went to waste. I went several years planning my own meals again, but it's so nice to not have to figure that out every week. When I found the Scramble, I tried the free 1-week menu and everyone loved the food. Yay! On the downside, the meals aren't always the most thrifty, although just having a plan can save money. :D

[yslek]

Ooops. I must've been posting the same time as you, Melissa. :)

[melissel]

Looks like someone's having SPAM for dinner...

 

 

:lol:

 

Anyway, I subscribe to a service called the 6 o'clock Scramble. (http://thescramble.com/) The focus is on healthy, balanced meals that don't take too long to prepare.

 

So funny. I LOVED the Scramble recipes, but my kids never touched a thing I made each week. It didn't last long here. I finally discovered they really just prefer simple food. Their all-time favorite meal is plain baked chicken with broccoli on the side. I think they'd eat that every night if they could. I, on the other hand, have very fond memories of a Scramble recipe that involved Green Goddess salad dressing, chicken, and sundried tomatoes, I think...mmm *slurp*

 

It really is all about finding whatever works for you!

 

Here's one link I CAN get to quickly:

 

http://orgjunkie.com/2008/12/menu-plan-monday-dec-29th-surprise-spread-recipe.html

[PiCO]

Looks like someone's having SPAM for dinner...

 

Anyway, I subscribe to a service called the 6 o'clock Scramble. (http://thescramble.com/) The focus is on healthy, balanced meals that don't take too long to prepare. One feature that I love is that you can remove/add meals from the weekly meal plan (or create your own from the recipe database) and it'll spew out a customized shopping list, broken down by section of the store. Each ingredient also has a number next to it, so that you know which meal it goes with. There are side-dish suggestions for every meal as well.

 

I used to do Saving Dinner & loved the ease of having my menus planned for me. Unfortunately, my family didn't enjoy most of the food, so a lot went to waste. I went several years planning my own meals again, but it's so nice to not have to figure that out every week. When I found the Scramble, I tried the free 1-week menu and everyone loved the food. Yay! On the downside, the meals aren't always the most thrifty, although just having a plan can save money. :D

 

That link looks great! I'm going to keep it for when my Saving Dinner subscription runs out. I really like that you can customize your menu- I never do all 6 meals with SavingDinner, usually 4 or 5 a week.

[yslek]

 

So funny. I LOVED the Scramble recipes, but my kids never touched a thing I made each week. It didn't last long here. I finally discovered they really just prefer simple food. Their all-time favorite meal is plain baked chicken with broccoli on the side. I think they'd eat that every night if they could. I, on the other hand, have very fond memories of a Scramble recipe that involved Green Goddess salad dressing, chicken, and sundried tomatoes, I think...mmm *slurp*

 

It really is all about finding whatever works for you!

 

 

http://orgjunkie.com/2008/12/menu-plan-monday-dec-29th-surprise-spread-recipe.html

 

Isn't that the truth? My dc don't love all of the recipes, but they do like most of them. Goddess dressing is a favorite here. L in particular has always prefered strong, complicated flavors. He didn't eat much of anything (other than breastmilk) for the first 1 1/2 years of his life--all of those bland first foods were not his thing at all. :tongue_smilie: I, however, was the kind of child who went nuts if any one thing on my plate touched another. I don't think I would have appreciated my mom using the Scramble. :lol:

 

BTW, if anyone does decide to sign up, you can use this promo code (GLKEL4835) to give me a month free. :D

 

Thanks,

[BabyBre]

I pay for a service that someone here recommended- SavingDinner.com

 

 

 

You can also get the Saving Dinner cookbook for only about $10. It's an entire year's worth of recipes with shopping lists, serving suggestions, make aheads, and nutritional information. FlyLady recommends.

[Dawn E]

There is also a Scramble cookbook. I loved the recipes from the scramble and so did my family, but it became too much of an expense since I often substituted some of our favorite meals instead of those on the plan. We got the recipe for many of our current faves from there: Black-eyed pea tacos, roasted asparagus, french fries (boiled then baked--Yum)...the list goes on. After a while I began to become more confident in my ability to put together my own plans from the recipes we tried and liked as well as our old favorites. However, it was nice having everything laid out for you weekly with a ready-made grocery list.

[Nicole M]

I like the idea of these things you can sign up for, but we have so many food allergies (and persnickety eaters, besides), I can't imagine it working for us.

 

I've spent a good deal of this holiday vacation planning a four week rotation, based on some ideas from PariSarah and others on the old board. My husband is on deck for dinner Monday, Wednesday & Friday when I'm at work, so Wednesday, for instance, is always pasta night. I found four different sauce recipes that the kids will eat, and we'll rotate those. Monday is stovetop night, which means either turkey burgers or hot dogs with chili. I leave out the non-perishable ingredients and a recipe for him when I leave for work.

 

My nights are Tuesdays & Thursdays, and on one of those I'll do a bean or soup dish. On the other night I don't have a theme, but since I don't have to work that day, I can afford to spend a little more time in the kitchen. I'll also make bread on those days.

 

I am no good with Accel, so I made a table in word. I'm pretty tickled with how it looks. I also made a list for each week of ingredients for the particular recipes we'll use, and I can add things to that list as we need to. I posted the month of dinners on the fridge, and I have a separate table with the breakfast and lunch plan.

 

When I sat down to do this, it really took me forever and a day. But then I got to the point where I realized that I actually do have a kind of repertoire. It's just that at 5pm, I draw a complete blank if I don't have a plan.

 

When I was poking around on Amazon, looking at various resources, I read exerpts from Confessions of an Organized Homemaker. At one point the author says something like, "I spent the first 20 years of my life wondering who I was going to marry. I spent the next 20 years wondering what to make for dinner." I totally get that.

 

That book, if you're curious, is here:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Organized-Homemaker-Secrets-Uncluttering/dp/1558703616/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230954078&sr=8-1

 

[ETA: I forgot to mention that Martha Stewart has a "Dinner Tonight" feature where they send you an email with a recipe each day. I find her recipes to be pretty easy and tasty. I have saved the ones that appeal to me and don't have forbidden foods in them, and I try these on the weekends. I have a system where I print new recipes that I want to try and then clip them to the fridge. I also put the current week's recipes on the fridge as well, if they are not from a book.]

Edited January 3, 2009 by Nicole M

[Chez J]

to use. I have the days of the week on top, meals down the side (breakfast, lunch, etc). Then at the bottom 1/3 of the page I made the shopping list. A column for produce, meats, dry goods, dairy, other.

 

In the square that goes for day of week and meal (Tuesday-breakfast), I put the meal or the cookbook and page. Then, from the cookbook I have copied the ingredient list to the shopping section. I included even oil and spices so that I remember to check and make sure I have them before I go to the store.

 

Then I keep all the menu pages in a binder. I have done this for seasonal meals now too.

 

HTH,

 

Lesley

 

PS I'd give you a copy but we're moving and everything is packed.

[hsmom]

to use. I have the days of the week on top, meals down the side (breakfast, lunch, etc). Then at the bottom 1/3 of the page I made the shopping list. A column for produce, meats, dry goods, dairy, other.

 

In the square that goes for day of week and meal (Tuesday-breakfast), I put the meal or the cookbook and page. Then, from the cookbook I have copied the ingredient list to the shopping section. I included even oil and spices so that I remember to check and make sure I have them before I go to the store.

 

Then I keep all the menu pages in a binder. I have done this for seasonal meals now too.

 

HTH,

 

Lesley

 

PS I'd give you a copy but we're moving and everything is packed.

 

I love this idea. Well once you get moved and settled in please share.:)