How long does it take you to menu plan and organize

**Palooka** · 07-24-2010, 10:20 PM

Good gravy it took me forever to make a menu plan for the week and I don't really do it that often. I kind of just fly by the seat of my pants daily.

Well part of the reason it took me so long was I was going through a couple cook books and looking for new recipes.

I wrote the cookbook's name, the dish, and page number. On another page I listed the ingredients that I need from the grocery store for the week and doubled checked what I had on hand.

So let's see if I can stick with it this week!

Sunday- Salmon and lemon pasta. (salmon for everyone but me.

) It's been in the freezer for awhile so I need to use it up.

Monday - Mexican lasagna with HM sauce and salad. (vegetarian)

Tues - Taco pizza HM (vegetarian)

Wed - Potato chowder and HM bread. (I need to use up some serious potatoes and vegetarian) I'll use rice milk.

Thurs - BLT's with HM low-fat fries french fries. I'll use the toaster oven if it's too hot. I use soy bacon and have fresh tomato's to eat up.

Fri. - Macaroni meat casserole that dh loves with low - fat twiced baked potatoes.

Sat. - leftovers of whatever!

So how long does it take you to menu plan?

**Contrary Housewife** · 07-24-2010, 11:05 PM

Maybe an hour. I get online Wednesday and look at the sale ads and make a list. I look at what is left in the fridge from the previous day, and I plan from that.

- kielbasa, potato salad (stockpile and garden)
- egg salad sandwiches (bread and eggs sale at Price Chopper)
- chicken stir fry (stockpile meat and sauce)
- chicken fajita (stockpile meat, tortillas on sale Hyvee)
- ham, corn on the cob (stockpile ham, corn sale at Hyvee)

**Palooka** · 07-24-2010, 11:38 PM

I should definitely get in the habit of checking Wed. sales.

**Luckybustert** · 07-25-2010, 03:20 AM

It doesn't take me very long at all, I'd say less than an hour. There are many things that I know how to cook and that I always have the ingredients on hand for. And I'm pretty good about knowing what items I can throw together and come up with something that tastes good. If I had to be looking things up in cookbooks and checking for ingredients I don't have, it'd probably take me a lot longer. In fact, when I do consult cookbooks I'm usually thinking whether I have the ingredient on hand or a suitable substitute. And I normally won't try more than one new recipe a week anyway. I need to keep things quick and easy to the extent possible.

**ladykemma2** · 07-25-2010, 07:39 AM

about an hour. i peruse what's left in the freezer and pantry and plan meal around that, then fill in the holes.

i have a list posted on the fridge of my best meals, for days that i go "blank" or uninspired. on day when i try a new FV recipe, if it goes well, it gets put on the list.

i also plan my shopping list too for everything needed at walmart and other errands.

**Libby** · 07-25-2010, 10:23 AM

I'm envious. Both my dad and DF are counter productive for meal planning. They either won't commit to whats planned OR decided to bring home take out OR go eat out last minute on the day of.

I sooo would love to be able to meal plan and stick to it.

**Royal** · 07-25-2010, 10:29 AM

It takes me about 45 minutes. I grab the folders, our agenda and my family finance notebook where I write down the days of the week. I look in my pantry and deep freeze and I make my menu for the week. Only one week at a time for me.

**Contrary Housewife** · 07-25-2010, 10:42 AM

One thing that I found helpful is to keep a freezer inventory. I'd been doing it for a few years but recently started keeping it up to date. I have a list of everything in the big deep freeze and everything in the kitchen freezer so I can see at a glance what I have. I don't have to go down to the garage and paw through frozen packages looking for ideas, and I can easily see what I have already when something goes on sale. I also have a list of frozen leftovers like chili, sloppy joes, and soup for when I need a quick meal.

It took some time to set up but it saves me a lot of running back and forth on a weekly basis.

**gapeach** · 07-25-2010, 10:42 AM

I keep a freezer inventory so I can usually meal plan in about 10 minutes!

**Momto5RN** · 07-25-2010, 12:15 PM

about 15 minutes LOL
i dont use recipes much - i know what the family likes who will eat what etc

i see what i have or have bought on sale that week and look at the schedule we have that week work wise- activities wise etc and plan around it .

**Palooka** · 07-26-2010, 12:45 AM

Part of my problem and why I find it hard to stick too is dh work schedule, blended family, so kids are always coming and going and things come up, and different diets. And when dh pulls a few 14 work shifts a week, I try to make a meal that makes a lot of leftovers so he doesn't eat out, but that can be so unpredictable. Arg!

But I'm working on it and the grocery budget needs to go way down! I actually would love to be able to menu plan for the month and be that organized, but I think it would be hard to do with my family.

**Syn D** · 07-26-2010, 01:20 AM

15 minutes at the most for the week.. I don't plan meals, minimal food budget so, I do a lot of chicken and ground meat.. Paul only gets paid once a month so, I make the first week of pay, the same as I did the month before.. I just use the food list from the month before...

**savvy_sniper** · 07-26-2010, 09:29 AM

I have a well stocked fridge, freezer, and pantry. I just decide on a daily basis what I want to cook. I always cook enough for AT LEAST two meals and put 1/2 in the fridge or freezer for later use. So I generally cook one day, heat up some from the fridge or freezer the next, and so on.

I have never done well with a weekly meal plan. There are just too many things that can arise to mess up the plan or I just don't feel like cooking what is on the menu for that day.

When I want to try a new recipe, I make sure I have everything on hand and prepare it when I am in the mood. Since my kitchen is so well stocked, I often have everything I need for a new recipe or a spur of the moment meal.

Meal planning is just too rigid and doesn't work for me!

**cheles2kids** · 07-26-2010, 10:44 AM

Palooka...I was doing REALLY good with my menu planning, I actually had an entire month's worth of menus that I could pull from...which means that every 2 weeks I would sit down and pull 2 weeks worth of meals from my list.
Then* I would make my grocery list from my menu list.

Sounds complicated but once I had the original list to go by it literally took me about 20-30 mins. or so every 2 weeks & that was with making out my grocery list.

The easiest way for me to get started with making a simple weekly menu though was just to pull our most favorite/asked for recipes.

I started with just a weekly menu, then I would add a few more meals to that menu until finally I had an entire month's worth of meals to use.
Definately the turtle mentality there (slow & steady & all that) but it worked well for me.

I tried hard not to add in too many new recipes to our menu, I actually would only try 1 new recipe to my already made up menu.
I really hate trying something new and then it not turning out well...I could only allow myself one flub per week~hahahahaha.

*Sighs* but I've gotten very lazy over the summer and it's been very hit or miss with using my menu & in all honesty?
Having a menu is SOOO much quicker & SOOOO much more cost effective for us...I'm kicking myself!

But I am slowly getting back into the routine of using my menus though.

I think working with a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly menu is like anything else we try for the first time...there will be mistakes and we'll learn as we go along.
But I definately think it's worth the extra effort in the beginning to stick with it!

**Contrary Housewife** · 07-26-2010, 11:43 AM

Our week isn't always predictable either, but I have figured out where I can change things.

If DH works late, I make dinner late. If we need less food for some reason, I leave out the least perishable item (so if it was going to be chicken, salad and frozen pierogies we'd have the chicken and salad and leave the frozen item in the freezer. ) If we have to skip a meal with perishables (like already thawed meat or fresh veg) for some reason , I try to have it later in the week and will bump the dinner made from pantry items. And if I see we have to many leftovers accumulating I will bump a dinner in favor of leftovers.

So you can plan for crazy schedules, you just also have to have a little plan for how things can be adjusted when it gets wacky.