Every single day, multiple times a day, I hear the infamous question, "Mom! What's for dinner?!" And, if you are like me, you are racking your brain for an answer. Or perhaps you are on top of your game plan already because on Mondays you have tacos, Tuesdays spaghetti, Wednesday enchiladas, etc. Or maybe you have just finished a long day of classes and work, and you now need to attempt to whip up something from the belongings of your fridge and pantry. While pregnant with Cooper and Brock, my appetite and energy levels drastically changed. I found myself frantically searching my cookbooks for something appealing (and easy) that I could put together. If I needed to run to store, I could load Max and Kate into the car and head over to Wal-Mart to grab the rest of my ingredients. However, once we doubled the number of kids in our family, dashing off to the store and throwing a recipe together at the last minute was not possible. I needed a game plan. I searched online until I found something I could work with- a monthly menu planner. I tweaked it a little bit to fit my needs. There are three tabs at the bottom of the page titled: Menu, Main Dishes, and Side Dishes. I went through all my different cookbooks (and had my kids do it too for things that looked good to them), and added the meals to planner.
The Main Dishes have the following headings: Chicken, Ground Beef, Beef, Pork, Breakfast, Other, Vegetarian. I have added the meals that my family would eat under each proper heading.
Under the Side Dishes tab you can add: Sides, Vegetables, Breads, and Desserts. I have also added cookbook info (OBB= Our Best Bites; WCB= Ward Cookbook, 6S= Six Sisters, etc). Admittedly, I did not really do many desserts. I only ever make dessert on Sundays when we have people over, so I go through my cookbooks and decide, typically on the day of, what looks good.
Once your Main Dishes and Side Dishes are filled in, you go the Menu tab and select what meal you would like when from the pull down option. You can then print out the calendar if you would like to post it.
When I have my calendar filled in, I am able to go to the grocery store and get all the ingredients I will need for the week/month. When I hear the question, "Mom, what's for dinner?" I am now able to give an actual answer!
If you would like me to email you the excel document, please let me know and I will happily send it your way!
-Julie
What a great idea - that would be very helpful, indeed.
ReplyDeleteSo do you shop once a month or do you find yourself going weekly for fresh produce? If you do go just once a month, do you put all your fresh produce recipes at the beginning of the month? What a trick to have to grocery shop with 4 very young kids!
Good one! I just started doing this as well- I have a calender that I write out monthly what dinners I'll be making so each week I know in advance what I'm going to be making. I'd love to hear some of your ideas though- send that doc my way! :)
ReplyDeleteWould you send that to me? Adam doesn't like to eat the same things very often so it would be so awesome to have a game plan!
ReplyDelete