Meal Planning for Dummies?

There are many ways to approach it.

Many people do it by nights - chinese night, pizza night, italian night, taco night..... Growing up, Friday was payday, so Friday was always steak night.

I used to think in terms of a protien, a veg, and a starch. I would shop by buying protien - a ton of chicken, a little fish, and a little red meat. Veg - several fresh and several frozen veggies. And Starch - potatoes, noodles, and rice. Then, with a full kitchen, I would just pair whatever sounded good that day.

Now, I think in terms of needing tons of fiber, protien, dairy, and omega 3 rich fish, and double vegetables. While cutting calories! So, I plan meals looking for nutrient dense foods that are low in calorie. Small amount of fish, huge pile of greens. One vegetarian night, 3 fish nights, 1 chicken, and maybe 1 red meat meal per week.

I developed this system by watching the Deal a Meal commercial! LOL!

Honestly, now I can plan a week's worth of meals and make out my grocery list in 10 minutes! No lie! And we have multiple food allergies in this house.

I bought some index cards. Then I wrote down our favorite meals, one on each card. I did NOT write the RECIPE on the card, I just wrote where to find the recipe (which cookbook, which page). Then I wrote down the ingredients. I also put down sides that go with the recipe like potatoes or rice.

I'm a sharpie addict so I color coded the recipes (slow cooker, grill, fast meals). You don't have to do that.

To make out my meal plan I just need to look through the cards. I write the meals on a dry erase calendar. To make out my grocery list I only have to look at the cards to see the ingredients needed. It really only takes 10 minutes!

I have cards for my daughter's meals and cards for my meals since we are allergic to different things. Sometimes I make 2 meals, or I make the same meal but I separate the portions and make sure one doesn't contain an allergen.

I only made out 14 meal cards to start with (two weeks).Then every week I search for a new recipe to try and I add it to the cards. I started with 14 cards but now I have many! I did not want to "crash and burn" by trying to do too much at once. Baby steps, y'know?

It's funny, now that I do this my husband or daughter will find a recipe or taste something good at someone else's house and tell me to "add it to the cards!" LOL!

I enjoy adding one new recipe a week, but now that I have more cards I don't always do this. Sometimes I'm in a hurry so I just shuffle through the cards and quickly pick something out!

I also have an iPod app that makes a grocery list. So the ingredients I buy regularly for these recipes are already in the database and I just click them to make my grocery list! What I like is it categorizes them according to the aisle in my grocery store so I just zip through the store, aisle by aisle, and toss things into my cart.

I really hate meal planning and grocery shopping so now I'm happy that I can do them quickly and efficiently and then get on to better things!

Hope that helps!

P.S. Don't forget to write down "easy" meals like hot dogs or mac and cheese. The point is you want to look at the cards without having to think! I'll often come across my "hot dogs" card, and even though the ingredients are "package of hot dogs and buns" it reminds me of a quick meal for those busy nights!

I use allrecipes.com for menu ideas if I'm stumped.

I shop the sales at grocery stores. I know that if I plan my meals around what is on sale I can cut my food budget by 25% to 40%. Allrecipes.com has a tab on their website that you can type in ingredients and they will give you a list of recipes that use those ingredients. They also have a "save" section so if you find a recipe you really like you can save it for another time.

Cheerful M has a wonderful program and ideas.

Good luck to you and yours.

The sugestions below are great, if you want it even easier ( no thinking/planning involved on your part) - go to www.savingdinner.com - she has preplanned menus for months at a time, including specialties - vegetarian, slow cooker, frugal, heart healthy, weight loss, family friendly, and a freezer meals one too. They include 6 supper recipes and grocery lists (you add on what you need for breakfast and lunch) , and you can buy them for 3, 6, 9, or 12 months worth, they use in-season produce, depending on time of year, too. She has free 1 week sample menus you can download to try too, just to see the format and try it out!

Also, with your son - you could do "kid food" for breakfast/lunch and then dinner is "grown up" food time - and he has to eat what you made, or else not eat till breakfast...that is the rule at our house. As for your hubby's preferences, many fish dishes can easily be subsitutued with chicken for you and your son, but still use fish for DH - although fish a couple times a week for you and son would be good too!

Good Luck!

Jessie

makedinnereasy.com. She sends you an email every Friday that lists 5 dinners, the recipes, menu AND shopping list! Its really helped me because I never know what sides to serve with what, and she does it all for you. My kids are older, but they have liked everything so far. I'm trying to get more organized and am using summer to try some new things, but don't use the oven because its too hot. Hope you find something that works for you. Good luck!

Hi P.,
Mine is not nearly as advanced as the Deal A Meal outlined by Cheerful below, but it works when I use it!

I got a small notebook, on each page I wrote a dinner that I make. Then I write what I might normally make as sides. Every ingredient for the meal. MIght be as simple as:
Ground chuck
Hamburger buns
Fries
Salad: romaine, cule, croutons, balsamic vinegar, evoo

Then, for the week (allowing for ordering in or going out 1 or 2 nights and leftovers O. night) I pick 4 or 5 meals and shop for them for the week.
Like I said..simple but it works if there is involvement from the cook! LOL

We use Emealz.com and love it! They give you a week's worth of meals and a shopping list. We tried their vegetarian option, but it was disgusting - all cheese and pasta. Now we're on their 'organic and natural' option and are enjoying the recipes a lot.

I plan 10 days of meals which includes leftovers so it enables me to have enough food for grocery shopping every other week. My "menu" as I call it is not strict meaning that I don't structure my menu to be "this is what I'll eat on Monday, and this on Tuesday. My menu is nothing like that at all but I DO have a spread sheet (fancy for me but you can just write it on your calendar) where I choose the "main meal" and two sides and I have room to note the source the recipe comes from along with the page number and any extra info like if I was planning to double the recipe or make modifications, etc. My menu planner is on a spread sheet with boxes. Like I said, mine is pretty...but it doesn't have to be for you.

So, I scour my books and the internet because I do enjoy to cook and I enjoy making new and exciting things. My son is the only picky eater (I have 4 children) but I don't structure my menu around what he won't eat because if it were up to him we'd eat pizza every night. LOL

http://get.ziplist.com/how-it-works/shopping-made-simple
The above link, I hope you and others find helpful. It enables you to look at various web sites and store and save the recipes in ONE convenient place. I use it a lot! It's free to sign up and use, as well.

So, when I am planning out my meals, I plan it with red meat, chicken, pork, seafood, pasta, and vegetarian (meat less). I generally cook more chicken than red meat, and more seafood than pork and I almost always include a meat less meal for each round of planning. And with each "main meal," I pair it with 2 sides and I like to "coordinate" my colors. For example, if I choose my favorite carrot souffle with my cheesy baked chicken breasts, I might make green beans or peas with those little white pearl onions. I love color and there are so many beautiful colors in the produce section. I am not afraid to try new things so I will research various veggies I've never tried or heard of just to find out how to cook it and then I will find recipes to use it as well. I am not the kind of cook who can whip up a delicious meal without a recipe to follow. And I keep my old menus so that in a pinch, I can "copy" one or several ideas into a new plan when I am crunched for time.

Also, when I plan my menu, I only buy what I need for each meal, making sure to first prepare the meals with the most perishable things first so that my produce doesn't spoil. The way I have been doing this has been extremely effective for me and my family and it prevents me from buying more than I need, which minimizes waste. I have a bunch more web sites I use for finding recipes and if you are interested, hit me up with a personal message and I'd be happy to share.

Recipes I find on the internet that I intend to make right away, I print them right away and insert them into a clear protective sheet (cover). I bought big 3 ring binders from Office Max along with dividers for which my recipes are sorted and organized and filed according to what it is: chicken, beef, seafood, side dishes, meat less, etc. I have 2 big binders full of printed recipes and when I try a recipe I don't like, I toss it right away so that I know not to make it again.