Do you menu plan?
Posted September 23, 2015 - 6:45pm
If you menu plan, what are your favorite tips? How long in advance do you set it up for?
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If you menu plan, what are your favorite tips? How long in advance do you set it up for?
Mommy Ramblings
haha yeah like 15 minutes before dinner we plan. No, we are terrible. If we know what we are making for 3 days in advance we feel like we invented fire.
Your Kid's Table
Ha ha, yes I know that feeling!
Frugal Minded M...
I'm right with you on that one. I might have one thing somewhat planned and then life happens (i.e. homeowrk) and I don't have time to make that and have to change it to get dinner on at a decent time. Fortnately I have a big enough stock-ile I can usually come up with a quick meal without breaking the bank.
Hallz105
Not very well. I do try to come up with 4-5 meals for the week before I head to the store but I need to put a little more effort in! We're just so busy it makes it really hard. And I feel like my kids won't eat hardly anything....
Your Kid's Table
That sounds pretty good. The effort up front sucks, for lack of a better word, but, for me, it is totally worth it. Some months I just can't get it together though.
Your Kid's Table
Oh and the meal planning actually helps with picky eaters. I often recommend that parents use this as a strategy so that you can try to plan something or some element of a meal in advance they *should* eat.
CandyOvercaffed
No. It's so dumb that I don't, but I don't. If I plan two meals for the week I'm doing good.
Your Kid's Table
I get it, it's really hard to find the time to sit down and think for 10 minutes!
sunnykathleen
In my mind I do while I am grocery shopping. I usually plan one week out. I would say I only follow through with the plan about 5 of the 7 days though. Life is busy with teenagers and we usually end up grabbing something quick 1 or 2 days a week.
Your Kid's Table
I'm sure it is a totally different ball game with teenagers, and you can afford a lot more flexibility.
justamom
Heck definitely while I shop. Otherwise, I'm all stressed out about what to make & find I don't have what I need.
beachcitymom
No...not very well. I wish that I did. This is one of my future goals!!
Your Kid's Table
I can tell you from experience it isn't as intimidating as it sounds .Start with just dinners and just do one week at a time. I always start by taking an inventory of my freezer and pantry to try to use up what I already have. Then, I go from there.
beachcitymom
Your Kid's Table...sounds like good advice. :) I think I will start trying again sooner than later. :)
jonbonjovious
We menu plan and rotate through the month. We include the children so everyone gets what they love at least once! We do this on Friday night, and grocery shop on Saturday. My husband has it down to a science--he can pretty much come with in one or two dollars of our grocery budget, based on the meals that week. It's a new season, so we'll be having new weekly menus to cover the delicious comfort food of Fall!
justamom
Yes, I like to get the kids involved & when they got older I let them plan & cook the dinners. Now even my son can live on his own & not starve even though he usually prefers to stick to frozen stuff or eating out!
Your Kid's Table
I love getting the kids involved and often recommend that to my clients with picky eaters. It helps them feel like they have some control and gets them excited about meals.
CandyOvercaffed
You know what one of my biggest obstacle is? We don't eat that much. We often have more leftovers than we can consume and I'm not making large recipes. We are a family of four, but my girls and I consume equal amounts. AND I feel uncertain about what's OK to freeze and how to freeze it. But I think cutting recipes in have would be hard, too. Or take more effort/time than I'm willing to give.
Hallz105
Ugh. We always end up throwing out a lot of food too!
Your Kid's Table
I will actually leftovers on the menu plan or try to re-create something. We try really hard to use the leftovers, the waste just kills me!
jonbonjovious
We have "deja vu" night once a week. It's what we call left overs...my kiddos will say, "I think I've seen this before"! It's a modge podge of left over parts from the week's dinner's past. It's fun!
CandyOvercaffed
We have tried a "leftover night" where we just have a hodgepodge of what we've had. Our evenings are so inconsistent though. I try to reuse leftovers for other recipes and I've done it on occasion, but I still need to plan better to make that happen. I'm not very handy in the kitchen so it all seems very difficult to me, though I know it's not! It's just not one of my natural talents. :0/
sunnykathleen
I am trying to get my teenagers involved in the meal planning and prep. They have a lot more things of interest than that, but I figure it is a good life skill to have!