Menu Planning

I coveted littlenannygoat.com’s fridge box for recipes. So I made one.

I didn’t covet the rest of the plan because, frankly, spreadsheets give me hives. I’m into low-tech these days. I’m also way too spontaneous to like having only 30 meals to repeat, so here’s how I changed it:

No spread sheet. I’m itching thinking about it!

I wrote out a template for my week that has general categories for each meal. For example, breakfast on Monday is eggs, lunch on Wednesday is soup and sandwiches, supper on Friday is Mexican. Right now, it's in my food notebook. One of these days, I might get around to putting it on the computer, printing and laminating it. Or not.

I also organized my recipe box according to these general categories Friday nights, for example, we can have tacos, enchiladas, nachos, or anything else under the Mexican category.

Then, I write out each week’s meals in pencil on a piece of notebook paper (think low tech here). As I plan the menus, I think through my pantry for each recipe, making sure I have the ingredients.

Ingredients I don’t have go on the grocery list that I write on the back side of the menu. That way, when I go to the store, I have the menu and the list. If something is on sale, I can make immediate changes so I don’t lose my mind later trying to remember why I bought six cans of diced tomatoes.

(By the way, it helps to list things in the order you pass by them in the store. Then you don’t have to back track and wander like the Israelites in the wilderness. I’m just sure that the more times I wander back and forth, the more times I pick up something that isn’t on my list. That’s why stores change stuff up so much: They want us to be lost, dazed and confused. And never, ever go to the store when your sugar level is low. That’s just plain dangerous!)