Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Meal Planning (this year, anyway)
Posted in Our Housekeeping Systems
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Oh, man, we have tried it ALL. In 20 years of marriage, I've tried every method of menu planning that has come to my attention. Once a month cooking? Too hard on the knees. Daily choosing from what's in my cupboards? I need a LOT more organization than that! Choosing from a premade list of 30 menus? Booooo-ring! This year (yes, we live in terms of a school year, even though we are year-round schoolers, a little quirk of ours) we are trying something completely different - one year menus! Here's how I've done it: I created a spreadsheet with these columns, all on one row: (Month) (meal) (name of recipe) (ingredients of recipe) (cooking method) (prep time) (category) (comments) I copy down the name of each month 130 times, then move to the meal column put a B, and copy that down 30 times, for 30 breakfast meals. Then changed the B to an L for the 30 lunch rows, 30 snacks, 30 dinner rows and 10 dessert rows. I use the category column for dinner meals only. I have chosen for the categories: 3 beef meals, 3 fish meals, 3 meatless meals, 10 poultry meals, 3 "variety" meat meals (pork, eggs, etc.), and 8 uncategorized meals. The easy part is next. I know every week we have cereal twice, once on our "errand day" and once on Mama's sleep in day, so I put cereal on eight days in each month, and "cereal, milk" in the ingredient column for each of those eight days. Another easy breakfast we have once a week is boiled eggs and bagels, so that went in four meal slots, with the ingredients in that column. I like to make the boiled eggs ahead and have them cold and ready for eating, so I put that in the comments section to do the night before. Everyone chooses their own breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and dessert on their birthdays, and special meals like Thanksgiving dinner went on the list as well. Every week we have one "clean out the fridge" dinner meal and eat out one lunch after church, so that went on the grid. The empty spaces are shrinking already! I continued doing that for lunches and dinners, adding in those meals that we just have to have often, their ingredients, how they are cooked (oven? oven temp? stove? etc.), how long they take to prepare and any other notes in the proper columns. One thing I noted in the comments column is if a dinner meal needs an additional veggie or a starch to be complete, after all, we won't get those 5 fruits and veggies a day if we don't plan for it! Next is the not-too-difficult part. I asked the kids and hubby to write down their favorite meals, how often they would like to eat them, would they be willing to cook them, etc. So now I have a list of foods I can add (or not) to my main listing. I know, for instance, that Kate wants a PB&J sandwich every day of the year, but not everyone does, so that's a once-a-week meal. I also know that while we enjoy fish sticks with applesauce, there are at least two children in my family who will NOT touch them, so that is more of a once-a-month lunch. I got a commitment from each child for how many meals I'd like them to prepare (and clean up after) per week, and write their names in that many meal slots. The older ones are responsible for finding appropriate meals, purchasing ingredients (I pay, but they will make their own list), prep and clean up. The younger ones enlist the help of an older one for nutrition, capbility and budgetary reasons. Then comes the most time-consuming, but fun part of the process. I went through my myriad of cookbooks, one at a time, adding in the recipes that we love but had been forgotten over the years. Some will repeat once a month, others only once or twice a year. Now, keep in mind, I can't sit, stand, or walk for more than 30 minutes, so this was done in little chunks over a long period of time. I might leaf through one cookbook per day. If a recipe is "company worthy", I formatted it in italics. I try to have one of those per week just in case. Ah. We're done. Not every square of the grid is filled in, and that's okay, and there is only a notation for "needs green veg" or "needs starch" for a lot of days, but that's good too. I'm still done. Time to use it: August comes, so I scroll down to the August section. With one eye on my calendar, I choose seven breakfasts, seven lunches, seven snacks, seven dinners and two desserts. Two or three blank meals each week is fine, I'll deal with that later. (I also format the meals I've chosen as bold on the spreadsheet, but that's because I can't remember from one day to the next what we've eaten!) I watch the calendar for evening meetings (I need something QUICK or a crockpot meal), and pay attention to cooking methods (if I'm cooking a dish at 475°, I don't really want a dessert that has to cook at the same time at 350°, or to try to cook two things in my only crockpot at once!) I print out the info I need on two pages: page one is the menus, cooking method, prep time and comments. I don't put dates on it, just a list of breakfasts, lunches, etc. Page two includes the complete listing of ingredients which I check against my pantry and fridge before heading out for the store; and the comments column. I enlist the children in researching their meals and putting their shopping lists together, give it a once-over with them, then turn my attention to the blanks. Almost without exception, I'll see a recipe during the week that I want to try. Something in a magazine, on a TV show, or that I find online will strike my fancy. I add that to the list that week in a blank spot. It's okay if it happens after my big once-a-week shopping trip, because there WILL be a midweek trip, I guarantee it, because our fridge isn't big enough to hold more than 3 days worth of milk! Now it's off to the store. I take my list and coupon box and send the junior cooks off with their lists. Remember, on my list are the items I need to buy, checked off from my pantry supply and the comments like "needs green veggie" or "needs starch." As I go through the produce section, I'll add to my cart the fresh, seasonal veggies I find at the lowest prices, so I'm not trying to serve $5 a pound asparagus out of season just because the menu says so! If I have a coupon for rice or pasta, I'll use it for the "needs starch" item. Or if there is a special on some yummy freshly-baked bread, I'll pick that up and its companion menu item goes first that week! Before we head to the checkout, I look over the kids' carts. Did they pick up the appropriately-sized item? Did they try to sneak a gigantic Snickers bar in with the collard greens? Hmmmm? Back at home, I choose tomorrow's meals when I'm fixing tonight's dinner. Do we need eggs boiled? Meat out of the freezer and into the fridge? The dry ingredients stirred together for tomorrow morning's muffins? Easy to do while I'm in the kitchen anyway. I also keep an eye on the fresh foods. Here in the south food spoils very quickly, so salads and fresh veggies will be served soon after the shopping trip, while frozen veggies can wait till later in the week. After a meal, I'll do a little follow-through. Would that casserole taste better with corn than peas? Should we try mozzarella on the burgers next time? Is that meal something we no longer like and should be removed, or really, really liked and need to have more often? These comments are noted on the posted menu page on the fridge. Next week when I print out the menus, I'll add those notes to the spreadsheet. Sound difficult? Ask me again in July. For now, it seems to be working... |
Comments
Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - how come I'm never signed in when I come here?
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Posted by Anonymous Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - It sounds difficult,
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