Monday, September 26, 2011

Menu Plan & Menu Plan Tips

I cannot believe the gorgeous weather we are having this late into September! What a blessing it is to be having 30 C temperatures and sunshine. We've had to turn the a/c back on! If you haven't ever tried menu planning, I really encourage you to give it a try. I find it helps keep our grocery budget in check, decreases wasting food, Most importantly, in my opinion, it lessens the daily stress of not knowing "What's for dinner?"

Here are a few things I consider when planning my weekly menu.
  • What needs to be used up in the fridge? For example, I have a bunch of cabbage left over from last week's borscht. So, I pick a meal this week (cabbage buns) to help use up the cabbage from last week.
  • What's on sale this week at the grocery store? This doesn't play too much into my plan as we order all our beef from my husband's Mom and Dad. I do use it to help decide on vegetables and fruits to add to the plan.
  • What kind of week will we be having? Is it a busy week with lots of running around? What is my hubby's work schedule like? If the week looks like it's going to be crazy, I plan as simple and quick meals as possible. If I don't have too many projects on the go, I have more freedom to try a more complex dish.
  • Aim for well-balanced healthy meals and variety. Menu planning helps hugely in this area and helps prevent meal ruts and boredom as planning ahead encourages me to try new recipes. We eat mostly beef (because we have a lot of it on hand), but I try to plan one chicken dish a week and often we have one no-meat meal such as a meatless pasta dish.
  • And of course...
  • WHAT AM I CRAVING?? No explanation required. :-)

Here's what we plan on eating this week:

Sunday
Leftover pizza and Italian bread
*Make cabbage buns (new)* -didn't happen on Sunday...will try for later in the week

Monday
Grilled Cheese, Homemade Tomato Soup

Tuesday
Sausage & Perogies with Cream Gravy, Cooked Mixed Veggies

Wednesday
Chicken Fingers (didn't happen last week), Baked Fries, Carrots & Dip

Thursday
Cheesearoni Beef Casserole, Tossed Salad

Friday
Leftovers

Saturday
Sausage Potato Soup (using leftover sausage), Savoury Flax & Carrot Biscuits

*For more great meal ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday hosted by orgjunkie.com*


No comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...