Monthly menu planning

[razz]

How many do this with success?

I finally wrote down a list of over 30 dishes that I usually prepare with the hope that I will implement a monthly menu.
I want to be able to look at the week and check the freezer or pantry to make sure that I am using up the items available or pick up the odd one that may be needed. I want to make sure that by next spring, I have used up what is in my freezer and clean up the pantry.

I am finding that too much time is spent in meal preparation and decision making each day. Not a good use of time when I have so many other things that I want to do as well.

What is your experience with using a monthly menu and what hints for succeeding in using one?

[bunnys]

I can't do this. I make a weekly plan and go get the stuff and frequently don't even follow that. There is no way I can do monthly. One reason is that sometimes I just don't want to cook. Another is that sometimes I can't face the idea of eating what I planned for that day/week. I just want something different. So I have a number of things in my freezer/pantry that I can just "fix" rather than "cook" on those days I don't want to deal with the "plan."

The idea of planning an entire month, to me, is absurd.

[Mrs. Hermit]

It doesn't sound like a bad plan given your goals. I plan ahead quite a bit (usually 2 weeks at a time), but I don't assign each day a "meal". I make a list of what I can make with what I have (adding in a few new recipes if I want), taking into consideration what events are on the calendar for the upcoming weeks (My vegan friend coming for dinner, my carnivorous son coming home for a week, etc). Then on the day, I check the list, decide what seems good & will work with my schedule, and that's dinner. This way I don't feel condemned because I got sick, or "fell of the planning wagon" (or jumped off!), or my day took a bizarre turn and dinner didn't work. If I get a meal cooked, I mark it off the list to show I don't have those ingredients anymore. If at the end of the period, there are still meals on the list, they become the start of the next list. Not exactly a rigid plan, which works well for me. I post the list on the fridge, so I can find it (and in the vain hope that someone else might cook dinner!).

[SteveinMN]

bunnys pretty much covered my menu-planning technique. :) We tend very much not to be of the "Wednesday is Prince spaghetti day" persuasion. I have (too many) cookbooks and recipes on my computer that I want to try and we cook very much by the seasons, so many items are not available to us year-round. Time spent reviewing recipes and acquiring ingredients is not wasted time for me. But that's just me. I'm cooking for two (well, three right now), none of which are kids, which gives me some flexibility as well. If I were cooking for a bunch or had really picky eaters in the house, I might just plan that much further ahead.

[puglogic]

I do as Mrs. Hermit does, Razz. I assess ingredients, make sure there are enough raw materials in the house for a set number of specific meals, and then make a list of all the possible dishes I can make (supplementing as needed from the store). It might look like this:

Black Bean and Chicken Chili
Frittata/Omelette
Vegetable Soup, Salad, Cheese, Bread
Pasta with Tomato-Based Sauce
Brown Rice & Lentil Casserole

.....and so on. I cross them off as I make them, since those ingredients are no longer available to me. On a given day, I look at my list, knowing that I can choose anything that isn't crossed off, and choose the one that fits my mood, energy, and what my body is asking for (protein, vegetables, etc.)

This really works better for me on a weekly or biweekly basis, because the only thing I really need to do is make a run to the store for any fresh fruits/vegetables/fresh dairy I might like to use that week. That's a wildcard there -- but worth it if you're cooking something that really needs fresh (like a big salad meal.) A biweekly trip is usually sufficient if the garden is producing; in the winter, weekly is more the norm. But if you're cooking primarily from the freezer, I would think you could make your monthly system work with a little tweaking........listing recipes that involve cleaning out your freezer by spring. Good luck with it!

[leslieann]

These sound like good, flexible ideas. I end up with going to the store several times a week, plus the market, and I know I over spend that way. I have ideas about meals but if I wrote them down, DH would share more cooking (he has said this). So maybe I'll start working from that premise. But maintaining flexibility. Sometimes I don't feel like eating much. Sometimes I don't feel like cooking much. But other times, the opposite prevails and so keeping it flexible makes me happier. Thanks.

[iris lily]

I"m beginning to think that we must store a whole lot more food regularly than other people do. I mean, we've always got:

Freezers full of beef and pork
Cupboards full of rice, pasta, beans

Each week we go to the store and buy things like: fruits, veg, dairy, fish & chicken. This time of year our garden is producing heavily so we concentrated on diary and oh yeah, breds. DH isn't making his own bread this days, don't know why he stopped.

With those kinds of stores I don't have to make a menu, I just go to the frige and open it and get inspired.

[domestic goddess]

I don't seem to be able to do this for a month. Many times I get to a day (or more that one!) when I just can't hack what is on the plan for that night. I find I do better a week at a time, with a couple of extra dinners in mind, using the ingredients I have already bought.

[awakenedsoul]

I haven't used a monthly menu. Like Iris lily, I have a large stockpile, so I can usually "shop at home," and make a variety of dishes. I buy in bulk, and keep my freezer full. My garden produces all year, so I don't have to buy produce often. I do stop and pick up raw milk every week. I buy raw cheese once a month at the Farmers Market.
I have started changing my diet. It was getting too repetitious and monotonous. It makes a huge difference to add some favorites like lasagne, chicken fajitas, and beef stew!

[Florence]

Ok, I hope this will make sense but this is how I have been doing things recently. I have a binder where I have cooking instructions for all our regular evening meals. I have them separated by the meat component. Each week I have a fish dish on Monday, a chicken dish on Tuesday, beef or pork on Wednesday, Thursday is leftovers, Friday is meatless, and Saturday is bacon sandwiches or tuna salad sandwiches. We eat out on Sundays. I rotate through the meals in each section of the binder to make a weekly grocery shopping list. It isn't very adventuresome although I have added some Weight Watchers recipes and dropped some of my casseroles. This system works for me these days.

[Blackdog Lin]

Monthly is/would be too long for me, I can't plan that far ahead. I've always gone with what Mrs. Hermit does, a weekly or bi-weekly list of menu "suggestions", that I have planned/shopped for, and can choose in the morning based on what my day is gonna look like. Some days I'm busier, and need an easier menu, some days I have the time and am in the mood to cook, and some days there's leftovers around that need dealt with or they're gonna go to waste. In the morning I get up and think about our main-meal, think about my day, refer to my list (and the fridge), and plan a meal from there.....

[Rosemary]

I used to plan for a month and then just change things as I needed to. It was always good to have a plan in place.
Now I plan for the week based on our schedule. If DH or I have an evening meeting, or DD has a late afternoon activity, I make sure that we're cooking in the crockpot or having leftovers (refrigerated or frozen) that day. Otherwise I go on what I have. I always shop first, plan later - that way I'm shopping by sales/produce appearance and not by recipes. It also limits it more (which is good for me) if I'm thinking, "What should we make with this cauliflower" rather than "what should I make for dinner?"

[winterberry]

I have a file box with 3 x 5 cards in it. On each card I have written the name of one of my standard go-to main dishes. I have about 40 of them. As I make something I put it at the back of the pile. As I'm planning for the upcoming week I look through the front of the pile to see what appeals to me or what would use up what I have in the fridge. I usually only shop for 3 or 4 menus because there are always leftovers and spontaneous departures from the plan. I love trying new recipes, and if they are really good I add them to the pile. I have been writing the recipes on some of the cards as I go. Most of them are in cookbooks I have, or in my head (ie. spaghetti with red sauce) but if I have the recipe at my fingertips it's easier to make a shopping list and to cook the meal. I mostly cook from recipes. I haven't gotten through my whole pile yet. I started this method earlier this year, for the reason someone previously mentioned -- I was spending too much time planning meals.

[razz]

Interesting input. Thanks.

I came up with a months outline
(used a free google online calendar) and so far have found it helpful. I simply look at what I planned, check if I have what is needed and don't think about it again. Leftovers etc., are used for lunch. We will see how the rest of October works out.

[Tussiemussies]

This reminds me of the once a month cooking idea...might be easier to do it that way....

[Tiffany]

This has been a good thread for helping me think about grocery shopping and menu planning. I have a hard time making a list these days, because I sit down to figure out what we could eat this week and draw a complete blank. And I get interrupted about 4 million times while making the list, so I can't get past the blank. I like the 3X5 cards idea.

[Wildflower]

I have a weekly menu plan and I go to the grocery store after I decide what the plan for the week is. Alot of the meal plan for the week hinges on what is on sale at local grocery stores, and if or what my garden is producing. I do have a master list of all the meals that we like to eat, and I consult it often for ideas for each week.

I could and have done a monthly plan when I was employed because it just made life easier, and I didn't have to go to the grocery store as often which I liked. Now in retirement I have more time so enjoy just doing it by the week instead...

[Tiam]

Not now, but when I had 4 kids I would work out a weeks worth of dinner menus. Lunch and breakfast not so much as they were usually cereal, toast, eggs, and soup and sandwiches. One thing I could never get my kids to eat was oatmeal. They just wouldn't eat it.