Meal Planning

I like to cook. I'm not a gourmet, but my family thinks most things I make taste pretty good...however, it consumes a lot of my life and time between the planning, the shopping, the prepping and the cooking. I often feel like it's my full time job. So, when my cousin asked for ways to do it a little "smarter" I helped her brainstorm and have put the ideas into practice. It's working out great, and is so much less stressful, so I thought I'd share!

Step 1:  Have your family gather (maybe an FHE even) and list the meals they like to eat. Ideally shoot for about 25 meals (or just start with what you have). This is your "Master List."  These should be "go-to" things, and I like to organize it in types of food: Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Grilled, Soups Crockpot, Breakfast, etc.  If anyone would like a copy of my "master list" I'd be happy to send it your way. I'm also happy to send you some of my "staple" recipes.

Step 2: Plug these meals into your monthly or weekly calendar in a way that makes sense (not Mexican 6 nights in a row...). You can also have your family help you decide. A few tips:

• Don't put intensive meals all together...if you do, you know you won't make them night after night.
• We like leftovers, so on some dishes (enchiladas, lasagna, etc) I make sure we have enough for 2 nights.
• Cooking meat can be a hassle, so if we grill I'll put a few extra pieces on to use in another dish the next day.
• Each week there is one easy meal...maybe breakfast for dinner, grilled ham and cheese, or quesadillas...you know you will need one, so just plan on it.
• We often have people to our home on Sunday, so I make my biggest meal that day.
• In addition to splitting up cuisine, I like to switch up the meat from day to day and throw in one vegetarian meal each week or every other week.
• On busy nights, I like to have a soup, leftovers or a crock pot meal. I know which nights those are and I plan for it.

Step 3: Find some side dish staples. My kids love salad with ranch, so I always have lettuce and carrots on hand for an easy, healthy side dish. Find something your family likes and do the same. Having a salad also allows me to go easy on some of the fattier dishes I make (I have active, calorie burning boys) and fill up on greens if I need to. I'm also happy to cut up oranges or apples or watermelon if we need a boost of fruit or something extra to fill us up. It doesn't have to be fancy.

Step 4: Try something new! There are a variety of ways to get new, good recipes...blogs, pinterest, allrecipes.com. Once a week it's fun to try something different. If my family enjoys it and I didn't mind making it, it goes onto our master list and will be back in our rotation. Soon you should have plenty of meals to keep your family happy even if you start very small.

Step 5: Plan your menu and your shopping list and shop by the week. This saves money and time. Plus, it has allowed me to beef up my food storage with things we really use. For example, if you know you often cook with canned tomatoes or black beans, stock up on those things when they are on sale...you know you use them and you won't have to pay full price when you need them.

Step 6: Use leftovers wisely. I don't like food to go to waste, so here are a few ways we use up what we have:

Sandwiches: My family loves it when I add BBQ sauce and broil cheese over the top of left over meat (chicken, pork or beef) on the top of good bread. Experiment with toppings like grilled pineapple, coleslaw, or avocado.

Pasta: A little meat goes a long way in a pasta dish if you add lots of veggies.

Pizza: Find a good pizza crust and use any leftover meat in a creative way...like beef with red onions, and tomatoes or BBQ chicken pizza.

Stir-fry: Stir fry is easy and healthy and if you add lots of veggies no one notices how little meat is left.

Tacos: We like tacos with just about anything in the center. If I have leftover fish, this is about the only way to use it again.

Soups: Find your favorite soup recipe and add whatever meat you have left. Also great for using up ham, whcih can be a bit tricky beyond sandwiches.

Omlettes: At our house we love everything with eggs, so find a good meat/veggie/cheese combination that works for your family and have a double dose of protein.

Happy Cooking!!