“if you Fail to Plan, You’re Planning to Fail”

Weekly Menu Plan

Ever wander around the grocery store wondering what to eat and end up with a hodgepodge  of random ingredients that lead to nowhere? A weekly menu plan will solve that problem.

To start a menu you need to decide what you want to eat. You probably have family favorites that you make often; Maybe you saw a recipe in a magazine or on a cooking show you want to try. Start keeping the recipes you make in a collection somewhere for reference, could be a binder of printouts or a DropBox folder, or Evernote.. I suggest you ask your family for input with this so there is less complaining later. You should aim for 10-20 dinner recipes.

We are creatures of habit, most of us eat the same foods repeatedly.  Once you have your list of family favorites, pick 5 for your first meal plan. Include breakfasts and lunches through the week to the menu plan. Don’t forget snacks, fruit, drinks, etc. This allows flexibility for dining out or Sunday dinner at grandma’s house.

Convert your menu plan into a shopping list organized by categories (Dairy, Meat, Produce, spices, etc.) This will keep the backtracking to a minimum so you can get out of the store faster.

Lastly, before you go shopping you need to know what you have already in your cupboards or pantry so you don’t overbuy. Do a quick tally of what you have and cross reference your list to make sure you don’t bring home a 3rd jar of mayo or add to a growing supply of rice.

Happy cooking!