Flexible Menu Planning in 15 Minutes per Week
Over the past several months I’ve noticed (via Facebook and throughout my little blogging network) comments about dinner preparation frustration. Based on those comments, I’m guessing there’s a cycle that many people go through. (Because I’ve been in this situation, I’ll use me as an example.) I think it goes a little something like this . . .
Days 2-7: Nat wonders what to make for dinner at about 5PM. After searching through her newly-stocked cupboards, nothing seems to come to mind. She looks through her recipes, but seems to be missing at least one key ingredient in any dish that looks good. Kids start to grumble about being hungry. Finally she digs out a frozen pizza from the back of the fridge that’s been there 6 months and has it on the table in about 15 minutes.
Repeat.
I went through this for a while, and it nearly drove me batty. I started developing a system for myself about 5 years ago and have tweaked (and simplified) it until it’s virtually second nature to me. I can’t imagine going to the grocery store without making a plan and a shopping list first. To me, it’s like continually compiling craft supplies not knowing what you’re going to make out of them and coincidentally having the right things for a project you stumble upon. It’s silly.
In order to realistically plan meals in about 10-15 minutes per week, you have to have your recipes organized and know what’s in your pantry. That took quite a bit longer for me, as I’ve moved a lot of recipes to digital format, but I still use cookbooks and find recipes in magazines. Whether you use your computer or a simple recipe box or binder, this will work for you. At the very least, have a running list of dishes taped to the inside of your cabinet so you can easily see your options.
OK, once you’ve got things organized, it’s seriously a breeze. All you need is . . .
A pen
A magnetic shopping list pad (you can often find these in the dollar section at Target)
Recipes
Step 1: Grab a pen, your pad, and your recipe file/binder/book. Because I like to try a lot of new recipes, I have mine in about 2-3 different places. Some weeks I pull a couple of books out and plan my week solely from those. To make it easier, I go through my cookbooks (beforehand, like when I’m watching TV or something) and put Post-it flags on the pages the interest me. I also rip pages out of my cooking magazines and organize them in a folder. Sometimes I pull from that. Sometimes I look through my computer file.
Ah, a token puzzle piece. We have those everywhere in our house. And no I didn’t plant that in the picture on purpose. I’m so used to them I didn’t even notice it was in the picture until later.
Step 3: Browse through your recipes and choose however many you need. As you do this, write the things you’ll need to buy (it’s good to know what you have in your pantry) at the top of your list and the dishes (as well as the sources, i.e. cookbook and page number) at the bottom of the list. Like this:
1. You might notice that I don’t use a calendar to assign a meal to a certain day. I like having the flexibility during the week to cook what I feel like eating. And because I planned ahead of time, I’ve narrowed my choices down to 5 or 6 options.
2. If you like trying new recipes (like me), it’s a good idea to go back to the source and make a note of whether or not you liked how it turned out or any other comments about the recipe. I stick post-its in my cookbooks when I do this. You’d be surprised how soon you forget when you make something (baby brains strikes again).
3. If you’re into couponing, I’m sure this can fit in there somewhere. But I’m guessing if you coupon, you probably already do meal planning as well.
If you have a system that works for you I’d love to hear about it! The more ideas, the better :)
Good luck!
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Rebecca — January 4, 2010 @ 6:15 pm
Your approach is pretty similar to mine (down to the magnetic grocery list), except it seems to take me longer than 15 minutes. I guess I get too hungry when I'm flipping through recipes. We use a Google Calendar for meals. That way, we can just move things around if we don't get to make a planned dish on its scheduled day. Good post!
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Lynsie — January 4, 2010 @ 6:50 pm
Almost exactly what I do except I forget to write down the recipes I am buying items for. This leaves me being the one to grab a frozen pizza until I can figure out once again what I went shopping for :) Great system though!
I also don't use a calendar for my cooking… like you I like to cook what I feel like eating, not something on a schedule. BTW we have been trying some of your recipes… and yum!
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Natalie — January 4, 2010 @ 7:19 pm
Rebecca – I like the idea of using Google Calendar. That would be especially good if I were to plan out like a whole month at a time.
Lynsie – I figured I wasn't the only one who planned like this :) I'm glad you found things you like on my blog!
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Jones Town — January 5, 2010 @ 5:59 pm
Excellent post! I am going to have to try your suggestions. I was already doing some things-but not with any sort of regularity. Do you get your husband's input on meals or does he eat whatever you make? My hubby has to cook at least 2 nights/week because I'm working so I try to get his input on meals (but sometimes its pulling teeth to get him to give the input!) I must try to be better about menu planning. I have had way too many 5 pm-whats for dinner that I have all the ingredients to-the kids are grouchy so it better be fast nights! :)
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Kerrie — February 19, 2010 @ 7:39 pm
I love this topic! Rebecca that is crazy on-top-of things to use the google calendar, way to go. To Jones above, I do get my DH's input as well. This is the system that has worked best for us, I keep a notepad in my husband's truck, oddly enough I find getting meal planning help easiest accomplished while they aren't addition distractions. Usually we have somewhere to drive to on friday, so that is when we plan and then I shop on Saturday or Sunday. Then we start to plan, I do get day specific because of our schedules (ie monday is busy so something prepped over the weekend or in the crock pot is better) and then we just talk through what proteins we have and what we can make with them. For instance I have better luck with say "we have pork chops, what should we make?" and we just keep going though the list till we fill the week. So before we jointly meal plan I have a mental list like in the freezer I have (fish fillets, ground turkey, stew beef). Good Luck.
KCatGU
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