Tell me about menu planning

[twotrue]

I need to start menu planning (again) but want to find a process that is easy to stick with. How do you go about menu planning? Do you sit down with the weekly ads and coupons? Look in freezer/fridge and make up a menu? Buy one of those services that does it for you? Scan cook books?

Tell me what works for you and why it might work for me.

[mk]

Menu planning can be the best part of my weekend, as long as I give myself enough time. Easier said than done, right? I use cook books, my favorite blogs, and the food in my pantry/freezer/fridge that I need to use up. I usually try to choose meals by geographical region.

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[mk]

Let me elaborate. I love menu planning because it allows me to feel some sense of control over our upcoming week. I also happen to enjoy planning, shopping, cooking, and eating.

As far as the organization; we usually eat: 1 Asian, 1 Mid-Eastern/Mediterranean, 1 (or 2 or 3) Mexican-ish, 1 Italian (used to be much more, but I'm trying to limit our pasta these days), 1 American, and 1 Out to Eat. We don't eat meat, so this works for us. I think you guys eat meat, so organizing by protein might make more sense for you.

[twotrue]

We do eat meat but actually don't cook it that often. Red meat is rare in our house. And usually I forget to defrost chicken ,before I leave the house. Tofu is common in our house though so that works well with Asian inspired dishes.

[eratmama]

I plan similar to mandy--we have one soup, one "entree salad", one pasta, one fish, etc. I look in the freezer/fridge--see what we have a lot of, see if there is anything "special" (a night when I can start something the night before/we won't get home until late, L and I are eating at different times, etc.) The, I look at the sales, and plug a few things in. I make big batches of stuff & freeze some for later, too.

[bluedaisyus]

We really need to start meal planning. I've been saying it for a while but we haven't yet. But, nearing the end of a complete kitchen remodel it's definitely something I want to start doing.

[bluedaisyus]

Damn it, I'm not used to this app yet, I wasn't done! My wife is pretty good about knowing what we have and deciding on a meal but I'm not. Left to my own devices it'd be Mac and cheese and tuna fish every night. But since I've been trying to watch what I'm eating (although I've been bad lately with everything in disarray) I really think it will help me to eat healthier and plan my whole day better, not just dinners. And I have no idea now what I said in my last comment so hopefully this makes sense with that.

[ElsaVonM]

I tend to choose a few recipes but besides that just keep/shop for our staples and then pick up seasonal or on sale stuff, and sit down and plan when I get home. I have this: www.knockknockstuff.com/catalog/categories/pads/kk-pads/what-to-eat-pad/

It hangs on our fridge and it's nice b/c the dinners are specifically planned out but the other meals are just lists of options - so for breakfasts I'll write whatever we have to choose from, like eggs, English muffins, cereal, oatmeal, frozen spinach quiches, etc., and the same for lunches/snacks.

[twotrue]

Can cheesecake be part of planning because that is what I'm eating right now. I just may or may not be my dinner ;-)

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[kershnic]

Every two weeks or so we make a list of foods we're going to cook sometime in the next two weeks and buy ingredients for those.

We try to balance protein source (a few vegetarian, several chicken, several ground turkey, 1-2 beef or pork), ease of making (maybe half quicker and easier meals, and half more time consuming meals), and try to pick things we are either craving or haven't made recently. We try to put down 1-2 new recipes so we try new things. Most weeks we can come up with enough out of our heads, but we've got cookbooks, pinterest, and the wide world of the internet to help when our brains fail. We also go through what we have already and try to make a plan to use up anything perishable.

[clickerish]

My wife does the majority of weekday cooking since it relaxes her. So, in that sense, I have no idea about menu planning. I am the major events cook since I am more like Martha Stewart (obsessive). Friday or Saturday we make a quick rundown of what we need to make that week. She has the job of incorporating what needs to be eaten, because she actually likes it--she's weird!

I use an app to keep a running grocery count. Since I always have my phone when not at home, it's pretty easy to add things we need.

My suggestions are: fewer ingredients per dish, double up on veggies. So, kale enough for two days. First day you have baked protein and kale salad, next day, cook the kale with mushrooms and onions and put it with rice. Then you take the mushrooms you used that one day and incorporate that into a spaghetti another. They taste totally different, but you are only using four key ingredients plus spices--and that's enough meals for most of the week.