Menu Planning

[Shellyann36]

Do you plan your menus or do you fly by the seat of your pants and cook what your mood tells you to? With three small kids it is best for me to plan menus. If I have a menu planned I can pull out the meat from the freezer the night before and put it in the fridge and gather up the other items needed as well to make the cooking process easier on me.

When I make menus I normally make them for an entire month. My local grocery store is pretty good about their weekly meat sales and I can usually stock up on meat when it goes on sale. I plan my menus by these sales and go from there.

Do you plan menus?

 

[MyDigitalpoint]

I used to plan weekly menus in the past and write down my shopping list.

However I live alone and I found that it was not really necessary all the time devoted to this activity. Actually I only plan menus ahead on time by the time when there are several celebrations coming one after another, in example upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas season that invites me to star planning menus for dining with guests.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

We plan our evening meals but we have always lived rurally, where there are few if any 'local' shops and getting anything extra during the week means a bike ride - my closest supermarket is a 13 mile round trip (actually not that far compared to some of the places I have lived in where even by car it was a half day trip to do the shopping - 1 1/2 hrs drive each way).

It is much cheaper that way (or at least we have found it is) and prevents us from buying food that will perish before it is used (usually vegetables or fruit). We don't necessarily eat the meals in the order 'planned', but all of the meals planned will get eaten in that week.

We also have a blackboard in the kitchen where I will write a list of what is needed as we run out of it or know that I don't have enough for another week. This week curry leaves, black strap molassess & toilet paper are all that has made it to the list so far.

As for planning the meals - it takes 5-10 mins over breakfast the day of the shop. Not long at all.

 

[oivas]

My wife plans menus and she is a fabulous cook. I, on the other hand, am more of a bachelor material when I am alone. Almost anything goes when I am alone. With my family, I prefer to leave to my wife. The only exception is when the cooking involves eggs. In that case, I am an expert.

 

[Shellyann36]

I used to plan weekly menus in the past and write down my shopping list.

However I live alone and I found that it was not really necessary all the time devoted to this activity. Actually I only plan menus ahead on time by the time when there are several celebrations coming one after another, in example upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas season that invites me to star planning menus for dining with guests.

With the holiday season comes lots of cooking. Some of it is very fun and some of it is tedious.

My wife plans menus and she is a fabulous cook. I, on the other hand, am more of a bachelor material when I am alone. Almost anything goes when I am alone. With my family, I prefer to leave to my wife. The only exception is when the cooking involves eggs. In that case, I am an expert.

Sounds as if you are fortunate to have a good cook in your home. Eggs are great to create with!

 

[Shellyann36]

We plan our evening meals but we have always lived rurally, where there are few if any 'local' shops and getting anything extra during the week means a bike ride - my closest supermarket is a 13 mile round trip (actually not that far compared to some of the places I have lived in where even by car it was a half day trip to do the shopping - 1 1/2 hrs drive each way).

It is much cheaper that way (or at least we have found it is) and prevents us from buying food that will perish before it is used (usually vegetables or fruit). We don't necessarily eat the meals in the order 'planned', but all of the meals planned will get eaten in that week.

We also have a blackboard in the kitchen where I will write a list of what is needed as we run out of it or know that I don't have enough for another week. This week curry leaves, black strap molassess & toilet paper are all that has made it to the list so far.

As for planning the meals - it takes 5-10 mins over breakfast the day of the shop. Not long at all.

I hate to let fruits and veggies go to waste. That is another reason that I like to plan what we are having. I also like to keep a running list of what we need on hand. That way I am sure of what I can cook and what I can't.