I try every week to make a meal plan. Actually I try every other week – I try to keep my food shopping to roughly twice a month, with maybe a run out in between for milk & eggs. Usually this works pretty well and should a disaster strike, we’re prepared with more than three days worth of food. That puts us more than three days from anarchy, or so the saying goes.
Last year I used the Listography planner and it was a hit. This year I tried to use a plain old Mead school planner and it’s a complete bust. I don’t know what the appeal is about Listography, but I suspect I am on my way to purchase a 2012 version. (I am actually trying another option this week, but Listography is on my mind… I <3 lists – they are scattered all over my home.)
This month I am cheating and using Meals by the Week, which I do not get a kick back from, sadly, and I love it! I don’t love all the meals, but I do love that I can adjust it to feed 8 without trying to convert my measurements *while* I am cooking. (I regularly feed anywhere from six to eight) I love that it gives me my shopping list all together without it taking me an hour to do it by hand.Last week I brought my iPad to Publix with me and made it through the store in under an hour. I should have enough on hand in the house to prepare next weeks menu without needing another trip out. Exciting times people!
There are some other excellent places around the web to get a free monthly menu plan. Erica over at Confessions of a Homeschooler puts together an amazing plan every month that includes breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. She even offers it to download, for free, in both editable word doc and pdf format. It even links to recipes she’s posted in her blog. Genius.
I’ve got a million recipes. I’ve got recipes I’ve cut out of magazines. I’ve got too many cookbooks to fit on my cookbook-only six foot bookshelf. I’ve got a nifty little program called Paprika that is on my desktop and on my iPad and it syncs and it’s got a calendar and shopping list too. I’m systematically adding all of the best-loved things I make. Meal planning, at it’s most basic, means I have everything I need in my pantry, fridge and freezer and everyone knows what to expect. I often change around nights, and some nights I order in just because, but for the most part it’s a predictable plan that keeps us from eating the same thing day in and day out.
