I hate the feeling of not knowing what to make for dinner, especially when my stomach is growling and the kids are asking, "What's for dinner?". So I know making, at the very least, a weekly menu would be very helpful. You know, Sunday is Chicken Night, Wednesday is Pizza Night, Friday is Spaghetti Night, etc.? Some women make a bi-weekly menu or even a monthly one, for more variety.
In the back of my mind for some time, I've been thinking that I needed to sit down and make a menu for our family. It finally occurred to me earlier this week that Marissa would enjoy helping me. When I mentioned it to her, she said, "Really?" with a hopeful look on her face. Why didn't I think of that sooner? :)
So last night, I enlisted her help, and we went through all the Menus 4 Moms recipes we had from when we were using them. I made a list of the recipes we really liked that were the healthiest ones and then copied them onto recipe cards.
I had a list of about 15 main dishes, so we put them into a two-week menu format. Marissa copied it out for me, and we have it hanging on the side of our fridge. Tonight is spaghetti night. That's our menu in the photo above. If you click on it, it will get larger, and I think you should be able to read it.
I noticed on The Happy Housewife's blog that she is taking people step-by-step through making a menu, starting today. What timing! Her first assignment was to make a list of 15 meals your family likes. Funny how similar that is to what we just did last night, huh?
2 comments:
Amy, I'm not sure if you saw my menu when you visited us, but I've been making menus for our family for a few years now. It's VERY nice to have a menu, isn't it?!
We first started making a menu mostly because we'd get to the grocery store and think "Do we have that?" "Do we need this?" "How about some of those?" and we'd walk away spending more than we needed on food we didn't really need. When I make our menu, I wright down on a shopping list the ingredients we need to buy for each meal. It really cuts down on the unnecessary purchases, and it's so nice not having to think of something to fix when your stomach is growling or you're rushed for time. It also eliminates the "we finally decided what to fix for dinner, but we don't have all the ingredients in the house" syndrome!
Rachel
Rachel,
I don't think I saw your menu when we were at your house. But, you are a genius to have been doing this for a few years!!
I think it will be great to only buy stuff we need for the meals we've planned. So many times when I get home from the store, I realize I've bought a lot of stuff but not much works together to make a meal.
I keep reading how it helps so much with the grocery budget. When I told Matt I had made a menu, he said he'd been listening to some audio tapes about finances on his commute, and they'd said the same thing. :)
I am liking knowing what to make ahead of time, too. I looked at the menu for tonight and it was comforting to know that we've got what we need in the house. :)
Thanks for commenting!
Amy :)
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