Anyone have successful ideas on meal planning?

Question

We are now a family of 6. I am a stay-at-home Mom, looking to make my life a little easier. I try to plan out meals for the week and I guess I just get stumped. Anyone have a "template" or something to write all down in? A place to add the groceries you need? This is just driving me crazy. I have a million cookbooks and just need a way to configured my weekly dinners! PLEASE HELP!

Answer 1

It sounds like you want a planner to have recipes handy & a place to add a grocery list, but also some new recipie ideas? I would recommend some sort of notebook; write down your recipie or paste it inside, then leave some room on a couple of pages afterward to be able to make a grocery checklist. If you get stumped for what to make, try alternating meats throughout your week for some variety, or make each night a themed night (spanish, italian, indian, mexican, etc). Instead of cookbooks, which I get bought for me all the time, try going to foodnetwork.com, they have every recipie imaginable, and you can find just what you're looking for (usually the recipies are made to talor to a large group, so you're set!!!). Good luck.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

We have 6 kids, so I know EXACTLY how you feel. There's never enough time or money to get it all done. I print off a blank calendar for the month just for my meal planning. I compare it to our regular calendar so I can plan my meals accordingly. I also ask the kids to write down some meal requests on a blank piece of paper. The older ones help the little ones with this. I then fill in the days with a dinner for each day. I also try to include breakfast plans as well. I have a grocery shopping template I made with Microsoft Word. All it has is categories and space to write down items. I sit down with my recipes and make my shopping list. I also go thru my coupons at the same time and mark items I have a coupon for with an asterisk. I take those coupons and place them in the front of my coupon organizer. This saves time at the grocery store. I usually do 2 weeks of shopping at a time. I make a list of all the meat I need for the month just in case there's a really good deal on it and then I buy in quantity. I have found that here where we live meat is much cheaper when bought in larger amounts. I have also been known to ask the meat manager at the store if he can work me a deal when I need larger quantities. Most of the time he does! I then sepaprate the meat into portions required for my recipes, place in a freezer package, label it with what it's intended for and freeze. You can also cook up ground beef that needs to be browned for some recipes and freeze that as well. I make taco meat and freeze it all the time. A lot of casserole dishes can also be made in advance and frozen for a later time. I do this with a few meals just in case something happens that intereferes with meal preparations. You can pull it out of the freezer, pop it in the oven and not worry while you run kids around town to practices and stuff.
Another suggestion is to write down what cookbook and page # on your calendar next to your dinner menu. This came in really helpful when I was ill and not able to do the cooking. My hubby and my mom knew exactly where to find the recipe and were quite pleased with how easy it was to get it all together. The meat labeling really makes a difference with this as well!

I hope this has helped you out a bit. I know that getting organized has helped me out a lot. The stress level is way better now.

Answer 4

Congratulation!!!
I can imagine that there might not be lots of time for you. But your idea is great. I raised 5 boys myself and I also was a full time Mom.
I can only speak from my own experience, dear.
I made pans.
A plan for laundry,
a plan for groceries,
and so on.
In my time (about 30 years ago), we didn't have home computers, so I made my own weekly meal plan calender.
I took cookbooks and wrote some nutritious, money saving recipes on a piece of paper.
Then I looked up all the weekly specials from any grocery store in town. I bought what was on special that week, sometimes in bulk and froze the rest.
Never did we have junk food. These items are expensive and have no nutrition. Every night for treats and for desert we ate fresh fruit.
It sounds complicated...but if you try this method...AND STICK TO THE PLAN...no matter what.....eventually you will save some time for yourself...and save a ton of money to boot.
I hope this helps.

Answer 5

Get our those cookbooks, and those grocery sale fliers.
(this can save money too!) Chicken on sale? Select
at least 4 chicken recipes--write on one list what you need to prepare them--write on another list what you planed to serve.
(a notebook is the best way--then you can reuse lists) Use the
inside pages--list of planing on one side--grocers list on the other.
Plan at least 2 weeks at a time. By the time you have planned
2 or 3 months of breakfasts, and dinners, and what you need for lunch-- you'll be a pro. Always convert the recipe to the amount that you will need for your family. You will have a rotating list,
and will soon be able to cook dinner without even getting out the cookbook.

Answer 6

I created a chart in a Word document. There's a column for every day of the week, and in those columns there's room for three meals, snacks, dessert and 'notes' to write down activities I have that day. At the bottom I've got a checklist of stuff to make sure I eat each day (Protein, Dairy, etc.) and room for a grocery list. All of my recipes are on the computer, so I go through each recipe I'm planning on making and add the ingredients to my grocery list! Tada!

One of my favourite things to do is make big batches of stew, chili or soup ahead of time, and then pack leftovers for lunches! I also love making pancakes ahead of time and freezing them. That way I can just pop them in the toaster and have pancakes for breakfast!

Answer 7

I would love to send you a menu template as well as the shopping list I give to participants of the program I teach on Resource Management, which includes menu planning shopping list and saving money on your shopping trip. I love to have a menu. Everyone in the house knows what's for dinner and they don't use ingredients I bought for a meal. Once you do menu planning you will never go back to sporadic meals. I promise. Another place you can go is..... http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/ Here you can find great LOW COST recipes and create a shopping list to prepare these recipes. Enjoy!

Answer 8

Grilled Sausages and Mash. Grilled hen with Mash or boiled potatoes. Spaghetti Bolognaise Lasgne pork Chops Lentil Bake Roast hen/pork Sheppard's Pie Creole Sausages Oven Chips and Fish palms Fish in Mushroom Soup

Answer 9

Grilled Sausages and Mash. Grilled bird with Mash or boiled potatoes. Spaghetti Bolognaise Lasgne Pork Chops Lentil Bake Roast hen/Pork Sheppard's Pie Creole Sausages Oven Chips and Fish Fingers Fish in Mushroom Soup

Answer 10

I ask my family on sat, what they would like to eat the next week, write down 7 meals and then check to see what I have and what I need, make a grocery list and then go to the store.