Dear Jenn,
Photo by Florence Crayne
I’ve been reading your menu plan posts for months, and was interested to see your post on your planning process. I can see how planning things out can help with your budget-but what if you don’t FEEL like eating what’s on the menu? Doesn’t planning a menu tie you down?
Thanks!
Sara
Well Sara, I’m so glad you have enjoyed reading my weekly menu menu plans and that you found my How I Plan a Weekly Menu post informative!
Honestly, I don’t find menu planning to be restrictive at all. Usually the family is more than happy to eat whatever I put in front of them. I have never had my husband or kids say “oh no, I didn’t feel like eating spaghetti tonight”.
Then again, maybe I just have them well trained! But I’ll let you in on a little secret:
I don’t always follow my menu plan!
I know, I know. It’s shocking. Sometimes life intervenes. I don’t get a meal started in time, or I forget to defrost something. I’m out of an ingredient that I need and don’t feel like substituting. We just decide to eat out or wind up getting together with friends to BBQ.
And that’s OK. Really. It’s your plan, it’s your tool. A menu plan is there to make your life easier, not miserable. Switch things around. Drop a meal. Make something else occasionally. It’s up to you. I promise, the menu plan police are not going to break down your door and arrest you.
Menu planning really can help you to cut back on food waste, save money, and reduce supper time stress. Please, don’t let the thought of having to stick to a schedule keep you from trying it out!
What do you guys think? Do you menu plan? Does it feel restrictive to you?
I will occasionally draw up a menu for the week, but I don’t assign specific days for meals. I’ll just list seven dinners, and we’ll decide on a night by night basis which meal we want.
Rather than being restrictive, menu planning is actually kind of freeing for me. As long as I take the time to figure out a week’s worth of meals, I feel less stress. I don’t have to worry about what to make for dinner tonight, if I have the ingredients for a certain meal, etc. I also know if I’m going to have leftovers to deal with or when I have to take something out of the freezer or if I have to add a certain ingredient to my shopping list.
I don’t always do a week at a time — sometimes it’s only a few days, sometimes it’s two weeks.
I agree that planning menus for the week is freeing. I sometimes switch things around, being flexible is important. My family appreciates knowing what’s for supper too. We had a contractor doing some remodeling after water damage. Even tho my house was turned upside down, my supper was planned out, and the workers got a kick out of seeing what we were having each night. (and often their mouths were watering, because I had supper simmering in the crockpot). I very seldom have to run out for a particular ingredient. I shop with my menu plan and it works!
I have always menu planned, originally one week, moved to 2, then a month at a time. As you describe, look at your family schedule and time constraints, incorporate specific foods that you want to serve weekly and go from there. I look at the menu after supper and defrost, collect, soak beans etc for the next day. It saves me time, $ and reduces stress over dinner. Sometimes life does get in the way and we move to plan B. The menus are a great guide for me.
I plan for a week up to a month. I’m in agreement with those that say it’s freeing. If something comes up and I can’t follow the menu plan, I usually have a substitute meal handy. I post my plan on the refrigerator; my family LOVES knowing what is available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I LOVE the fact that I don’t have to answer “What’s for dinner?” 500 times a day. I save money, time, and my sanity by planning meals.
The funny thing about a lot of people…their favorite meals are generally the ones that they didn’t have to make. 🙂
I to meal plan I also have a list of whats in the freezer so not to buy the same thing.This alows me to use up what I have in the house,we have what I call free meals because I dont have to shop out side my home ,this saves money and time dont get wrapped up on what day it is eat what you like,I keep at least 30 days worth of food on hand all the time just in case of bad weather living in nc you just never know.
I menu plan as well and there is only 2 of us! I used to plan a week at a time, doing my shopping on each Saturday. Now I plan about a month in advance and shop about every other week. It’s huge! I give myself flexibility to change a meal if I want to. So if I discover a new recipe that I just HAVE to try, I will. But if nothing else, I know what I can make for dinner that night! I make alot a head of time, so if nothing else, I know what IS for dinner tonight – since I made it last night!
I began my life as a stay at home mom 9 years ago. Going from two incomes to one MONTHLY income, was jarring. One way I alleviated the stress was to start menu planning. I made a month plan, shopped once, and then did not enter the grocery store again except to buy a small amount of perishables until the next month. I loved it. Each week I looked to see if the meals I had tentatively put on the list still fit in with our weeks activities, if they didn’t then I shifted things around. It freed my and saved me so much money.
Now, I shop my stores sales and have a larger stockpile of food on my shelves. I typically now do a week meal plan from my pantry and add the 4 or so items that I need for them to my grocery list of what is on sale. The same thing is true though. Menu planning gives me peace.
Plus, it is my plan. If we don’t want to have tacos and the menu plan says tacos, then we change and have pasta or something else in our cupboard.