Journeyer’s Chronicles

So far in the Productivity for Mums series we have looked at the using a calendar and diary, the importance of a routine, overcoming procrastination and creating a routine. This week it’s time for menu planning.

There are a whole bunch of reasons to menu plan. Top of my list are I am prepared for dinner each night (no 5pm dashes to the supermarket with cranky, hungry kids in tow) and it keeps the costs of our grocery bill down. Other people like that you can ensure your family has healthy meals to eat, everyone else knows what’s for dinner (so someone else can cook if need be) and you can make two or more meals at once. I’m sure there are many other reasons too.

Generally I plan the weekday dinners, lunch and dinner for the weekends as well as a couple of baking items. You could do whatever suits you best - all meals, leave off the weekends or other combinations.

I find the best time to do my menu plan is the day before I go grocery shopping. So how do I go about making a menu plan? I have some tools to help me:

1. A collection of recipes
   I use both recipe books and online recipes. It’s not necessary to make something from a recipe every night, but there’s nothing like the lovely pictures in a recipe book to get me inspired.
   
2. A blank shopping list
   This can be paper or computer based, it doesn’t matter.
   
3. My calendar/diary for the following week.
4. About 30 minutes to sort it all out.

I don’t use grocery catalogues to check for specials, although some people do. The first reason I don’t use them is we have a “No Junk Mail” sign on our letterbox, so we don’t get them. The second reason is I find it confuses me trying to find recipes that fit all the ingredients that are on special! What should be a quick simple operation ended up taking much longer with catalogues and sheets of paper and books all over the place

Firstly, I open out my diary for the following week and check what I have on. Depending on what’s scheduled I get a bit of an idea what we can eat. For instance, Monday nights we have swimming lessons and don’t get home till late, so I plan a crockpot meal for Monday. Thursdays I’m home most of the day, so I plan some baking. If I have appointments that mean I’ll be out for most of the day and exhausted when I get home, I plan leftovers.

Next, I fill in the blanks trying to vary things a little. It might be chicken on Monday, vegetarian on Wednesday, pasta or soup another day and so on.

Then it’s time to choose the recipes. I don’t use a recipe every night. At least once a week we have something simple like sausages and veg. Other things are ones I’ve made that often that they’re imprinted on my brain. I like to try something new maybe once or twice a week though.

As I decide on the specific meal for each day I write out the ingredients required on my shopping list. If I’m planning on paper from my recipe books (instead of using Macgourmet on the computer) I also write which book and page number the recipe is on. I divide my paper list into three columns headed: Aldi, Safeway, Fruit & Veg and Butcher (in the same column). Then I take my grocery list and have a quick look in the pantry and fridge to see what I already have on hand. These items get crossed off the list or amended to the correct quantity.

I check my list of staple groceries - things that I keep on hand all the time. These include cereals, milk, bread, butter. These get added to the list if I need them.

Next day I head off to the shops armed with my list, comforted in the knowledge that I (usually) won’t have to return for another week Here’s a what I have planned for this week:

• Saturday lunch: Belgian Potato Soup (Macgourmet)
  Saturday dinner: Chicken pie (CWA book)
• Sunday lunch: Fettucine bosciala (Macgourmet)
  Sunday dinner: Roast
• Monday dinner: Cowboy casserole (Macgourmet)
• Tuesday dineer: Tuna mornay (CWA book)
• Wednesday dinner: Shepherd’s pie
• Thursday dinner: Serious bean stew (SCC book)
• Friday dinner: Fish & Chips
• Baking: Peanut butter slice (Macgourmet), Apple Cake (Macgourmet)

If you’re having trouble coming up with some ideas, I posted 10 links that will help you save money on groceries last week. It includes a few menu planning and recipe sites to help you along.