Help
With Your Rule
About Meal Planning...
Dear Holly,
I have 3 boys, ages 2 to 5, and the eldest is in kindergarten. I have another baby coming in the summer and I plan to homeschool next fall. I'm a little nervous that I will not be organized or able to do it at all. One of my biggest difficulties is FOOD!! Time and time again---after racing thru a busy day--4 o'clock rolls around and I am thinking to myself, "What should I make for dinner?" I'm a planner by nature--except when it comes to dinner! I am a last-minute Lucy. Luckily, my husband likes to cook, and usually bails me out--but I have realized that a failed meal plan is costly, and wasteful. Do you have a good recommendation for a healthy meal planner--one that is easy, and nutritious? Part of the problem for me is, I am not into processed or convenience food--so everything I make is from scratch which is very time-consuming. I probably need to spend one day cooking all day--preparing food/ lasagnas for example and freezing them-- I am just not motivated to cook--I'd rather clean house all day than cook, but I know it's important and I want my family to eat healthy. I am not happy with myself that I end up "throwing something together" at the last minute--and being under stress, when I should have planned a menu. I am the cooking procrastinator!! Please help
Labels: 5th P Provider
posted by Holly at 12:05 PM
10 Comments:
I bake from scratch too - everything most of the time. I too used to stand at the cupboard door every meal time and think "Oh, gosh, what to cook for tonight?" Until this past year when I realized this was unnecessary, especially since we often ate many of the same foods on a regular basis.
I also have done weekly menu planning, but often found that, if I forgot to do this before shopping, we'd be out of luck for the next two weeks.
And I realized, perhaps it was the WAY I was meal planning. Perhaps I could come up with an "OPTION MEAL PLAN" which, instead of saying - "Tuna sandwiches on Friday for lunch" - which would mean tuna sandwiches every Friday for lunch forever... instead, I could have options in that space -
So , I began to draw up a Menu Option plan, over the course of a few weeks:
Ex Friday Lunch Options
1. Tuna sandwich with lettuce and a raw carrot
2. Crab Meat in a pita w Mayo and Lettuce
3. Cheddar Cheese soup with bun and lett/tomato
4. etc...
That way, I could have 3-5 options available for every meal for a week, and I woudn't need to plan again - at least until the season changed and food availablility at the grocery store was altered.
I have found this an easy option. For Breakfast we do the same. And for supper, I have listed two things per meal - ex:
Monday
Chicken and Rice
Tuesday
Hamburger and Pasta
Wednesday
Steak and Potato
Thursday
Pork and Quinoa
etc...
This way, I know the meat and the grain/starch option, and I can just refer to the cookbooks on hand to vary my spices and vegetable accompaniment.
In addition, come weekly shopping, I just go to the meal plans posted on the inside of a cupboard door, and choose which option I want for the week and write down my needed supplies.
This has worked well for me. I haven't wondered about a meal for 6 months.
We, too, cook almost everything from scratch.
I like to be structured so what works for me is a 28-day rotating menu. This provides a lot of variety for us - which my husband likes. I do have two versions - one for summer (i.e. not hot soups :) ) and one for colder weather (i.e. no barbecuing).
I do depart from the menu if I feel like it, or time constraints for the day make it necessary, i.e. doctor's appointment in late afternoon usually means I prepare a crockpot meal which isn't in "the plan."
When we are cleaning up after dinner I look at the next day's menu and get things out of the freezer or do anything ahead of time that can be done.
I do not like to cook and this has made things simpler for me, so that, while I still do not "enjoy" the cooking, I enjoy knowing I am providing a healthy, well-planned diet for my family.
I have been doing this for about 18 months now...
I have a full upright freezer and always buy extra packages of ground meat and individually frozen chicken breasts. If all else fails, tacos or breaded chicken can be thrown together in short order, even if the meat is still frozen (microwave defrost).
I love to cook, but sympathize with those who don't! I recommend slow cooker meal prep and, if you have freezer space, once a month cooking where you at least cook chicken strips for use in meals or brown ground meat or perhaps make a pasta casserole. It is so nice to sit down to a homemeade meatloaf, even if you actually made it two weeks earlier and froze it until that day.
I had to share this website - months of meal ideas with grocery lists - someone is BOUND to find some good ideas here, for an "Option Meal Plan" list
SHARE COLORADO
When you go there (Share Colorado) link on to their Meal Planning link. Meal plans AND recipes and shopping lists, combined...
Worth a visit
Meal planning has been my single biggest help! It has saved us financially and saved my sanity. What used to happen was I didn't know what to cook each night or what I did want to cook I didn't have the ingredients for. SO I would either go get take out ($$$$) or drag 3 kids to the grocery store at 5:00 in the evening (not fun). I now go to the grocery store every Saturday morning. I usually take one child with me and that becomes their special little time - I let them pick out the cookies for the week.
Another money saving tip... more and more grocery stores are beginning to offer curbside pick up and it is very reasonably priced - $5 in my city. I order my groceries online and then pick them up at the scheduled time. I use his service when I just need a few items. It saves me from spending more in the store by picking up this or that. I used this service last Saturday for my weekly shopping and I saved $40!!! So look into that as a help - it saves time and money AND energy!!!! :-)
I have been using a meal planning method that I was introduced to thru a parenting magazine. Sandi Richard is the author of 4 cookbooks that incorporate her method (cookingfortherushed.com). She also has a weekly show on The Food Network (foodtv.ca) which can give you a brief idea of what she does to help families of all kinds cook & eat together at home instead of on the run & at take out. She suggests that you choose 5 meals for the weekdays (or however many days you want to plan for) and make a master grocery list (record the entree & accompaniment recipes you want to use with the recipe book name & page number) for that week which you keep in a notebook to use again. Make a copy of your master list & go through your cupboard/fridge/freezer/pantry to determine what you need to buy for that week. She explains the system much better in her cookbooks where you can get several weeks of meal planning (the master grocery lists are available for printing on her website - cookingfortherushed.com)or print off her recipes for a week off the foodtv.ca website. Try it for a week - my family loves this system because everyone can help out and take a turn at cooking. I have a son, 13, a daughter, 11, a daughter, 3, and a 4th child coming soon. The recipes she uses are simple enough for the older children to accomplish with only a few calls to my cell if I am driving one or the others to or from activities. The kids enjoy being able to learn to cook & I have found if they cook the healthy food (including the vegies) they are more likely to eat it! I know I sound like an advertisement but take a look - her system is easily modified to include breakfasts, lunches, and snacks with a focus on healthy food for families that want to eat together.
I also cook/bake almost entirely from scratch. I simply will not use any recipe that calls for canned cream of mushroom soup. However I do use pre-mushed refried beans, since my blender is a yard-sale special and cannot do much more than make a lot of noise in the general direction of food...
My planning system sounds much like the one from Sandi Richards already mentioned, but it is one I just made up based on what I knew I could do.
Every week or two, I sit down with whatever cookbooks I'm enjoying currently (sometimes I'm on an Indian jag or vegetarian kick), and choose recipes. Down the left side of my paper I write the days of the week, and consult the calendar to see if we're having company or some appointment that would require special cooking/planning.
Then, I choose recipes for the days, but in my mind I know that I might cook them out of order -- Tuesday's meal on Saturday, e.g.
I write the name of the recipe, the cookbook, and the page. Then on my other sheet of paper, I list all the ingredients I don't have. Usually I plan for ten-twelve meals because there will be leftovers, or we'll get a hankering for something different and I'll just put it together at the last minute if I have energy.
But this is key: I know exactly what meals I have EVERY SINGLE INGREDIENT for, right down to cilantro, mango, Gouda, or white wine, none of which I keep on hand.
The menu list gets posted on my fridge.
This whole process takes half an hour, at most, and is the best thing I have found to keep from going insane at 4:30 p.m.
I have five kids and a husband in law school in the evenings, so my motivation is strong.
Oh, and I also will write down under the meal list if I plan on making some special dessert: carrot cake, cinnamon buns, chocolate pudding, etc, that might require special ingredients, and then I add them to the shopping list. I don't do this for every day, just a couple for each menu list overall.
Meal planning is a must, expecially as your four children get older and begin to put a real dent in your cooking. What works for me is to keep a notebook. About 1 a month I sit down with my Quick Cookings, Taste of Homes and recipe box and write down evening meals. I usually have about 22-25 meals which gets us a long way due to eating out, eating at friends, etc. I plan it completely. For example: salisbury steak, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, applesause, buttermilk cocoa cake. I do not put a date on these menus so it's variable. The night before grocery shopping day I put a check by the meals I want to serve this week, then make a list of ingredients needed. I add the basics to the list so I can be prepared for lunch (incase of no leftovers) and breakfast.
Okay, the best and easiest thing you could ever do is sign up at www.savingdinner.com - they'll send you a prepared grocery list and 6 dinner recipes each week. The meals are GREAT. I use the Low Carb menu, but they have many other options. You're going to love it... Happy Cooking!
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