"Weekly Menus" Planning Questions ...

[Janey]

So I just read through the entire Weekly Menus (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=270) thread... and I have some questions for those of you who plan your menus that way. I didn't really want to ask them in the thread, since the thread is such a good resource/database for the actual menus themselves, I didn't want to disturb it. ;)

- When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?

- How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?

- Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? :D Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?

- Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook (http://www.livingcookbook.com/)) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?

- Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?

Sorry for the Spanish Inquisition ... but I'm totally impressed by those of you who make weekly menus, and want to find out how you all make that work. "What do you want for dinner tonight" is something I've got to stop asking!

[msnicolea]

- When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?

Pretty much 100%, since it requires shopping, defrosting, planning, etc. .. Some times we switch two meals around if we just fel like something differnt. I find we eat much better when we put thought/planning into our meals.

- How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?

We sit down with the circulars to get some ideas--for example, we usually choose fish/meat based on what's on sale that wek. So, if there's a really good price on Tillapia, then we look for a recipe for tillapia. This forces us to have more variety, too.

- Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?

Cookbooks, clippings we've had for years, magazines, online sites--we look at EVERYTHING. DH and I really love to cook, so this is fun for us!

- Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?
No.

- Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?

We buy meat and fish day-of--otherwise we do a farmer's market run on Saturdays and grocery shop for the rest on Sundays. We shop at a "regular" grocery store, plus Whole Foods and a local co-op.

[emmjay]

- When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?
We almost always go with what is on the menu, although on the weekends we might end up going to dinner instead. Probably at least 5-6 days a weeke we eat what is on the menu.

- How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?
I base it on what our plans are for the evening and how quickly I need to have dinner done! If my husband has softball at 7:00, I plan something that doesn't require a lot of time. If we are just going to be home I can make something more elaborate.

I never look at the grocery circulars although lately I have been thinking I should. We eat vegetarian 4-5 nights a week and I buy organic/wild (i.e. EXPENSIVE :rolleyes: ) meat and fish from a local butcher/fishmonger and unfortunately they don't have circulars.

- Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?
Most of mine are from cookbooks, although I do get a few online.

- Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?
No software - I just write the list as I am going through the cookbooks looking for recipes.

- Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?
I do it once a week and buy everything for the week in one day - 2 or 3 grocery stores and sometimes the farmer's market too.

ETA - I think planning the menu is GREAT. No worrying about what is for dinner, we eat much healthier food, and we save money because we don't have a bunch of produce rotting in our fridge (because I only buy exactly what we need instead of just getting whatever I see at the store). Plus I have tried so many new recipes - I always include at least one new one per week so we don't get into a rut.

[endymion411]

- When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?
about 99% :) unless something comes up at the last minute.

- How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?
i'm new at the menu planning, so i try to mix up flavours/meats/etc. looking at what's on sale helps me to choose new things and makes it easier to decide what to cook that week.

- Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?
i look for recipes anywhere i can find them! i am not a cook by any stretch of the imagination, but just got married and trying to keep us eating right. i've done pretty well so far (or dh is a good liar!). i've had time to do a lot of looking around so far, but that may change when i start grad school next week.

- Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?
manually

- Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?
i'm in a new city and not really used to getting around still, so i've been trying to do all my shopping every sunday morning for the week. if we run out of random things during the week, i usually have dh pick it up on his way home or i take a walk and get it.

Sorry for the Spanish Inquisition ... but I'm totally impressed by those of you who make weekly menus, and want to find out how you all make that work. "What do you want for dinner tonight" is something I've got to stop asking!
i'm new at this, too, so i'm eager to see what other people answer!

[irish74]

- When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?

I would say somewhere close to 90%. For example I might have on the menu to go out on Saturday for dinner, but I am exhausted from work on Friday, so we go out then and then eat Friday's dinner on Saturday night. Also I might swap two days during the week either because we just don't feel like having something that night or because one is easier/harder than the other and I am more tired/more energy that night.

- How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?

Probably a bit of both. I try to mix the proteins up during the week, like one chicken night, one beef night, etc. I do religiously check the grocery ad (I only shop one store), especially for meats/fish as they are the most expensive things for us. Our produce comes delivered on Wednesday (the start of my menu week, which happens to be the day the specials change at our store as well) so the veggies are scheduled according to how long they will last. I also have learned through experience to schedule an easy dinner for Monday and at least one other night (can swap to whatever night I want later) and to schedule the stuff that takes a long time or makes a lot of dirty dishes for the weekends.

- Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?

A lot of what I cook are things that I am comfortable without a book, but I also rely very heavily on the Joy of Cooking and Jacque Pepin's Fast Food My Way, if I can't find a recipe for a particular item then I will check epicurious.com, I have tons of cookbooks, but those are the two that really carry me on a daily basis.

- Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?

I do it myself, see below.

- Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?

A bit of both, here is how I plan the groceries/menus.

1. Glance over grocery ad. Tues pm
2. Write out list of produce that was delivered. Wed am
3. Write out the days of the week and note any events that include meals. Wed
4. Take produce list and start assigning days based on shelf life.
5. Using ideas from grocery ad, assign meats to days.
6. Go over the meats and produce as they are assigned and decide on recipes.
7. Go over menu and add in side dishes as needed, decide on desserts and breads for the week.
8. Take menu and grocery ad and compile list and attach any coupons that will be used.

Once that is done, depending on the urgency for ingredients I might go to the store on Wednesday or it may wait as long as until Saturday. I live less than 2 blocks from my grocery store so I usually make more than one trip during the week. I do stock up on things if there is a really good special as they can be used in future menus.

I really love having a plan for the week even if it does get some changes made as we go. It really cuts down on the amount of food that goes uneaten as well as it eliminates me and the DH standing in the kitchen starving, not knowing what we want and saying forget it, order pizza. It also allows us to really make use of the sales at the grocery store. I do all the cooking (DH washes dishes and carries grocery bags home from the store) so building those couple of easy meals into the menu helps me have something quick and easy with all the ingredients on hand for the nights I need it.

[EJM]

I don't post in the weekly menu thread, but DH and I have been weekly menu planners for almost 4 years.

When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?
I would say 90% of the time. The only time we stray is if we forgot to defrost the meat/fish etc for that night's meal so we'll just swap out for another meal later in the week.

How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?
For us it depends on how much time we'll have to make dinner that night, or if we have plans later and need a quick meal. We tend to freeze meats/fish if they are on sale, but mostly just plan whatever we feel like. It has really helped for us to mix in more vegetarian and side dishes when I see the entire week at once.

Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?
75% are from the cooking magazines we subscribe to (Cooking Light and Bon Apetit). The rest are from cookbooks or ones we just know. DH is what I like to call "my little gourmet" so he makes things up and then we'll replicate it again at a later time.

Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?
I do my lists manually.

Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?
We do all our shopping on the weekends, but we do go to two grocery stores and sometimes the farmers market. We waste less produce by using the menu and shopping once a week, than we would if we went to the store more than that and bought what looked good.

Menu planning for us is necessary for two reasons. First we save money by buying meats on sale, then freezing them for later us. Secondly, nothing ever sounded good at 5pm and this way the decision is already made. Not having to think about it is great!

[lauren f s]

- When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?
I stick to it about 90% of the time. I do tend to switch out which days we eat certain meals, but we usually stick to the menu.

- How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?
I plan my meals based on what sounds good, grocery circulars, and coupons. If either of us is in the mood for a particular meal, I'll plan for that one night. I then go through my coupons and grocery ads to make up meals for the rest of the week. If I'm lucky, my coupons will correspond with the ads and we're able to save a good bit of money.

- Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?
Everywhere! I have a 30 Minute Meals cookbook that I love and a cookbook that my grandmother's church put together, though I mostly only use the desserts from it. I get a lot of recipes from Food Network's website (Rachael Ray is one of my favorites) and from the cooking threads here. I keep a little notebook filled with recipes I've found and those that family & friends have shared, as well.

- Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?
I just figure it out on my own. I list all the items I'm getting from the grocery ads, all my coupon items, then the ingredients I'll need for each meal and any extras we might need (particularly lunches, snacks, etc. for our DD).

Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?
We do our big shopping on Saturdays and tend to get most of what we need then. If I happen to forget something (which I often do) then I'll go back mid-week and buy anything extra.

[Reenie]

Well, I haven't been good about posting in that thread, but I do plan menus- actually, I do 12 at a time (two weeks because we eat out or eat leftovers once per week), and I already have these two weeks' on p. 4 in my journal if you'd like to look.

- When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?
We stick to it with no trouble 100% of the time.

- How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?
I do mine a little differently- I don't decide for what day- I just put 12 meals and we choose what we want that day based on what sounds the best and our schedules.

- Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?
All of the above. :D I use www.allrecipes.com a lot, I have LOTS of cookbooks (but really, usually, I just choose from four- Better Homes & Gardens, Allrecipes Cookbook, Better Homes & Gardens Light Cooking, and Favorite Brand Names Light Cooking), I get a subscription to a cooking magazine, sometimes from my mom (most of my friends aren't as into cooking as I am) or Grams, and sometimes recipes I've made so much or tweaked so much that I just know them.

- Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?
I didn't even know there was software like that! So yes, I do mine manually. LOL

- Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?
Like I said, we have our menus for two weeks, so I go grocery shopping every two weeks. I will say, however, that in the off week, we go get bread, milk, eggs, and more salad if needed.

:) Happy Planning! It really has made our life much less stressful and happier, as cheesy as that sounds, and as a result of the planning, we save money that we would have spent eating out (too tired to figure out what to cook) and that has helped our figures. :)

[Ohana]

I do my meal planning with magnetic weekly calendars that dry erase and stick to the fridge. That helps me plan around the grocery store sale circulars and what I already have in the pantry/freezer.

When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%? I stick to it most of the time. I plan dinners for Sunday through Friday (we eat out Saturday nights), and there's usually one night a week we say forget it and get takeout or heat up pizza.

How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...? I just jot down the main dishes I could make with what's on sale/in the freezer/in the pantry and then mix things up so we don't, say, end up having fish 2 days in a row

Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'? I don't think I've ever posted my weekly menu over here (though I did a few times on the other site). Most of the stuff I cook is just recipes in my head. I've also gotten recipes from friends on LJ, watching Rachael Ray, and scouring cookbooks.

Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually? Nah, I do it manually. Basically, I go through all the circulars that come to the house and go to the store that has the most stuff I need on sale. I then make up my list based on what they have on sale and other items I know they have that are lower in price than other grocery stores I regularly shop. I've been known to hit 2 chains in a week for the best deals.

Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week? I do all the shopping on Saturday morning. Having a toddler, it's basically the only time I can go by myself, which makes for a faster, more pleasant outing. Also, the stores aren't very crowded, so that speeds things up even more. I not only buy for that week but stock up on sale items for things we use all the time (canned soup, spaghetti sauce, frozen veggies, etc.)

WOH full time and chasing a toddler at home make meal planning essential! I don't know how I would function if I just went home every night without something planned.

[laura]

- When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?

I haven't posted in there lately, but I'll answer anyway. We stick to our menus about 75% of the time, I would say. We never decide to cook something else instead of what we have planned, but sometimes we will make last minute plans to go out with friends or we just don't feel like cooking so we get take out. OR our other big downfall is if we forget to take whatever we are supposed to be having out of the freezer, though I'm trying to be better about having a quick alternative available in this case.


- How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?

I don't shop grocery sales, so that doesn't apply for me. I decide what day we have what sort of arbitrarily, and recently I haven't bothered assigning things a firm day, and I do mix them around a lot. I find this helps ease the feeling that there is no flexibility w/ the menu, but it's really all mind over matter b/c we do end up having the entire menu for the week anyway, just out of order. This also happens, again, if we forget to think ahead.

Basically I just say I'm planning 5 meals for the week: 1 beef, 1 chicken, 1 meatless, 1 "other" like seafood or turkey burgers or lamb, and 1 "other" like waffles or eggs or pizza - extremely low maintenance, I guess. With each "main course" I also plan 1 starch side and 1 veggie side (unless it's something "off" like waffles for example). I was being better about finding new and interesting recipes for those for awhile, but lately I have fallen down on the job there.

I do try to plan things that will result in a lot of leftovers for early in the week so my husband can take them to work for lunch, but that is about the only 'rule' I have, and I don't even always stick to that so it isn't a very good rule!

- Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?

I find a lot of my recipes online. My husband has recently taken an interest in cooking, and he finds most of his recipes from our cookbooks (we got a lot as wedding gifts). Some are family recipes, also.

- Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?

I figure out my shopping list manually. About the only thing I do here is try to structure my list so it is vaguely in order of what I will get to in the grocery store in which order. I hate the supermarket so I try to get in and out ASAP.

- Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?

I shop for the entire week on Sunday. Sometimes I stop during the week (no more than once - see above hatred of supermarket) if we weren't able to get an ingredient for one of our recipes at the regular supermarket. We happen to live right near a gourmet supermarket and it's sort of on my way home from work. I walk home, though, so it can't be more than 1-2 things b/c I have to carry whatever I get several blocks.

[jarm]

- When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?
I stick to it about 75% of the time. Sometimes we'll change days of our menu, or MIL will call and ask us for dinner so we nix dinner that night and put it on the following week's menu.

- How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?
I go by what sounds good to me at the time, what's on sale, etc. My newest way is to try to get one red meat, chicken, seafood, and try at least one new thing a week.

- Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?
online, Foodtv.com, allrecipes

- Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?
nope...i do type my list so that i can put things in order by the aisle they're in at the store

- Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?
I shop for the whole week. If we went mroe than once, we'd buy lots of stuff we don't really need

[Janey]

... it eliminates me and the DH standing in the kitchen starving, not knowing what we want and saying forget it, order pizza.
This is totally us. Our decision-making skills go way out the window when we're hungry. Usually instead of pizza, however, we'll say, "Let's go to Jones BBQ" or "How about Thai."

The common thread I hear in your responses is that a little bit of planning goes a long way in keeping your eating habits (and your pocketbooks!) on the right track. I told B about the thread, and the two of us sat down and read it through. It inspired us to instead of auto-recycle the grocery circulars, actually bring them upstairs to the apartment and look through them for sales. We created our own menu for the rest of this week, including Labor Day since it's a holiday. It was pretty easy, since I only have to cook 3 days until then, but it's a start. :)

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your tricks! Keep 'em coming! :D

[Kate&Joey]

- When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?

I stick to the menu probably 99% of the time.

- How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the proteins? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?

Like previous posters have mentioned, I don't assign the day, just try to meals in order of how fast the produce would go bad. I definitely try to mix up proteins so we don't have chicken four times in a row or something!

- Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?

Combination. I watch Food Network on the weekends so I'll download recipes that I think look good and I keep a three-ring binder of all my recipes (pulled from magazines, etc.). I also have a bunch of cookbooks that I refer to regularly ("30 Minute Meals" and "Everyday Italian" for the weekdays especially).

- Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?

I do it manually. I write the meals on one side of a piece of paper and the shopping list on the other then I give it a quick cross-check before I leave the grocery store. I have been known to either forget to write down an ingredient or think I have it when I don't. Looking at the menu one last time helps prevent that.

- Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?

I shop for the entire week on either Saturday or Sunday mornings (I prefer Saturday -- there's more in stock, but Sunday is usually pretty good). I only shop at one store so now that I know the set-up, it's pretty easy to get in and out of the store.

Actually, I used to make out menus for two weeks and only go to the store every other week. However, now I'm PG so I want to make sure I have fresh fruit in the house for snacks. I find I spend less money the less I go to the store, but it's easier to plan only 1 week at a time.

Here's my system:
Review the weekly grocery store sale circular (comes on Thursdays).
Pick the proteins based on what's on sale.
Find recipes that utilizes those proteins.
Make a list.

Luckily, DH is willing to try new things so I try new recipes probably 2 or 3 times a week. We never get bored. I cook a "fancy" meal on Saturdays and Sundays when I don't have to worry about hurrying. Then we have those leftovers on Monday and Tuesday (and sometimes Wednesday!). Then I cook a new meal on Wednesday and have those leftovers on Thursday or Friday, depending on our weekend plans. All in all, I probably cook only 4 nights a week because I cook based on recipes. The nice thing with that is, if I have to work late, I can tell DH what to make and he can follow a recipe better than "winging" it on his own!

[KarenS]

- When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?
Probably about 90% of the time. I do 2 weeks at a time and allow two days for leftovers or spur of the moment stuff. We also eat out once a week - we have a Friday night standing date with another couple, so I allow for that as well.

- How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?
Yes. :) I make my menus usually on a Sunday evening while we're sitting on the sofa watching TV. So I'll surf online to the grocery store circulars, check out my latest copy of Cooking Light, check a couple of recipe websites, etc. I also ask DH what he's in the mood for and he makes two or three suggestions. And a lot of times it's really based just on what we have in the fridge or freezer when I make the recipe. I also try to mix up recipes that need lots of cooking time w/ recipes that don't need cooking time. For example if I have something like baked stuffed chicken one night, I might plan a simple casserole the next. Or I might plan something that DH can grill so we can share the cooking chores. What I mostly try to do is not have a bunch of labor intensive recipes in a row or I'll fall off the plan.

Also I have a tendancy to do large scale cooking every once in a while. Like this past weekend I made 3 batches of tomato sauce, 2 batches of pizza sauce, some bread dough, a lasagna, a chicken casserole, and a few other things, and froze them for weeks that we're particularly busy or when I'm out of town and DH needs a quick meal.

Ok, that was a really long answer! :) I hope it helps.

- Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?
Yes! :) I have a lot of recipes that I've just 'learned' over the years. Some of them are my mothers. Some are my MIL's. Some I've gotten from books or magazines. I have a ton of recipes saved at epicurious.com which is a great resource because you can type in a list of ingredients and have it return a recipe! I subscribe to Cooking Light and Southern Living and I use a lot of their recipes. I tear out the ones I'm interested in and try to add one new recipe to our menu plan each 2 weeks. Also I collect cookbooks. I probably have 80 of them - and I sold a bunch of old ones in our last garage sale! :) So periodically I pull a cookbook at random and go thru to find a new recipe. I also have a lot of recipe cards from the grocery stores that I use. It's surprising how good some of those cards you can get at the butcher or the deli can be.

- Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?
I figure it manually. I use MasterCook to manage all my recipes, but I don't like the shopping list feature. I also shop at Sam's a lot - things like cheese and meat and so forth are cheaper to buy in bulk and then repackage and freeze. So I like to make my lists according to where I'm going to buy things.

- Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?
Yes and no. As I said above, I do a lot of shopping at Sams - big things like meat and so forth. So a lot of times my menus are based on what I have in the freezer. I tend to do a really big shopping once a month or so and then fill in with things like eggs and milk and fresh veggies weekly.

One suggestion to get started if you don't think you can assign things to days and stick with it; make a list of what you want to cook in the next week or 10 days. Don't put it in any order. Just list things. That way at least when you come home in the evenings you can look at the list and say "We're going to have X tonight" instead of "what on earth will we have?" That's how I started and even that little bit really helps.

Karen

[Janey]

*bump* for Chiclady815!

[katmg]

I've got a new question for you menu-planning ladies. Are you planning for just DH and yourself? What do you do with leftovers - do you eat them for lunch or plan a "leftover" night?

My meal planning abilities seem to fall apart when we come home from work and decide that we don't want the leftovers from the meal that we had last night. Then I don't have anything defrosted so I can't just switch meals. I find that I'm not super excited about eating leftovers most nights but I hate to waste food. Do y'all just make recipes that only make enough for two?

[emmjay]

I plan just for the two of us, and we often have leftovers. Both of us eat lunch at home every day, so we mostly eat the leftovers then and have something "new" for dinner. However most of my recipes make only 2 or 4 portions (I can only think of 3 that make more than that). Also my husband could eat the same thing every day and it wouldn't bother him, so that is convenient for me. ;)

That is a good idea for a thread - recipes for 2! I think I'll start one now! :)

[looch]

I don't normally cook from recipes, so a lot of what i prepare is eyeballed. if we do have leftovers, it becomes the next day's lunch for me. DH likes mostly sandwiches. I actually plan for lunch in my weekly menus, so i buy enough to make my lunch.

[godsgift77]

When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?
about 80% of the time. Sometimes DH decides that he wants to go out or doesn't want leftovers...

How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?
I mix it up but I make sure we have at least one vegetarian day a week - not only is it good for us but saves $$$. It also force me to be creative in what i cook because dh is a meat and potatoes guy! I shop the circulars, Costco and at Trader Joe's for my frozen (fast) food staples :)


Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?
All of the above. I use weightwatchers.com and meals.com because i want to make sure we're eating well. When i find a great recipe, i print it and put it in my own binder for easy access.

Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?
I type all of my weekly menus in Excel. I use one tab a month. This way, if I can't find any time to make a menu, i can go back a few months and repeat it! It also helps me remember what we had the weeks before and mix it up. I also use a tab to type the grocery list, sort it by area in the grocery store for easy shopping, then print it out.

Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?
I shop for my meats at Costco twice a month, divide them, then freeze them. Saves a bunch of money and the quality of meats is MUCH better than the regular markets. I also shop the Farmer's Market for produce every saturday. If i need something not readily available, i'll hit Trader Joe's or the regular market after the Saturday trip to Farmer's Market.

Leftovers
Split the recipe to make the smaller portions. I also freeze them (do you see a pattern?? :D) Then i can take the small portions to lunch. Sometimes i invite friends over for dinner to eat up the leftovers too...

[Katy]

I was searching for an old thread and found this one - seemed like some good information. I tried menu planning over the summer, but since I rarely cook anything in the oven and try to cut down on my stovetop time as well, it was a little more difficult than one might think. But I'm ready to give it a go again.

[Shermy]

- When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?

We pretty much stick to it 100%, sometimes we postpone meals if something comes up, but we always make the meal.

- How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?

We have been eating less meat lately, so I have been making an effort to mix the meat up so my husband does not miss it as much (its not a meal with out meat to him). Meals are assigned to a certian day, because it helps me make sure that I have everything on track, and ready the night before if need be. (Like cutting onions for a slow cooker recipie the next day) It also gives me something to look forward too sometimes :)

- Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?

www.allrecipies.com, www.cookinglight.com, www.foodandwine.com are my three favorites.


- Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?

I do my shopping lists, each week based on the menu, and I keep the weekly menu's so I can refer back to them for suggestions when I get stuck


- Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?

I go shopping once a week, on sunday mornings. Which sometimes means making sure we use veggi's, like lettuce in the first of the week.

[strwbrygirl]

When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?

99% of the time. I usually plan dinners for 6 nights at a time, and we either go out to dinner on the 7th night or have leftovers.

How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the proteins? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?

I usually try to plan dinners that last 1-2 nights, especially during the school year because neither of us want to cook every night. I usually mix up the vegetarian/meat dinner menus so that they're not side-by-side, and try not to have chicken twice in a row.


Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?

Lots of places. I love trying new recipes from Allrecipes.com, the Food Network, Cooking Light, and other cookbooks. My SIL and I trade recipes on Allrecipes, and I like to hear about what my friends have cooked recently. I'm always asking people for recipes, especially vegetarian ones!

Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?

I just write the list each week, but I have a routine-- and there are certain things that are always on the list.

Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?

I do all of the grocery shopping for the week on either Saturday or Sunday morning. It's rare that we need to make a second trip for anything during the week.

Leftovers

As I mentioned above, we tend to incorporate leftovers into other dinners during the week. Either we just have them reheated (things like lasagna), or repurposed into another dish (lime chicken shredded into chicken enchiladas, for example). We don't take leftovers for lunch, though.

[Lolly]

Thanks for the info!

I really need to start doing this. For a while I was using those meal assembly places (Lets Dish, Super Suppers, Thyme Out, etc)...but that gets expensive sometimes and we never remember to thaw out ahead of time. Also, some things just never got eaten.

Hopefully, I will be motivated now!

[1MegMeg]

I love weekly dinner planning...it's made my week and my dinner time so much easier. :)

When you plan a menu, how close do you actually stick to it? 100% of the time? 50%?
Pretty much 100%. I might switch days or postpone a dinner, but I always make it.

How do you decide what meal goes on what day? Do you try to mix it up with the protiens? Or do you go by what's on sale in your grocery circulars, or...?
I base it off of a) what produce/perishables I need to use up, b) what proteins I currently have, c) what's on sale. Then I just try not to have chicken, etc. 3 days in a row.

Where in the world do you find all of these dee-lish recipes?? Online? Cookbooks? Friends? Just ones that you 'know'?
Cooking Light, Food Network, and a lot of my own creations

Do you use software (a la Living Cookbook) to help you create shopping lists? If so, what software do you use? Or do you just figure your shopping lists out manually?
I use Mastercook to store my recipes, but I make my lists manually

Do you go grocery shopping for the entire week and buy all of the ingredients for that week's menus all at once? Or do you divide your shopping into twice/week?
I shop once per week, on Thursdays, the day the Publix circular comes out. :)