Guest post by Emily from Our Frugal Happy Life
I am what you might call a hard-core menu planner. During the last week of each month, you are guaranteed to find me sitting down with my menu planning binder and a blank calendar. Yes, that’s right. I plan our dinner meals one month a time! I started doing this about 14 months ago and it has made such a difference in how our household operates.
While you may not want or need to plan your meals one month a time, I encourage you to try menu-planning in some form. For some homes, planning one week of meals at a time works better. If that’s best for you, go with it!
Six reasons menu-planning benefits our family:
1. There’s no what’s-for-dinner panic at 4:30 p.m.
This is probably the main reason why menu-planning is a must in my home. If left without a menu plan, you will find me staring at my refrigerator and pantry at 4:30, totally unable to come up with anything for dinner. With a menu plan, that doesn’t happen!
2. The entire family knows what is for dinner.
My husband knows to check the menu plan if he wants to know what’s for dinner. It hangs on the side of our fridge all month.
3. It allows for flexibility.
When I plan our month of meals, I take into account meetings, get-togethers, church functions, etc. that may affect whether or not we eat dinner at home. I can plan simple, quick meals for nights when I know we need to leave at 6:00. And if our schedule changes abruptly one night or week, I can switch a few meals around in the plan.
4. It encourage variety and trying new menu items.
I like to put a few new meals on the menu each month when I make the menu plan. By doing this, we have found a number of new favorite meals, like homemade Spanish rice, Chicken Enchilada Dip, and Cheeseburger Soup, to name a few.
5. It helps you plan ahead for shopping.
Because we live in a rural area, we don’t grocery shop on any sort of regular basis. We typically pick up groceries whenever we are in a neighboring town that has a store. With my monthly menu plan, I know in advance what items I definitely need to pick up on one of my shopping trips. This also helps because I know what to look for in the sale ads.
6. It’s fun!
Let’s face it: menu-planning is just plain fun. Or is it just me who thinks that?
I am an organized person, so menu-planning fits well with that. While I don’t enjoy dreaming up dinner on the fly, I do enjoy sitting down once a month and planning our meals. And honestly? Cooking dinner is more fun when I already have a plan in place!
Do you menu plan? Why is menu-planning helpful for your family?
Emily has celiac disease and is gluten free. She is a pastor’s wife in Wisconsin and a homemaker. She blogs about celiac disease, gluten free life, coupons and frugal living at Our Frugal Happy Life. She is here to say that it’s possible to be gluten free, frugal and happy!
Amen, amen, amen to every single point you made! As a single, working mom, menu planning is essential to the smooth running of my household.
I menu plan by the week. I start with what’s on sale and what’s in the freezer/fridge/pantry and take it from there. I work in our activity schedule (ex: soup on a stay-at-home night; pasta salad for an on-the-go night). I pack lunches for myself and daughter 3 days a week so I plan ahead to have leftovers available. We also finish up the leftovers on the weekends.
Menu planning also helps me ensure we have a varied diet. Each week we have 1) a beef or pork meal, 2) a chicken meal, 3) a soup/sandwich meal, 4) a bean-based meal, and 5) a vegetarian meal.
I couldn’t get by with my menu plan!!
I plan my menus weekly because it makes grocery shopping easier, but it’s not fun for me. 🙂
Like Emily, I plan my dinners for a month at a time, and for many of the same reasons that she does! Just recently, I started planning for TWO months, in case things get busy and I can’t carve out the time to menu plan at the end of the first month. One thing I do is if a menu item calls for a perishable ingredient (such as fresh tomatoes or mushrooms) or one that I’m likely to run out of (like sour cream), I write that on my planning calendar, so when I make out the grocery list for the week, I know at a glance that I need to buy something extra. Menu planning is important for me because my husband has cancer and we have a lot of medical appointments; this year has been horrible for him, with one additional medical problem after another. (We recently had something like 11 doctor’s appointments in 8 weeks, but to be fair, I have to say that two were for an emergency when I cut my fingers and required stitches!) If I didn’t have a plan to work from, we’d be ordering pizza or take out on a regular basis, which we can’t afford.
I’ve been planning our meals since we married 11yrs ago. I do NOT like wondering what to make.
Since our 3rd child was born last winter I put aside creativity and my 40-something different dinners that I would make. I now rotate the same 28 meals on my iCal.
I check it over at the beginning of every month and make adjustments/substitutions…..which is easy to do since all our events/activities on on that same calendar. I then print off a list of my next month’s food category.
No one cares (but me) that we eat the same thing every 4weeks. I’m sure I’ll get back to creativity, but I need streamline right now in life. 🙂
We’ve discovered… it also forces you to clean out your pantry! The first day of every month, we take stock of our pantry, plan our menu for the month, and then shop for whatever’s lacking.
Menu-planning works great for my family! I found we were eating out far too often, not because we didn’t have food in the house, but because I did not have a plan. At first I planned a week at a time and gradually increased to a month at a time, which is what I still do. We have saved a lot of money by cutting back on eating out and by planning meals around sale items and utilizing leftovers in another meal later in the week. Everyone gets input into what meals will make the schedule, which gets printed out and hung on the refrigerator.
DH was not a big fan at first (he’s more a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type) thinking a schedule of meals would be too rigid or boring (we would have the same meals over and over), but menu-planning actually allows us more freedom because of the monetary savings and we actually eat the same meals less frequently because planning ahead of time encourages me to try to add new meals to our “rotation”. Try it…you
ll love it! 🙂
Wow! Meal-planning to the extreme! More the better, if planning for one week is helpful, why not the entire month. Kudos for setting the bar high.
I raised four kids and never would have made them go hungry. Just can’t do it. No one knows her kids likes and dislikes better than their mom, so why would I put a dish full of onions in front of a child who I know hates them, and then expect him to eat it? Sounds like a setup for that battle of wills.
I always made sure there was something the picky eater liked.
All four are grown and mostly eat everything. The youngest still hates onions. Not a big deal.
I menu planned for many years. Each child was responsible for a menu idea, with my guidance if it was a younger child. Their deadline was the day I made my grocery list. it was fun and got them involved. They clipped coupons, too.
Thank you so much for saying this, SandyH. Some of these picky eater comments are heartbreaking.
We definitely menu plan at our house! I plan for Monday through Friday dinners, plus a large crckpot meal to last us the whole weekend, like chili, soup or beans. Our weekends usually involve all kinds of craziness and activities, so I don’t plan for sit down meals. We also eat leftovers on weekends, so there is some variety. During the week I aim for one of each type of meal: beef, pasta, chicken, veggie/beans, and pork/fish, depending on what’s on sale.
Menu-planning is definitely beneficial to my sanity and budget every week! I sit down every Saturday or Sunday and plan out our meals for the upcoming week and then I hang our menu on a dry-erase board on the fridge.
Great post!
My husband is working mornings and going to school at night. I’m working 10+ hour a days so we’ve managed to work our menu around crockpot meals and whatever we have in the freezer.
About once a month, we stock up on meat. It rarely goes on sale and we generally just buy at Sam’s club. We know the price and quality. I take a set amount of our food budget and it gets a separate envelope.
We can get three meals plus stock out of a whole chicken and two meals out of a roast. So, Monday night I put one or the other in the crock pot and then make the dinner for Tuesday, so it’s ready to heat when we get home. Wednesday is usually pasta for dinner and left overs for lunch, Thursday we’ll do a stir fry for lunch leftovers on Friday and then Friday is usually when we hit the bar with our friends. Saturday is generally pork chops and Sunday is soup and sandwhiches. Even if something gets moved, it at least reminds me to pull out the meat so that it is thawed by the time we get home.
I’m a big fan of Menu Planning! That’s why I designed my planner to include that great feature! I believe the key to successful menu planning is being flexible. Just because you plan it doesn’t mean you HAVE to cook it on that particular day. And planning what your family likes to eat makes it easier to get started. As you get used to the idea, you can make small additions, like trying a new recipe once every 2 weeks or so.
Menu planning certainly makes my days go smoother. That 4:30p.m. stare-into-the-fridge is just not very much fun!
I menu plan for the month too! I find it helps me stay on track with my grocery budget as well! I only put up each week’s menu plan on my blog.
I also like to meal plan (and have actually wasted too much time doing this!). I usually do a week or two at a time since I get to the grocery store on a regular basis.
I started menu planning so I could do smarter shopping, but now I also do it based around our weekly schedule. It is so helpful to know when I have time to dive into a complex meal or if we just need something quick or in the crockpot. It allows us to eat healthier and not hit the drive-thru all the time even when we have time constraints.
A former roommate shared her family’s “menu plan” when she was growing up (large family from Italy). Each day had a set-in-stone meal. For example, every Monday night would be spaghetti with meatballs, every Tuesday night would be chicken parm, etc., etc. She said no one ever had to ask what was for dinner because everyone knew. 🙂
I like to cook too much to want to do that but it definitely simplified things for their family.
I have my kids sit down and do an after school snack menu. I usually have to edit it a bit, but it cuts down on the chaos when starving kids walk in the door. If they complain about it I just say, “Hey, You picked it!”
LOVE this idea! So need to store this away for the future! 🙂
I have a rough idea for the month but make more solid plans for meals week by week.
These picky eater comments are cracking me up. A picky eater would just go without in this house. I’m not a catering service.
My husband thinks I’m crazy because I enjoy planning our menu…glad to hear I’m not the only one!! 🙂
Ha ha! No, you’re not alone! Menu planners unite!! 🙂
I menu plan weekly to follow the sales at the grocery stores. While the organizer in me loves the idea of planning a month in advance I have problems coming up with ideas and not getting sale prices. I do have 2 days that are specific food items. Every friday is homemade pizza and monday is meatless. And I also do freezer cooking once a month.
I even find myself not following the weekly menu. Thanks for the post and all the great ideas. I’m going to attempt the month!
This is exactly what I do, or try to. We eat out too much, but I plan to fix that.
I feel like I could have written this article! I feel the same way about menu-planning! 🙂
I plan weekly, picking foods based on the weekly sale papers. I only go grocery shopping once a week (by choice), and I hate to have to go back twice.
I feel that it saves us money because I can plan for ingredients to be used in multiple recipes, I can plan on our freezer-cooking items, I can plan using what’s already in our pantry, and I don’t purchase expensive or unhealthy ready-made foods because I already know what’s for dinner. 🙂
that’s a great idea! I should give this a try because I’m always asking my husband what to make for dinner…
This is one of the many reasons I love your blog so much Crystal. It’s so much more than just a “coupon” site.
I already plan my meals a week at a time, but reading through all the comments I got some great suggestions I want to try to tweak my planning and make it better and easier for me.
I’m glad you’ve found some helpful suggestions…it’s so nice that we can help each other out, isn’t it?
I plan 2 weeks worth of meals and post them on my organizer calander! Our schedule changes frequently so even the most thoughtout menu always gets changed. I cross off the meals as I make them so I know what is left. I write leftovers on a few days of the week when I know the meal will stretch. I spend less money and waste less food. I love menu planning!
I’ve been menu planning and once a month cooking for 3 months now – just love it!!! It is so fun to plan it out and I get the kids involved on cooking day(s). It has made a world of difference in our daily routine.
We menu plan in this house! I started by making a master list of all the meals we eat, broke them down into catagories (soup, beef, chicken, mexican, etc.) then just plotted them out for the year, paying attention to certain seasonal things as well (certain dishes are super cheap in the summer, but super expensive in the winter).
Each year I add to my master list and update the calendar. I don’t shift my info onto a new calendar each year, I just print the one from 2005 after a few updates each year. The date doesn’t match the day of the week, but for me it’s more of a guideline than a strict schedule.
The yearly schedule also helped me when figuring out my stockpile. I can see approx. how many pasta dishes we eat each year, and figure out approx. how many noodles I should have in my food storage.
I just did this recently, also. I use a calendar that I get free from a supermarket or something. I wrote down all the repeat meals in categories and it makes it easier to menu plan. I usually do it weekly, but for October and Novermber I did the whole month, after writing down all of the food I already had in the house. I do shop weekly, and just had to buy dairy and produce, along with a few great deals.
I would also like to add that is helps you eat healthier and lose weight…at least it did for me. I lost 40+ pounds because of menu planning, freezer cooking, and make ahead meals.
I usually plan one week at a time but am realizing I don’t nor can I think that much every week about our meals so I will be tackling one month menu planning in November.
My question would be do you do all your grocery shopping every week still or do you shop and freezer/batch cook everything for the month. I am thinking I will do a little of both.
Thanks for this post. It came at the perfect time 🙂
Tammy – Not that I always get it done, but I love to freezer cook for a month, at least the dinner part. It’s a hard day’s work, but boy does it makes the rest of the month seem easier. It saves me the time of trying to figure out what to fix each night and it saves me money by keeping me out of the grocery store.
It also gets me a little help sometimes because my hubby really doesn’t mind grabbing the items out of the fridge and just popping them in the oven – I label them with re-heating instructions. And yes, it can help with the diet too because it’s healthy meals – not what you usually find with “quick-fix” items.
I still grocery shop most weeks. Most weeks I find something on a good enough sale I want to buy it and most weeks we need some dairy, eggs and definitely produce. I know there are die-hard people who insist shopping once a month is the best way to do things but just do what works best for you and your family.
I do some freezer cooking every week and we eat 1-2 freezer meals a week (plus whatever leftovers are generated from that meal).
Honestly, I don’t do much freezer cooking, mostly because of space. We live an apartment (condo) and only have a small freezer (the kind above the fridge), so I’m limited. I do what I can, though!
(I just don’t recommend opening my freezer…I guarantee something will hit your toes! :))
And no, I do not shop weekly (most of the time), since we live rurally.
I guess I’d say I do some of both. 🙂
I do a little bit of both. I don’t do a lot of freezer cooking because we only have an over-the-fridge freezer in our condo/apartment. Space limits me…so I do what I can!
I grocery shop about 2-3 times per month, depending on when I’m actually able to coordinate a trip to the store (about 30 minutes to an hour away). I try to shop when I’m already going to be somewhere near a store (like for a dr. appt.).
I am all about the idea of menu planning. But fail miserably. Do you have any tips on how to SUCCESSFULLY create a menu plan? I could use some tips from a pro. Thanks!
try one new recipe every week or so — build up your stash of family favorites (casseroles, crockpot meals, etc) … then meal planning is easy! We eat mostly ground beef and chicken – with occasional sausage, bratwurst, pork chops, etc. I usually plan two ground beef meals and two chicken meals a week, with an “other” meat meal. My husband cooks at least two nights a week and is responsible for his own plan. I use my crockpot usually at least once a week. I started meal planning in March 2011 and really worked at it for a few months… now it’s pretty easy. I don’t assign a specific night to each meal — just plan five meals and then see what I have time to make / feel like making in the morning. I have to make meals that my family can put in the oven or heat up when they get home as everyone is home before me (I work until 6pm and then visit my mother at the nursing home – usually get home about 7pm).
If money is tight, don’t bother with new recipes that might flop and end up in the trash. Stick to meals that you know and love.
I agree with just writing down what you normally eat. If you can’t think of anything, then start by writing down what you eat each day. I often look back on previous month’s meal plans to give me ideas for the next week or two. I usually plan 1-2 weeks at a time based on what we have in the freezer and pantry and what sounds good and what I feel like making (that we already have ingredients for). I base my shopping list off the sales and then meal plan off our stock pile.
I keep all my meal plans on “One Note” – on the computer and refer back to it quite often for ideas and things I may have forgotten about!
Start slow…just plan a few days and work up to a week (and more). I also wrote a post on my blog about HOW to plan a menu:
http://ourfrugalhappylife.blogspot.com/2011/10/menu-planning-how.html
Here’s the link to all of my menu plans…maybe that will give you some inspiration to get started:
http://ourfrugalhappylife.blogspot.com/search/label/Menu%20Plan
Start slow – don’t overdo it! I also have post about HOW to plan a menu:
http://ourfrugalhappylife.blogspot.com/2011/10/menu-planning-how.html
I encourage you to try menu planning for at least a few days! 🙂 You can do it!
Great post! It’s so funny I actually have a very similar post schedule this week too. Spent some time writing it yesterday morning and will be finishing it up in the next couple days.
I have just started menu planning for the month of October. I am three weeks in and it really works….much to the surprise of the hubby and the family, who did NOT think it would. We had been spending SO much on groceries for the past few months (boys are now living home after graduating from college) and I had SO much stuff in my freezers and pantry and cold room, that I needed to use it up. We love menu planning already and since hubby does the weekday cooking and I do the weekend cooking, we seem to be much more organized now!
So glad to hear that this has worked for you!
My hubby just commented that it might be getting close to time for another pantry/freezer clean-out. 🙂
I’m always in awe of you Mamas who can plan a whole month at a time! If I try to do more than a week my eyes glaze over. 🙂
My method is a bit more personalized. Normally I do 4-5 dinners for a week and fill in the blanks as I go along. It’s hard to predict how many leftovers we’ll have so I make sure I have some wiggle room. While I’m more informal with my meal planning than most people it’s because I’ve worked out a system where I always have options. With our schedule I know which days I need a crock pot or other meal cooked ahead of time and when I have time to cook right before we eat. I’ve learned how to freezer cook both on a regular basis (like Crystal) and stock up for a few months when there are sales. Another thing I do is make a list of meals I have on hand each month and update and reference it when I freezer cook. Someone just starting out would probably be overwhelmed by my method but it’s working really well right now.
Just to clarify – I’m not a mom (yet). 😉
That means I might have a little more time in my life. Maybe. 🙂
we do meal planning to stay on budget…we’re a family of 4, the kids are only 2 and 4 so they dont eat that much yet 🙂 we start each sunday with $200, we sit down and plan the whole weeks meals, post the menu on the fridge and take the shopping list to the store, then whatever is left from the $200 my husband and i split for our pocket money for the week, sometimes it’s as little at $10 some times at much as $50 (and we always have the ol’ debit card if we need it), depending on how much we have left from the week before, this works wonderfully for us.
I just wrote a post last week called “A Case for Meal Planning” and why it works particularly well in our food allergy home. I call myself a “loose meal planner” because I am pretty flexible with it. I have enjoyed getting into the habit of it over the past month though.
You can read my pro-meal planning arguments here:
http://willingcook.com/a-case-for-meal-planning-our-allergy-home-meal-plan/
Thanks for this timely post!
I definitely enjoy having a menu plan….even if the actual planning part is not fun at all 😉 Typically I plan for the week, but I don’t necessarily plan for specific nights unless something is going on after school or work. I plan 6-7 meals and rotate if needed, but at least I know what I have on hand! Our typical menu includes one large meat+sides kind of dinner (roast chicken or pork for example), spaghetti night, meal using leftover meat from previous nights (chicken pot pie, pulled pork sandwiches, etc), breakfast night, dinner with family, and mexican night. Unless I find a good deal on something, I try not to add new recipes because I am too frugal (cheap??) to waste money on a recipe we might not like 🙂
I, too, wonder how I ever grocery shopped before I started menu planning. One week at a time works for us. I couldn’t imagine shopping a month at a time–what if the week you need to go is the week nothing is on sale? And the ingredients you use all the time are on the sale one of the other three weeks?
I don’t necessarily shop one month at a time…I typically shop maybe 2-3 times during the month. I practice the “Buy Ahead principle” (as Crystal calls it!). So when I shop, I’m not really buying for my meals…I’m picking up loss leaders and pantry staples. There have been nights when I have to choose a different meal because an item I need has been too expensive.
We eat mostly from-scratch meals (esp. because I’m gluten free). I have gotten to the point where I basically know what I need to have on hand each month to make meals happen (i.e., so many cans of tomato sauce, so many packages of shredded cheese, so much meat, etc…).
I did a post last month about what’s in my pantry; maybe that will help you:
http://ourfrugalhappylife.blogspot.com/2011/09/whats-in-my-gluten-free-pantry_25.html
Does that make sense?
My husband talked me into once a month menu planning and grocery shopping (with small trips for milk and produce). I fussed and fumed the whole way, but it was so nice to have a whole month planned and shopped for when we had a baby last month. Oddly enough, our grocery bill for a month was actually cheaper than shopping every other week. I still rarely do the CVS and local grocery deals if there are deals I can’t pass up (free or almost free), but generally staying out of the stores saves money for us.
I don’t plan out what meals we will have on specific days. We have a master list of meals for the month that I post by my cookbooks. We eat the meals as we feel like them and cross them off the list as we go.
I’ve tried freezer cooking in the past but have come to the conclusion that just having precooked meat (hamburger, shredded chicken and beef) and beans frozen in meal sized portions in the freezer is the way to go for me. With those basics on hand, I can usually whip up just about any meal quickly. When I can I double a casserole recipe and put one in the freezer for later.
Thank you for all the menu and meal planning ideas you post. I love getting new ideas. 🙂
What a great idea! I plan our dinner weekly meals, but have never even thought to extend it to a month.
I usually plan meat-type dinners one night and vegetarian dinners another night (alternating). The thing I find difficult about meal planning is finding delicious and tasty vegetarian meals for the carnivores in the house. How about anyone else?
I gave up on vegetarian night dinners because hubby would always have to work late and stop at McD’s on the way home and kids would not eat it so it would go into the fridge. A total waste for us as no one was willing to eat the meals leftover either.
When money is tight, I don’t bother to try new things. I stick to tried-and-true recipes to avoid wasting money. My family prefers meat, so I juggle the budget to be able to afford it.
Mushrooms have helped make our vegetarian meals more “hearty.” I usually put in whatever is on sale that week for our pasta sauce. My husband actually asked me to do this instead of using meat.
There would be MAJOR revolt in my home if I did vegetarian meals. It simply cannot happen. at all. 🙂 (Believe me, I have tried to sneak in veg. meals…and I always hear about it! He always catches me…lol!)
What I do is try to use less meat where possible (3/4 lb. meat instead of one lb., less chicken, etc.). IBut overall, have accepted the fact that my husband is a meat-loving man…and that’s that. No getting around it…and it’s not worth arguing about…so meat is a key piece of budget.
We eat mostly vegetarian meals at home. I make a lot of soups (lentil, potato, split pea, minestrone), pastas, tacos or enchiladas with refried beans, casseroles, etc. Once per week we have homemade pizza; I make two cheese pizzas and a veggie pizza (with mixed onions, black olives, mushrooms, and green peppers. My husband isn’t fond of salads, so we don’t often have those, and he’s picky about what vegetables he likes and how they’re cooked, so I sometimes have a hard time figuring out how to get the family to eat enough variety of veggies. We usually eat meat only when we go out or go to someone’s house.
A few years ago, I found a book at the library that was entirely vegetarian but had options for meat-eaters. I can’t find any of the recipes I copied from it, so I don’t have the title of the book. So sorry, but maybe you can find it at your library?
What about eggplant parmesan, stuffed shells, or anything with mushrooms? (Rachel Ray has some good recipes using mushrooms.) Many pasta dishes can be made without meat and lots of veggies. Egg dishes are great to use leftover veggies (quiche or frittata). Bean burritos are great as well. My husband wants beef all the time as well. I have found that if I make one night meatless to try to have the next night with a hearty meat it’s not too bad.
One of the hardest things about making dinner used to be deciding what to have – if I’m tired at the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is make a decision. If the decision has already been made, half the battle’s already been won.
One trick I’ve done is assign the starch to a day of the week. For example:
Sunday: Beans or potatoes
Monday: Pasta
Tues: Tortillas or corn
Wednesday: Rice
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Bread (pizza, pancakes, etc.)
Saturday: Leftovers
These are, of course, flexible. If something comes up and we need a quick bite, we might have leftovers on Wednesday night and save our rice meal for Thursday.
I really resisted meal planning, because my husband and I like to cook together and I didn’t want to cut him out. The meal plan has created some friction simply because I don’t write out the exact plan so Dh may put together enchiladas using chicken when I had planned on pork. On those days, we can easily switch around the menu to accomodate the change.
“If the decision has already been made, half the battle’s already been won.”
Love this! Making the decision about what to make for dinner is definitely half the battle! Because I dislike fighting that battle, I choose to fight it monthly. 😉
Grocery budget has been more than cut in half doing this. My stockpile got out of control:) so we eat mostly out of pantry now feeding fan of 5 on 45/wk for about a month now 🙂
I’m really committed to my menu plan. Its just one less thing I have to think about during the week. I do one week at a time now, but I’ve done up to a month.
When I had my 2nd baby last December, I even made enough freezer meals and meal planned for the first three months after her birth. Here’s my meal plan from last January if anyone’s interested:
http://cookingluck.blogspot.com/2011/01/menu-plan-for-january-pantry-challenge.html
Well, I’m not pregnant but we are trying again. I told my husband that this time I’m going to have a well stocked pantry, stock pile and tons of freezer meals ready!
I made a bunch of freezer meals before I got pregnant, too, so when I’m too tired or sick we can just heat something up from the freezer.
I keep a list on the fridge for the next week. I plan it out on Saturday when I do my grocery shopping. We eat meals based on what is on sale. We almost always have a pizza night (it varies on the item: pizza itself, pizza caserole, stomboli, pizza bites etc.) and we always have a whatever night on Sundays (eat what you can find) as we do a big lunch with family after church.
I have also asked each member of the family to pick a meal…that way each child is sure to like at least one meal as it was their choice.
I too look ahead and make sure the meal is a simple one if we have to be gone at a certain time and I make more complex meals on the other nights. I also try to to serve chef salads at the start of the week so the veggies and lettuce are fresher.
We rotate through the same meals over and over!
One other benifit to meal planning I have found is that it makes hospitality happen more often. If I don’t have to go to the store to buy something special because we are having others over it makes it easier to invite others over, even if it is at the last minute.
That’s a great point, Betsy! We often have my in laws here…and I never need to make a special trip to the store when I find out they’re coming.
In the classes I teach on healthy living for families…..I say time and time again, that the best way I have found to save money on food, is to plan our meals for our family of 7. There are numerable other ways as well, but that is my #1! Great post!
Blessings,
Joy~
I also menu plan a month at a time. What I love most about having a plan is that I can plan for the leftovers, too. If we have chicken on Monday, chances are we’re having it again on Wednesday in some other form. For example, if Monday is baked chicken with potatoes and hot vegetables, then Wednesday might be Italian chicken paninis and salads or soup. Planning to “cook once & eat twice” save so much time! Especially during really busy weeks.
I totally agree with everything but No. 6. LOL I don’t think it’s fun AT ALL!
But I completely enjoy the benefits of it, so I’m currently menu planning again after not doing it for a few months. I love that I spend so much LESS at the store when I’m only buying what I know we need and I also love not having the what-are-we-having-for-dinner late afternoon panic.
I don’t think it’s fun either, but I do it anyway. 🙂
Meal planning for our house makes dinner SO MUCH easier and shopping a complete breeze! But, if you do get overwhelmed there are LOTS of information out there to help you every step of the way! I use my personal site Mealr, but I have a friend that menu plans for 6 weeks at a time! She does one large grocery shopping trip every 6 weeks and stops in every two for other items. Everybody is different, so you really have to try different things out and see what works best for you and your clan! The three days at a time thing is perfect for those who might get overwhelmed. I find that anything more than 14 days of meal planning and I get really overwhelmed shopping.
Great post!!! Although I wouldn’t attempt one month (or even two weeks) in advance. It took awhile for my husband to get on board with everything we’ve done financially. Of course we used to be the eat out often and just throw things in the shopping cart kind of family. Now it’s meal and eating out planning. As a sahm with a husband who works 50 hours a week, things get altered. 6-7 meals with maybe an eat out is far enough in advance because you never know if the day went bad and he wants to change our eat out night or do something different. I’ve also heard many times, “we haven’t had pizza in awhile.” If he says that on Wednesday, planning for next Monday is feasible for us whereas mid November would yield an impromptu trip to a pizza place… denting the budget!!!
I meal plan for the month as well and LOVE it. It helps us to be better organized when we shop as well. I know if I need chicken broth, meat, or beans to make a whole huge stash and freeze it for the month so I don’t end up buying a can of beans every week. My husband and I also split the cooking responsibilities and the monthly plan helps incredibly when planning out our month in terms of work schedules, church schedules, and other events.
I agree about planning 3 days at a time if you are overwhelmed or just starting out.
I do NOT think menu planning is fun, but have found that it is critical to keep eating healthy, whole foods on a budget.
I tried monthly menu planning and that was awful – I sit in awe of people who can do that! One week is all my mommy brain can handle.
One thing I do that helps tremendously is this: I use KISS (keep it “stupid simple”) plan on Wednesday nights. Every Wednesday I serve burgers, sweet potatoes, green beans and smoothies. I love that I don’t have to think at all this night!
I agree. I have come to actually loathe menu planning, but it is so essential that I have to continue to do it. We would definitely eat out or grab take out more if I didn’t do it, since both my husband and I work full-time. Knowing what I’m cooking for dinner the minute I come in the door from work helps with my sanity, so I do menu plan for a week at a time. I can not imagine planning for longer than that though. I just don’t have blocks of time that are that long enough to plan for anything longer than a week, and I know if I tried, I would give up too easily as I can’t stand planning for the week as it is.
I do a weekly menu plan for our family. The dinner menu covers the four tightly scheduled days since it is important that we get the kids to bed on time. To make sure we have a “balance” menu I follow a general pattern so that we are getting plenty of meats, veggies, etc… Here is an example of what we do to help with menu planning in our family –
Monday (Beef Entree):
Tuesday (Seafood or Pork Entree):
Wednesday (Chicken Entree):
Thursday (Pasta or Vegetarian Entree):
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I alternate every other week between the two Main Entree. I only plan menus for those four days because my husband is an amazing cook and will often cook a lot of the meals on the weekends. 🙂 Also, weekends tend to be very busy with friends, hosting, family, church, travel and other activities so I do not plan weekend meals since those are more a joint family cooking adventure or we are hosting or at a friends / families house or traveling.
Plus having the weekend more open allows us to eat up the extra leftovers in our fridge. I really do not like wasting food. This works well for our family. Find what works for your family and go for it, don’t be afraid to change it a little bit when necessary. 🙂
I LOVE menu planning and think it is super fun! My hubby and I even make a date night out of it and get our old menus, Taste of Home mags, and cook books then sit down and create our menu for the next month. Since we do this after the kids are in bed we make sure to ask if there is anything in particular they would like the next month (they usually say pizza for family movie night). This way we all get to eat something we like!
Our four kids always get to pick one meal each for our “master monthly list”. That way they know if there is something they really want that we haven’t had in a while they have input for next month.
(Even though usually they pick the exact same thing every month. 🙂
I enjoy menu planning, too! I ask my 2 yr old what she wants and she usually says “leftovers!” since we have them so often.
I menu plan on a weekly basis. I am not super organized (although I am trying to get better) so weekly works best for me. I also keep a list of family favorites that are pretty easy to cook. This is what mostly fills the menu plan however a least a few times a month I like to try out new recipes.
When I don’t menu plan we end up going to the drive thru which is bad for out health and budget.
Me, too, Amber. It’s easy to menu plan when you have family favorites, and some sort of routine. Like on Mondays I almost always have a crockpot meal, Sundays are pizza night, and then I add a few stand bys and a few new recipes and it’s done. Menu planning isn’t about being a Food Network star. I think it’s about having a plan, even if your family eats the same meal two weeks-or more :)-in a row.
I totally agree Carrie! When I first tried to implement Menu Planning I was filling every week with almost all new recipes….not sure what I was thinking. It didn’t take me long to realize that just planning what my family already loves was the key. 🙂
And, I think it takes the stress off of you a little. If you’re taking on the task of menu planning, you should keep that goal in mind. It’s the planning, not the extravagant recipes that make it work. I think that’s where a lot of people get confused and frustrated. Even if there are several meals with purely pantry foods..why not? Some weeks, I plan a fish sticks and macaroni and cheese night. Nothing glamorous, but it’s planned and that’s what matters.
Love this Carrie! We should certainly not be trying to be Food Network stars…just put yummy, healthy food on the table for our families.
I often joke with my husband that I feel like we eat the same meals over and over. His response? “Oh no, hon! You have tons of variety!” He grew up in a home where he had meatloaf every Monday, tacos every Tuesday, etc…so he loves my monthly planning. 🙂
It’s all about finding what works for YOU!
I wish this plan would work out for me. My husband and I both work full time. It seems like everyday my husband arrives at 5pm starving and he doesn’t like typical american cuisine (pasta/pizza/sandwich/casseroles) as he is from Latin America. He either eats hot dogs or eats out because he is such an impulsive eater. This continues to cause a high credit card bill. Any tips?
crockpot meals that are ready when you get home !!
Have you tried making meals in advance that can be quickly heated or perhaps making meals in the crockpot? On gymnastics night, I try to have something pre-made or something in the crockpot so my husband and son can eat before we get home. Otherwise, they’d have pb&j or chips and salsa. 🙂
Well, this may sound heartless, but he needs to grow up and realize that he can’t continue to live like this.
I have a picky child with Asperger’s and if he could have his way, he’d eat a Happy Meal every meal. Unfortunately, that doesn’t fit into our budget, so we had to find ways to compromise that did fit the budget.
Here are some of my tips for you:
A. Can he cook? If you are both working full-time, yet he won’t eat easily prepared meals, then he needs to step up to the plate and start preparing food for himself that he will eat.
B. Those two ideas aside, as I understand changing him isn’t that easy, you need to find out what cuisine he is willing to eat. Just because it’s not typical american cuisine doesn’t mean that it will take longer to make, or be harder. Mary at Owlhaven.net makes lots of ethnic food for her multi-cultural family that sound good and easy.
Then, you can do three things
1. Use your crockpot. Check out http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ for lots of different “non-typical” meals that you can make in your crockpot.
2. Cook ahead on the weekends or whatever so that you can just “throw something into the oven.” This can be as simple as browning ground beef, etc, or putting together a whole casserole.
3. Have a list of 30 minute or less meals that you can easily throw together when you get home and are starving.
I bet you knew most of this, huh? Really, it simply comes down to your husband realizing what his immaturity is doing to your family. Have you discussed this with him?
Try making an appetizer to get him eating right away. I do this for my kids sometimes as they are super hungry when they get home from day care. It doesn’t have to be complicated–just some sliced meat, cheese, and crackers do the trick. We also sometimes have chips and salsa or salad before we actually eat.
I have always done a monthly “master list” and then broken it down weekly. That gives me a little bit of grace and ability to switch things around, but still allows me to really only go to the store for one main shopping trip, other than a quick milk trip here or there.
With a family of 6 it saves my life and my grocery budget. Much of what automatically goes on the next months menu plan are the foods that I was able to get inexpensively this month.
I love the idea of a master list! That is sort of what I do already, but I love the idea of doing it a month at a time and then breaking it into weeks! Thanks!
I do weekly menu plan, I also every two weeks do a master listof whats in the freezer and pantry. It has saved me so much money.
I used to dread opening my refrigerator at 4.30 pm, staring at the shelves for a protracted moment, all the while hoping some inspirational menu item might hop out and bite me. I now try to menu plan for one week at a time. It has helped enormously, and truly cut down on last minute, needless trips to the grocery store. I hope to move up to planning two weeks at a time sometime soon, all the while holding a lofty goal of monthly meal planning for 2012. Thanks for all the inspiration.
Another timely guest post! Good job Emily! 🙂
Consuming every meal, snack and beverage inside of our home, as well as lunches made at home and taken by my husband to work instead of eating out for lunch, is a major goal of mine right now. I’ve always played around with menu planning and grocery shopping lists to keep costs down, but I’ve never actually been committed to it. Now I have no choice. If I don’t plan it out, then money that should have gone to pay the rent or basic utility bills will have been spent on fast food or unwise choices in the grocery store.
My biggest hang up with menu planning used to be coming up with enough tasty, but inexpensive, meals. My husband and I tend to be “finicky” or “picky” eaters, and that has definitely influenced our children as well. After praying about it for several weeks though, we’ve stumbled on a great saying for ourselves. “If you don’t want to eat it, then you’re probably just not hungry enough.” I never realized how much it hurts to go days without food until our recent fasting. And it’s amazing how food that used to look boring (such as beans and rice or cornbread) suddenly becomes wonderfully delicious!
🙂
Menu planning is definitely worth the time and energy you put into it. And, just like most things in life, the more you practice the more progress you make. This is my third month of focused energy in menu and grocery list planning, and I’m already seeing huge improvements in those skills. If I can do it, anyone can!
Good point. Makes me wonder how many people in impoverished countries are picky eaters.
Me too. The first time I saw a video from Compassion International (I think) where a little boy around age 4 and his little sister around age 2 ate tamales that were in a plastic bag in a garbage dump, it changed my perspective. They hate several day old food that smelled, and probably tasted, like garbage as if it was a fresh slice of pizza.
I, too, have discovered the joy of menu planning. Initially, I tried a more flexible version for the week. I would plan to have 6 meals available to make. Depending on the situation or husband’s preference that morning, I would make one of the meals. However, that was too hectic around the holidays or when we had too many things going on during the week.
Right now, I menu plan 2 times / month. After I’ve looked over the sales, I figure out what I can make and when (with calendar in hand). Then, I pencil in those meals. It’s SUPER helpful, when I have to make something ahead of time to go with the meal. For example, I like cooking a whole chicken and using the meat for for two meals and make stock out of the bones. Then, I have stock for soup… for a third meal.
I do like being able to switch things around, if plans change. For example, I was planning on having lasagna tonight. But I found out last night, we’re having guests over on Thursday. That will be an easy meal for a crowd, so I just switched the days. Woohoo for menu planning!!
I used to plan and shop for 2 weeks at a time. Unfortunately, I’m the world’s slowest grocery shopper because I have to stop and compare unit prices on EVERYTHING. More little kids and pregnancy have made going out to do my big shopping after they’re in bed impossible these days. So I’m down to planning and shopping once a week. I just make a list of seven meals for the week, include a few easy/quick ones for the days I need a break, and make my grocery list accordingly.
I used to be super slow at grocery shopping too because of stopping to analyze unit prices. Then I started working on my own price book. It’s amazing how much time that thing saves, even though I’m not even done yet!
It’s definitely a time investment initially, but now my shopping trips take less then 1/3 of what they previously took, and I use that other “free time” to catalog more prices for the price book. I only cover three stores (Wal-Mart, Kroger and Costco).
I think the biggest advantage for me though, was the peace at not having to guess or wonder anymore if I was really getting the best deal. Now I can just scan my price book and know for sure! 🙂
I actually do keep a price list in my coupon folder in my purse comparing Walmart and Shaw’s (my other grocery store). It’s hard though with prices changing all the time these days, and the promotions that require a bit of calculation (like Shaw’s Buy 6 milks, get 1 free… have to pull out a calculator to know if it’s cheaper to buy their more expensive milk to get the 7th free compared to the regular lower price of Walmart milk, and same with cereal sale + coupon).
My way of dealing with 2 kids while shopping–snacks! We never leave home without our “Snack bag.” I pack water, crackers, dried fruit, cereal, and lollipops in containers or baggies and they have a field day while I get to concentrate. When snacks fail I have a pad of paper and an ink pen in my purse, my 3 yr old loves the idea of using the forbidden ink pen. Also, whenever we get random toys at parties or kid’s meals I save them in my purse for emergencies when kids are too fussy in public.
I tried planning menus for specific days of the week and failed. Either we wouldn’t be in the mood for what was planned, or something else would interfere. However, what does work for us is planning for the week, but not assigning meals for specific days. So, for example, whatever we feel like that night from the list of meal options for the week, that’s what I make. I also leave a spot for “dinner out” and one for “lunch out”, but also don’t assign that to any specific night or day of the week. Basically, my menu plan is just that..a plan, but it’s also very flexible, which works great for our family.
This is what my husband and I do. Since we both work full time and go to school full time, we never know when one of us will have some sort of deadline to meet. Having a list of 5 different meals that can be made helps the one cooking realize what’s going to be appropriate to make for that day and how much leftovers it will make for the following day (assuming one of us has a meeting, a big paper to work on, etc). We used to do the “Spaghetti on Monday, mexican on Tuesday…” but dinner time always became a disaster since we were rushing to get things done. Now that we have a list of meals that we know we have the supplies for, it’s easy for me to call and say, “I’m going to be late – throw something together!” and my hubby has options on what to make. And we always keep a few frozen pizzas in the freezer for those super busy days.
I’m really trying to become better at meal planning. When I do it, it makes my work week go much more smoothly. I get my husband on board because he tends to be picky. My question for all of you… how do you handle picky eaters?:)
Picky eaters suffer in my house! We all eat the same meal. However, I do try to alternate “yucky” meals with “yay” ones, so a certain child doesn’t feel like her life is a pit of despair every day. Like the day after a soup night we will have spaghetti.
Not sure how to handle a picky husband – that’s a bit harder.
I was going to write this exact same thing! Either you eat what I put in front of you, or you do without. I also do like you said- balance an unpopular choice one night with a family favorite the next day. Thankfully my husband is wonderful about eating whatever I make, and I try to fit in his favorites often in my weekly menu plan. I would be perfectly happy to do without meat several days in a row, but I’d have a mutiny on my hands 🙂
I have poor, suffering picky eaters also 🙂 I usually stick to my “this is what’s for dinner, this is what you will eat” theory, but sometimes I accommodate. When we have chicken enchiladas for example, I will leave out some plain chicken and a tortilla for my oldest son who hates any sort of mixtures/sauces. I am not a short order cook 😉
I stick with the moto – You eat what I make. One of my children has food issues so I do leave out small amounts of things before adding sauce but thats about it. Also, things I would have originally put together I may now put out as seperate so that it can be added in. But in our house if you at least give a good try to something new and you really can’t eat it the kids can have PB&J.
We also all eat the same meal. My husband is somewhat picky, and I usually don’t serve things that I know he doesn’t like. My three kids are picky about certain things–different things. My twin daughters’ favorite dish is pasta with marinara sauce, but my son doesn’t like it. My son’s favorite meal is tacos, but my daughters don’t like that. We have both things once per week, so alternate, too, with the things that not everyone likes. Sometimes, if we have tomato soup or something with pasta in it, I’ll leave a little bit of pasta plain for one of my daughters, who doesn’t like tomato soup, and then my husband will eat any leftovers for breakfast or something. So my plan sometimes has options built in, but generally we all eat the same thing.
My husband isn’t super picky, but my kids can be. I just always try to make sure that the side dishes are something they like. Or, if I’m making chicken fajitas, I also cook up some taco meat because my boys prefer that to chicken fajitas. Or, if my husband and I are having meatloaf, I patty up two hamburgers for the boys and make the rest as meatloaf. If we’re trying a new recipe, I’ll often half it, just in case we don’t care for it. Then, not so much is wasted.
My husband was picky when we got married 33 years ago but only because his Mother only knew how to cook a few things and never varied their menu. He just did not develop a taste for a wide variety of foods. I worked him up to eating just about anything but it took many years. I would ask him if he would be willing to try a certain food and he was agreeable. Sometimes I just fed him the little bits of leftovers that he liked while the rest of us had something else. The ONLY green food he ate when we got married was green beans. How many green beans can one bear to eat? It does take patience and understanding but it paid off in the long run not only because he eats what everyone else does now but also he is eating a healthier diet.
My husband was picky too when we got married. He especially would not eat beans of ANY kind. In year 2 of our marriage he went on a mission trip to Costa Rica and stayed in a native Costa Rican’s home. Guess what she served at every meal. Right—beans! He had to learn to eat them. He said the lady also served some kind of meat too. He thought it was chicken, but he did not ask any questions. Since it was eat or go hungry he learned to love beans. He came home 8 days later cured of his picky eating habits.
My husband and son aren’t so much picky as they like to eat what sounds good at the time. So, I write seven meals for the week and then offer a choice for the night (would you like chicken tonight or hamburgers)? I also have my husband plan the two nights that he cooks, which usually ends up being frozen pizza, but having them involved makes a big difference in the overall picture.
My children eat what is put in front of them. I do (like the others) try to balance what we eat so everyone is happy throughout the week. Each one of my children has something that they absolutely DO NOT like. For example, my oldest has always disliked eggs. I will encourage him to eat a small bite, and I will have toast for him. Or the same with my daughter and rice. They are allowed one dislike. 🙂
As far as my husband is concerned, he is a very, very picky eater. I used to get frustrated because I couldn’t make anything new. So, I adjusted. I make new recipes that has his favortite ingredients in them. I also learned to be flexible. He doesn’t want to eat the green peppers in a dish, but he likes the flavor. I leave large chunks of pepper in the dish then pull them out when it is time to eat. Then we are both happy.
What age kids do you make eat what is fixed? Because my 2 year old is picky and if she just eats the sides she is still hungry. (She does not eat bread, with the exception of the one bite rule so I can not fill her up on a roll) She will not eat any type of casserole meal. She wants plain meat. Would love any suggestions? She does have to take one bite of everything on the plate. However, an hour later she is hungry. I have tried to save her plate and make her try it again but she won’t eat and if I do not feed her she wakes up in the middle of the night wanting to eat.
I made them eat what was put in front of them from the very beginning on table foods. If the food was not eaten I covered it and put it in the refrigerator. When they said they were hungry they got back their plate to finish the meal. I did not offer other or allow other foods until the meal was eaten. I did not give them anything to drink but water until the meal was consumed either. They will eat when they realize that they have to eat what is served or be hungry. I know that sounds tough but I raised 5 kids and they are not picky adult eaters. One exception is our 22 yr old son who does not like mixed up casserole type dishes either. He eats all of one thing out of the dish and then all of another food, etc. I thought he would outgrow that but he has not. Weird for an adult to pick a casserole apart into seperate foods but he does. It’s not a big deal if your daughter wants to spread out a mixed dish of foods into seperate piles on her plate. I did allow my kids to take one food out of a casserole if they did not like it, such as mushrooms, but only one. This is a tough issue and a test of wills with kids. Our oldest son is going through this with his kids now and it is hard to be firm as a Nana but I know it is for their own good in the long run 🙂
It’s not weird that someone would rather eat food separately and enjoy the individual tastes. Sensory issues are very real for some people.
I think it would depend on your child’s level of understanding, and your own personal philosophy on parenting.
My older two children, ages 5 and 4, are very picky. We sat down with them one evening before supper and laid out our new rule:
“Every meal has a main dish and one or two sides. You may pick and choose what to eat off of your plate. If you refuse to eat your food, and you get hungry later, then you have learned a valuable lesson. Eat what is put in front of you with a thankful heart.”
They went to bed hungry a few times in the beginning, but because we held fast to our philosophy and they realized we weren’t going to give in to their whining, they changed. Our 20 month old eats just about anything that’s put in front of her. If she refused to eat something, I would just keep offering it to her several times. Eventually she tried it and decided she liked it.
It is not uncommon for young children to dislike casseroles, especially children that have a strong gag reflex or a sensory issues. Will she eat the ingredients separately? If so, she may learn to like casseroles eventually, but in the meantime, if you’re cooking chicken/beef to put in a casserole, leave some separate for her. Offer raw veggies or sliced apple with the meat to make it easy. If you insist on making her try everything on her plate, put a small scoop of casserole.
That question goes straight into what I posted in a comment below!
Our new family motto has become, “If you don’t want to eat it, then you’re probably not hungry enough.” 🙂 My husband and I both were “picky eaters” but we’re learning to try new things. It was all about baby steps. Slow and steady changes can make a big difference in a person’s palate.
First we let ourselves adapt to eating three meatless meals per week, which were usually some variation of beans, rice, meatless pasta, or potatoes. Then we made a big change and started doing cobb salads for both of our lunches. I do peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and banana sandwiches for the kiddos.
I cut all of our ingredients for cobb salad on Sunday night and put them in individual storage containers. Each morning I tear the leafy green lettuce into a medium sized bowl for my husband’s salad. In a seperate dish I put things like chopped chicken, diced ham, hard-boiled eggs, shredded cheese, kidney beans and various veggies (this is all mix-and-matched through the week) layered on top of each other. Since we’re both eating this five days per week, none of the lettuce or vegetables are wasted. Since my children have seen me eating this five days a week for the last few weeks they’ve begun trying the different ingredients too.
Neither of us were big salad eaters before, but we just accepted that this was the best way for us to get in a healthful lunch without spending very much. We’re working on getting in more vegetables each week and less of the heavier proteins we’re used to eating with salads. We only try one “new to us” vegetable each week, and if at the end of the week we still hate it, that’s ok. At least we tried!
Another helpful tool for me was to realize that different techniques garner different tastes. Raw broccoli and cooked broccoli with cheese on the side are two completely different animals in our home! 🙂 Experiement with “hiding” vegetables in recipes, or changing their appearance, texture, smell, taste, etc. to something more “acceptable”.
Lastly, the key for me was realizing that made from scratch meals usually taste better, but not always. I’ve tried six different spaghetti sauce recipes, and my husband hated all six. He just loves Ragu. (So do I, really. 🙂 ) Now I just buy the big jug of it at Wal-Mart and compromise. He’s willing to eat meatless spaghetti as long as it’s Ragu spaghetti sauce! Ask your husband what the biggest things are that he just won’t compromise on. Once you have a feel for what he’s set-in-stone-not-going-to-change on, then you have a true starting place of what to work around.
I hope that helps! 🙂
My husband is also a picky eater. At first, I tried the method of whatever I am cooking we will both eat or go hungry.
The problem soon became that he went to bed hungry and lost a lot of weight. After some prodding, he next just made PB&J sandwiches when he didn’t like what I cooked. While he didn’t complain, it bothered me greatly that he wasn’t getting a nutritious meal.
So now I do cook a little more around his preferences. We still try new foods, but I know that some foods are on the do not include list. As we try new foods, he lets me know what he likes and dislikes. Then I build well rounded meals around what we both like.
Probably not the best option for everyone, but it works for us!
Hi Meredith!
Here’s my line: “I am not a short order cook!” In fact, I just told my husband that this past weekend. 🙂
I make one meal for dinner. That’s it. When we have kids in the future, that won’t change. “If you don’t like what’s for dinner, see you at the next meal.” (That was how I grew up! ;))
Now, I do generally make food that we both like. 🙂 I don’t want it to sound like I torture my husband with weird foods or anything. Ha! I mostly plan very basic meals…and I actually include my husband in meal planning by asking him what he thinks about new recipes that I find and such.
I think one of the keys to picky eaters is involving them in the process however you can.
My daughter was almost four before she’d eat food that was “mixed together”…she just really, really liked her food separate! 🙂 she is now 4.5, and can enjoy casseroles, etc. We also have an almost three year old and 14 month old, and the rule for the older two is that if they don’t finish their supper, they get it for snack :). It’s usually enugh motivation to get them to finish! The little guy is a bit too young, in my opinion, to be too strict on what he’s eating, as he doesn’t understand long-term consequences. That being said, he’s a human garburator, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him turn anything down!
I have been doing menu plans for about 2 1/2 years now. I seriously don’t know how people do it without now. We keep ours a little more flexible- I just plan what meals I am going to make, taking into consideration any events coming up, and stick them in where appropriate. I have gone to 2 week plans to match my husband’s paycheck schedule now. I have found that this saves a lot of money in our grocery bill because I can plan out meals that use similar ingredients to reduce waste. For example, if my husband is craving a certain meal that calls for half a head of cabbage, I can make the same meal the next week, or a different meal to use the rest of the cabbage. Back when I was just planning a week at a time, that second half would often get thrown out (makes me cringe to think about that now! 🙂 )
Love menu planning. I generally plan out two weeks at a time to correspond with my fiance’s paychecks. This limits our spending greatly.
That’s a smart idea! I’ve only been doing it a week at a time, but 2 weeks I think I could do. Thanks for that!
I absolutely menu plan. I love doing it, it makes my life less stressful, and helps me try new recipes. I menu plan for all these reasons, and more. Every week on my post, I put a small menu planning tip, especially for people who are just starting out. It’s awesome what a habit it can become, and how it really changes your thinking on feeding your family. Even if people just plan for three days at a time, and work up to a week’s worth, it’s wonderful. Thank you so much for reinforcing this idea.
That’s a great idea for planning three days at a time if you’re just starting out!
The first six weeks or so I had to do that because I just couldn’t “see” what some of my possibilities were. I did use only what we had in the pantry, fridge and freezer, because we didn’t have the choice of going grocery shopping. If I’d tried to think of planning even a week’s menu it would have been overwhelming.
I’ve been trying to talk myself in to menu planning. The concept is just so overwhelming! I like the idea of starting off with a three day plan, thaks for the suggestion!
This is how I plan too! Eight-four meals at a time. 🙂 I love planning monthly. It totally works for our family right now.
I always used to plan a weekly menu, but have since gotten out of the habit. I really need to start up again. Thanks for the motivation! 🙂