Meal Planning, and then Some

I am not a calendar person, nor am I a consistent person. I've struggled for years with meal planning, studying consistently.... stuff of that nature. (Not things, like, say showering.) When I was a kid and teenager, my schedule and my food and my academic/exercise goals were set by parents, activities, sports and school. Now that I'm a grown-up, especially a stay-at-home mom, I have to set my goals, schedule, etc. myself. So... much... harder!

This past year I realized our family was eating out way too much. We were also starting to throw out a lot more food than I was comfortable with. So, I started loosely planning our meals once a week. It didn't work. At all.

So, in October of last year, I tried a new approach. I printed of several blank calendars. And then I planned a month of meals in one sitting. It takes about a half hour to an hour. I Love it! Why? Lots of reasons. Here are a few:

1. We have a varied diet. We never end up having pasta 3 nights in a row 'cause I can't get out of my zone or it's easy. When I plan, I sit down with a few cookbooks, the last months calendar, and any recipes I've printed. We're always trying something new.

2. Planning for leftovers, busy nights, and being out of town. When I know a day or night is going to be tiring, or we need to empty the fridge before a trip, I just calendar it in. Done and Done.

3. Setting food goals. For example, I have a goal to have a meal with bean or lentils at least once a week. I just feel like their a good inexpensive staple that we should get used to. Also, my husband and I have started making our own sushi. We decided we want one night each month to make sushi, so we can experiment.

4. Planning to use perishable ingredients. I'm still not the best at this, but I'm good with expensive ingredients. For example, when I buy proscuitto, I make a fancy carbonera and potato gatto on different nights that week. That way it doesn't go bad before I can use it.

5. Shopping list. Every month when I make a new menu calendar, I use the back of the last one to make a shopping list. I put the date of all the Saturdays in the month (our typical shopping day, since we like to shop as a family). Then I look at the meals for the next week. I figure out any perishables or specialty items that we'll need for the week and write them down. As time goes by and we run out of the normal staples, I just throw it on the bottom of the list for the next week.

6. Cooking dinner is way easier since I don't have to actually think of what to make or wonder if I have the ingredients.

7. Every month I get to reevaluate and remotivate myself.

I don't always get to every meal. Things come up; we eat out on occasion; I switch stuff around. I've been doing this for several months now, and it works for me. I don't expect it to be the answer for everyone. I still wanted to share it though. Here's a photo with a close up so you can see some of the menu items. (Unfortunately, I missed a night that has wantons and stir-fry, one of our favorites.)



One last thing. Two months ago I decided to expand my "calendar." I now have 3 calendars on my fridge. One is the menu. One is activities with/for my kids (art, library, music class, parks, walks, etc.) since I struggle with playing with my kids. One is for family and personal scripture study. I pick a scripture (one verse) to read with my kids at breakfast and we talk about it a little (I pick a theme for each week, like prayer or joy or friends). For myself, I do my best to keep it varied. I also plan in days to catch up, 'cause I am all too aware that I'm going to miss days. The stuff I miss, I put it on my calendar the next month.

Anyway, hope this helps jump start some ideas for others out there! Have fun finding the system that works for you!