The Value of Menu Planning

One of the things I started doing during the early years is meal planning. I know that you groan when you hear that, but let me tell you how simple it can be.

Instead of writing a grocery list, I typed a complete day worth of food into my computer, along with the groceries needed.

Meal Plan	Grocery List
Oatmeal, Ham sandwiches and fruit, chicken parmesan with green beans and a salad	Oatmeal, milk, raisins, pecans, brown sugar Bread, sliced ham, pickles, mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes Fruit on sale Chicken breasts, canned diced tomatoes, oregano, basil, parmesan cheese, green beans, spaghetti, lettuce, tomato, dressing, cucumber
Breakfast burritos, tuna salad sandwiches, crock pot roast and a salad	Tortillas, eggs, salsa Bread, tuna, mayonnaise, pickles, lettuce, carrots Pot roast, red potatoes, beef broth, browning sauce, cream of mushroom soup, yellow onion, carrots

I normally do this for 5 days. The weekends were always crazy with church, birthday parties, athletics, and family fun. We’d eat left overs one day and then go out the other day, so 5 days is enough. And they were all in separate documents, with the title of the dinner as the name.

I also planned AT LEAST one crock pot meal for the days where the Little League game started at 4:00 PM, and we’d all come home starving at 6:00 PM. With the Crockpot (or typically more than one) we were read to eat at home. Also, I almost always had a soup day on Thursdays.

Before we went to AWANA, I would serve soup and salad. The original reason for doing this was because typically braces were adjusted on Wednesday, and someone always had a sore mouth. And then I found that extra students might be at my table as we were carpooling from one event to another, and more people needed to eat. The funny thing is that the last person in braces was out of them about 3 years ago and we haven’t attended AWANA in about 5 years, but now we host a young adult fellowship and some of these young adults come straight from class or straight from work, and soup is something that can keep them from stopping on the way from class or work, and they can concentrate on the Bible study. Always good to throw soup on the dinner meal plan.

The other thing to note is that I did this on my computer. No lists scratched on scrap paper. I had a plan. The beauty of this is that you can start small. Do one week. The next week, if you don’t have time to do another week, just print out last week’s meal plan. Sometimes your family will never notice that you had spaghetti and meatballs two weeks in a row! And sometimes they would really love that! At the end of the month, you could have 20 days built up, and your meal planning is done for the rest of your life! (Or until you make the next dietary change trying to cook healthier!) Since I had them in their own document, I could print out and mix and match weeks. In my current Menu Planning folder, I have 90 documents. Probably 80 of them are meals from over the years.

I also did special meal plans. We have celebrated a Passover Seder for many years (about 19). At some point, and I don’t remember when, I put the whole ceremonial meal on my computer, shopping list, menu, etc. I alternated hosting it with another family. One year, she called me on Monday, and said that she didn’t think she pull it together to host it because of what was going on in their family. It is held on the Thursday before Easter. I got on my computer and found:

Passover Dinner
Pascal Lamb Thin slice 2 cloves garlic and place in slits in lamb 2" apart. Rub outside of lamb with seasoning salt and paprika (generously) Place in roaster fat side up and sear uncovered in 450 degree oven for 30 minutes Reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake uncovered Last hour of baking add 3 cans of butter beans with juice (Sea Side brand) Partial boil carrots in microwave 10-15 minutes, add to lamb without juice. Sprinkle seasoned salt and pepper on vegetables to taste Cover and let bake remaining hour Cook instructions: 3-4 pounds -> 3-3 ½ hours @ 325 degress Potato Pancakes Salad of Mixed Greens	Seder Plate Charoset: 6-8 apples peeled and chopped finely, 1 cup pecans chopped finely, add honey and cinnamon to taste, ½ cup grape juice Roasted Eggs - hard boil with tea bags Parsley Horseradish Grape Juice Matzah Matzah Ball Soup Unleavened Cake
Shopping list
Lamb garlic seasoned salt paprika butter beans (Sea Side brand) 2 bags of carrots pepper Potato Pancake mix Bag of Salad Eggs Grape Juice Matzah Parsley Horseradish Matzah Ball Soup Unleavened Cake Mix	8 apples pecans honey cinnamon strawberries on top of cake

I could actually print out my list on Monday, run to the store on Tuesday, start cooking on Wednesday, and be ready to host on Thursday!

I also have menu plans set up like this, with recipes, and a shopping list all on one page for: Thanksgiving, Easter, and Christmas.

And I figured out a timeline for timing and put it in a document for Thanksgiving like this:

To do Thanksgiving Day:

8:00

Walk

9:00

Shower

10:00

Pumpkin Soup in Crockpot

Hard boil eggs

Set table

11:00

Make toppings for the casseroles

Make Stuffing

Make Green Bean Casserole

Make Spinach/Artichoke Casserole

Make Green salad

Arrange cranberry sauce