Menus and Meal Planning

Pretty much my whole life, I've had a menu list on my fridge of food ideas for the month. I would shop for the entire month and then pick a main dish to make each day depending on my time and mood.  I thought it worked quite well, comparatively speaking.

And then Caleb started running cross country and wanted to eat pasta the night before each race AND the night before that.  With a race each week or so, I had to start planning specifically so we didn't have to eat spaghetti 8 times a month--which up to that point in my cooking career was about my only pasta option (not really, but kinda close--I'm not a huge pasta fan).  So to get me around that roadblock, I started planning specifically what we would eat each night.

It was such a different way for me to think about menu planning and  it was so overwhelming at first so I went to weekly meal plans instead of a monthly list.  Eventually, I realized how much easier my life was to have that part of it planned out in advance that I started working toward doing it for a month at a time. I don't love shopping (detest might be a better word) so shopping weekly about did me in. But I also realized how much I loved having an exact plan so I had to figure out how to marry the two plans.  At first it took me 6 or so hours to plan menus for a month, and sometimes I would work on it across a few days, but with practice, I've become much better and can do it in a couple of hours.  Planning meals this way has blessed my life so much because it eliminates the emotionally draining question of the day: "What should I make for dinner?"  It also allows me a specific plan to provide a home-cooked, mostly nutritious meal to gather my family in the evening.  For the most part, dinner is non-negotiable at our house-- but, I like to think that my kids don't like to miss it.  (Presumptuous?  Maybe... :)

To make my menu plan work, I begin by putting my calendar in my menu planner--a very sophisticated grid notebook.  That way I can work around busy days and plan meals that I will have time to pull off each day. Then I make a list of dinner foods I want to make that month.  I put ones that require little effort on the really busy days and then I put the ones that have vegetables that perish quickly towards the first of the month.  I put the ones with longer lasting veggies towards the end of the month until I have every day filled in.  I also try to fill in the breads, sides, salads etc. that I will need to go along with the main dish.  (In the past, I didn't ever do more than a main dish, but I've found with big eaters if I want any leftovers for lunches, I need to plan sides.  Doing that is kind of a pain, but it makes it work so much better.) Then I put reminders on my phone to know the days I need to take the chicken, fish etc. out of the freezer so they can defrost in the fridge.  I also add reminders to make breads, chop veggies or other things that need to be done in advance.

This probably sounds like a crazy way to do things to most people.  It sounds crazy to me, but it blesses my life SO much. For me it has become a great way to manage keeping a family well fed, especially as my life has gotten extremely busier than it used to be. I wake up in the morning knowing exactly what needs to be done to pull off dinner that night and I plan my day around it.

One of my biggest motivators for cooking over the years has been my teen boys.  One thing I've found is that the old adage (with a twist) is true:  The way to a teenage boy's heart is through his stomach.  I've found my teen boys are much more amiable and great to be around if they are well fed. My meals often cater to the most potentially-grumpy teen and their preferences, because I've also found another twisted adage to be true:  if the teenager is happy, then everyone is happy.  Thus, keeping teens fed with food they like (but also a measure of nutrition--requirement of the mom) is very important to me.  It is a powerful way to gather and nurture.

Here are a few images of how this works for me:

This is the first page in my menu planner.  I like to look back and see how this process has grown and evolved.  The cut portion on the right is where I keep a current grocery list and where I write down what needs to be purchased as I make menus.  Originally, I took that cut off piece as my shopping list.  Since then, I've put it on the computer so I can categorize the items per my shopping route in the stores.  On the left I write the date and menus then to the right (next to cut cut portion) I record what I have coming up in the month before I plan so I know what I have to work around.  

I love that I can go back and look at what we've eaten over the years.  It gives me ideas for meals each month and also a picture of how our eating/food preferences change over time.  I've really grown to love this method of thinking about food. 

This is the left side of the notebook.  Each month after I put my calendar on the right side, I start a list of food we'd like to eat that month.  After I have them all recorded, I start plugging them into the month.  I usually ask for input from others in the family, sometimes they have input, sometimes they don't.  If we ever plan to eat out (rare, and in actuality, the kids don't like to eat out, unless it is nicer restaurant) it goes into the planner as well.  This month, it looks like we were going to eat at Chick-fil-A so we could go visit Caleb while at work--such a rare, rare thing for us.  A funny thing:  one time we were out of town and our dinner plan fell through.  Tom and I decided we'd stop at a local joint and get pizza.  The kids all started whining and grumping something serious  "I'ts going to be sssooooo gross!  We don't want to eat out."  I just laughed.  Poor doomed kids.  

A more recent version.  It has been a blessing to have this in place as I've become much busier. 

Cooking and recipes are always a work in progress.  I often reprint recipes as I revise them when I've got them more to my liking.  This one, however, I think I'll always use like this since it came from an email from my sister, Katie.

Another example of ever-evolving recipes.  This is one I devised myself in efforts to remove as much processed food from our diet as I can. Even after the first time, it was quite good, but I usually can't leave well enough alone.  As you can see I still make notes and tweaks and changes, many of these changes have been over time.  At some point I'll reprint it with my most recent methods.   Just to note, since I made the comment about processed foods,  over time I've started serving this without corn chips and I'm just as well liked as without them :).  I usually just serve it with avocados, tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, sour cream and cheese. 

Another tweaking example.  They always happen over time.  Obviously I'm a pretty messy cook!  I don't keep things in sheet protectors because it is such a pain to pull them out when I want to make notes (all the time!).  When they get so bad that I can't read them, I'll reprint them with my tweaks.

PS.  Don't tell me how weird I am...I already know!