What to make? Menu List!!

[creativemom]

Every day we eat 3 meals a day--and sometimes we get into a rut so I've started creating a menu list. Here's what it looks like:
Soups:
Chili, Chicken Noodle, Ham & Corn Chowder, Cheesy Broccoli cauliflower soup, meatball, hamburger, taco,
Casseroles:
Italian Stirfry, meatball sub casserole, chicken potpie, tuna noodle, hamburger pea noodle casserole, leftover thanksgiving casserole, mexican lassagna, chicken and rice casserole, greek casserole, sicilian
Italian:
lassagna, spaghetti and meatballs, french bread pizza, pizza, stromboli, sicilian
Mexican:
beef/pork taquitas, chicken fajitas, softshell tacos, chicken enchiladas, beef/chicken burritos, quesadillas, nachos, taco soup, mexican lassagna
Grill:
kebabs, pizza, burgers, brats, veggie packets, salmon packet, potato packet,
Crockpot:
pork roast, pulled pork sandwiches, sloppy joes, chicken, chili, beef stroganoff, bbq ribs, bbq chicken
Freezer:
cinnamon rolls, lassagna, sicilian casserole, oreo truffles, rice crispy swirls
Beef:
nicole's sloppy joes~(can be turned into: spaghetti sauce, nachos, soup chili or hamburger, lassagna mexican & italian)
Chicken:
bbq Chicken~ (can be turned into wraps, bbq chicken pizza) fried baked chicken (can be turned into nuggets and kfc style wraps)
Desserts
etc.

What do you do to keep track of meal ideas??

 

[Nutcracker]

We were like y'all. We ate the same thing over and over again. We finally subscribed to e-mealz. It gives me a weekly menu each week and a grocery shopping list for where I shop. I have loved it for over 3 years now. It matches what to make to the sale ads for you. It can be found at http://www.e-mealz.com It made us try types of foods we might not have tried before too! It is very easy to not have a meal you don't like and not shop for it either.

If you don't like that then what I use to do was the make a month long menu. I would try to make sure we weren't eating too much beef or chicken, etc in one week. I would still only shop one week at a time unless you have a big freezer. I would put our favorite in a list like you have and start scratching them off as I put them on that month's menu. I also added the veggies we like with those meals. Again trying to make sure we didn't have too much starchy stuff without some green ones. I also had to allow for leftover night because making something new every night we had lots of leftovers. Thankfully my DH doesn't mind eating them. I hope this helps you. I had gotten tired of eating the same thing each Monday and then something else on Tuesday. LOL! Good Luck!

 

[Ahorsesoul]

I have several notebooks of Menu Mailers that I use. It includes the menu for 6 days, the recipes with suggestions for side dishes and a shopping list. I subscribed a few years and printed them all off. When I printed them off I printed off a couple of copies of the shopping list. Now I just pull out the shopping list, highlight what I need to buy. Presto, a weeks worth of food along with the recipes.

I'm a very picky cook so I wasn't sure I'd like someone else telling me what I should eat. I made a promise to try a full month of recipes before deciding. (there are sample menus to try) I remember making on Stir Fry recipe. I tasted the sauce and thought ICK. But when I added everything together it was really great. I was hooked. I can't say there has been anything the family hasn't liked.

The recipes are also easy to substitute. If you family doesn't like fish, try making it with chicken. So it's easy to change it to your family's tastes.

I found it really cut down on my spending. I didn't have to guess what I "might" need.
http://www.savingdinner.com/index.html

 

[MrsSoup]

I was making weekly menus, now i've started making a monthly menu plan with shopping lists for each week. I keep my menus so I can look back and see what we've eaten. I also annotate whether the kids liked it or not.

 

[momof4]

I have a chart I've printed that lists options for each day of the week. My warmer weather chart includes:

Sunday is a "traditional" dinner night, so I will roast a chicken or make a ham, beef or pork roast.
Monday is grilled chicken and I use different marinades to change it up.
Tuesday is leftover night and I make something different from Sunday's leftovers (sandwiches, tacos, pot pie, etc.).
Wednesday is salad night where I take extra grilled chicken from Monday and make a big salad with all the fixings.
Thursday is ethnic night - usually Italian or Mexican.
Friday is fish or meatless. I grill or bake fish filets and steaks. Sometimes it is canned tuna or salmon.
Saturday is anything goes - we'll often grill, sometimes go out to eat, and sometimes entertain.

On my chart I have 5-8 meals for each day (except our salad night) to choose from when I make the week's menu.

If I come across a recipe I want to try, I will attempt to put it in on the "correct" day, just so I know where I'm at. If it's a keeper, I add it to my list.

There's enough variety that DH and Dkids don't even realize I'm doing this. I do it simply for my sanity while menu planning.

 

[Terrylee5151]

You guys are way more organized than I am....I haven't decided what I am going to have today for lunch or tonight for supper. You guys have really gotten it together, Congratulations!!!

 

[chilli]

Wow - you are so organized!
I still have no idea what to serve tomorrow and friday evening for dinner...

Chilli

 

[liltattoo]

Right now I use a 6 week menu plan. I alternate between meat and poultry and allow Saturdays as my "new food" day since DH is home and it gives me more time to experiment.

A week looks like this:

Monday: Bulgoki, rice and green salad
Tuesday: Tropical chicken with potato packets, corn and Hawaiian sweet rolls
Wednesday: Spaghetti, salad and bread slice
Thursday: Country chicken, mashed potatoes, baked beans & corn bread
Friday: Cheeseburgers & pasta salad
Saturday: New poultry recipe
Sunday: Tri tip & cheesy potatoes

Each week is setup that way and I can mix and match as I choose. I also have a list of other dishes that we like so that I can alternate them in when we want something a little extra special.

 

[Gingerbug]

I use a monthly format. You can see some printable versions of it

HERE and

HERE

If you try printing them...make sure the setting is on landscape.

I do ones like that each month...and have been for quite a while...some things I have discovered:

1. Variety is nice but the main meals we like can be repeated...too much variety and the family doesn't like it.
2. Changing the format seasonally adds variety in and of itself...like Summer means Sunday Barbeque and in the Winter it means Soup Sunday. So you get some variety each month and some each season also.
3. Making the monthly menu means I can set up recipes to use items I buy...like using black olives in a salad and then the rest in tacos...
4. It also means I can use left overs wisely....for example we make chili and then two days later...use the left over chili...as a topping for baked potatoes or as a topping for baked burritos.
5. Buying groceries is a snap and I can chart our most popular ingredients and make sure those are stocked up a bit.

This is a great thread...thanks for starting it...interested in what everyone does..love to "steal" ideas!!

 

[Rackandrollgal]

I plan my menus for a month. Sometimes I change something...and that's fine. By planning meals, I don't buy things that go bad or that I don't use and wind up throwing out. I love looking each night for what I need to remove from the freezer for the following days meals. It's a great thing!!!!

 

[christmas3]

Thanks for starting this thread. I am trying to get organized so life might be a little easier. With school starting in 2 weeks, fall baseball starting up, and different county and state fairs starting soon it will be crazier at my house than it is now. Thanks for all the ideas.

Christmas3
ackage: ackage: ackage:

 

[HouseElf]

My breakfast menu during the week is quick and simple so I can get out the door for work! The boys have a choice between {muffin, yogurt and fruit} or {cereal, milk and fruit}. On Saturday I make pancakes and sausages..., and Sunday Brunch of Hashbrowns w/onions, eggs and bacon...

Lunch for the week is packed on Sunday in freezer bags (15 lunches for 3 boys) for school or summer daycamp. Each bag has a juice box, yogurt tube, sandwich or wrap or sub, gr. bar and fruit leather. They grab an apple or orange when they put the bag into their lunch kit with a bottle of water.

I use a chalkboard for our weekly dinner menu, the boys like to know what to expect :haha:

Sunday = traditional Roast dinner (could be a chicken or beef etc...)
Monday = using ground beef: hamburgers/ BBQ, or meatballs and rice, or meatloaf with mashed potatoes etc...
Tuesday = hearty soup and sandwiches - endless varieties and combinations
Wednesday = Casserole - endless varieties
Thursday = BBQ - lots of variety
Friday = fish - lots of variety
Saturday = This dinner meal is planned and cooked by one of my sons (with help from Mom or Dad) they take turns. It can be almost anything, however it needs to follow the food guide! This is a meal to encourage and teach the boys healthy eating and independence.

I know basically what I serve each night for dinner, there is a lot of change in how it looks. example: 'fish' may be cod or salmon depending on sales and my freezer inventory, served with sweet potatoes or rice - my pantry inventory, and with asparagus or broccoli - depending on the season (farmer market or frozen). :-D

I fine plan it on a Saturday for the week following (ex. 'fish' becomes: salmon with baked sw. potato and ginger carrots).

 

[JodyLynn]

Boy, I need help in this area.............

I think I am going to try some of these ideas, particularly having "themes" for each day of the week. I think this might help with planned leftovers.

 

[JodyLynn]

Wanted to report back that tonight I made a "master" menu. I live alone and it's really hard to cook for 1 without having stuff go to waste. I realized that using something similar to your ideas here might help.

So I made a grid of meals that I can make and creatively use the leftovers during the week so that I don't feel like I'm eating the same meal over and over for 7 days.

For instance, for week #1 I have roast beef with potatoes and carrots. I will eat one leftover meal "as is".....just reheating the beef and veggies. Next I'll take some of the beef and make vegetable soup (I can take this to work for lunch too). Then I'll use some of the roast beef for sandwiches with horseradish sauce (which I love!) Finally I'll use the remainder for steak salads with blue cheese dressing.

I'm hoping this method will be more economical since I'm only buying meat once per week. And I'm hoping I can reduce a lot of my food waste by using up stuff before it goes bad.


I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any other ideas, particularly for cooking for singles!!

(Thanks MrsSoup for starting this thread!)

 

[luludou]

Well, I have a list of recipes to do with leftovers... On sunday I prepare the meals for monday & tuesday night. Wednesday the kids eat at grandma's (yay!) and then it's crockpot or quickmeals for thursday & friday.

 

[Pumpkin’s Mom]

OH I really need to do a menu too. We were just talking last night about how I use to cook all the time and lately it has just been thrown together things like hot dogs, mini pizza, etc.

I cooked a lot yesterday and realized how much I missed it.