What's for Dinner?

A few weeks ago I began posting my two week menus on Facebook to show off my new chalkboard wall and also so I could access the menu when I am away from home to know what's on the docket for the evening. Several people asked how I do it and for some of the recipes.  I started a Facebook post, but figured this would be an easier way to answer the questions and revive my dead blog at the same time!

The menu planning system I have right now has evolved over many years.  I have had this same system now for years and as long as I stick to it, it works (imagine that).

We live about 35 minutes from Costco and all low cost grocery stores.  Locally we have a Safeway and a Fred Meyer which have everything I need, but is about 20% more expensive. When I began menu planning I also had young children, making grocery shopping a less than pleasant experience.  So I would go on Saturday mornings when Brian was at home so I could get done faster and without "help."  But I felt guilty missing part of our only "family day" where we could go do things, so I planned ahead and shopped for two weeks at a time.  This also worked with Brian's pay schedule of getting paid every other Friday.

Here is my routine:

• I have a double sided planning sheet that I made years ago and made dozens of copies of. On one side is a spot to list the next 14 days and figure out what we will be eating. I take a look at my calendar to see what is coming up that will affect dinner (church activities, concerts, Brian's meetings, kids activities, guests, etc) and fill those in. I have some things that never change. Brian has meetings every Tuesday and isn't here for dinner. So on those days I usually make something that he doesn't like (like breakfast for dinner) or that is cheap and easy.  Jillise also has to be picked up from dance at 6:00 and leave for Young Women at 7:00, so I need something that can be cooked and eaten in less than 30 minutes.  Friday is usually pizza day, in some form or another.  It's nice to have two days that are filled in without any thought. :)

Side one of my Menu Planning Sheet

• I open up Pinterest and pull out my recipe box, old menus, magazines, and whatever else I feel like using for inspiration for that two weeks and start plugging the meals into the menu!  Some of my favorite recipe sites are Our Best Bites and the Pioneer Woman. Both sites have realistic family meals that don't require exotic palates ore hours of prep time.  I am also a subscriber of Food Network Magazine, and Taste of Home.  But some of my best recipes are from those little cookbooks in the checkout aisle and from old church/school compilation cookbooks!  I read cookbooks and cooking magazines for fun. Even if I only use one or two recipes in each book, I love the ideas I get from just flipping through them!

I have a slight cookbook obsession...

• Now for the actual shopping list. I went online and looked up the map of the Winco where I usually shop and made a shopping list template that is organized by aisle. I go down my menu and just start filling in the ingredients that I need into the aisle where they can be found.  This makes for the fastest shopping experience possible and I love that I am not pushing a loaded cart back to an aisle I've already been to to get something I missed. Don't forget to write in staple items that you may be out of, and lunch and breakfast items! I only menu plan dinners, but I make sure I have cereal, lunch items, and snack stuff on hand all the time, too.

My aisle by aisle shopping list

• If there is something I need that I can't get at Winco, there is a space on the planning sheet to write down other stores and what I need from them.  There is also a place to write down perishable items needed for the mid-menu shopping trip that I do on the middle Saturday. This trip is for milk, bread, and produce needed for the second half of the menu.  Usually I do this at one of the local grocery stores.
• I used to guestimate my cost aisle by aisle.  This helped me stay on budget. After I had been doing this for a while I could guestimate my total cost within $10.  I no longer do this because I seem to subconsciously evenly distribute expensive meals and cheap meals across my menu and I am within $25 of my budget each shopping trip, without even trying.  

There are several benefits I have found to this system.

• First, I am only subjecting myself to the zoo that is Winco twice a month.  That means I only have to haul in the bags and put things away twice a month, too.
• I love having an answer to "What's for dinner?" Jaren likes to see what's coming up so he can prepare himself for the battle ahead (he is a super picky eater). 
• I love knowing what I have ingredients for! I don't always stick to the menu. Things pop up and I often need to steal an easy meal from later in the menu to replace the planned meal that I don't have time to make. Sometimes we may just end up eating at McDonalds. In that case, that meal gets moved to later in the week to replace a meal that is frozen, so that frozen meal can be used in the next menu rotation.  

So, that's it.  The pre-shopping planning takes me about 45 minutes, and I am in and out of Winco in about an hour.  We also end up eating out MUCH less when I am vigilant with my menu. When I don't take the time to plan, then dinner time rolls around and all I have is frozen meat and random ingredients. So we end up eating out.  Or I go to the store and buy random dinner foods and end up spending way more than I should have.  

How do you plan your menus?