Simplifying Dinner: Four Steps to Simplify Planning
Before you can cook anything you need to have some idea of what you are going to cook. Imagine being able to walk into your kitchen, know what is on the menu, and having all the ingredients for a scrumptious dinner on hand! With a small amount of planning, this is possible.
My goal in planning is three-fold:
- I review what is on the family calendar for the next two weeks
- I put together a complete shopping list so I won’t forget anything, thereby limiting trips to the store and minimizing impulse purchasing
- I can make sure that we are not eating out or eating too much junk
The Method
Decide How Often You Will Shop
We shop every two weeks. This comes partly not wanting to giveup part of every weekend to grocery shop…and partly from knowing we can make a one-time grocery purchase last for two weeks. Occasionally I will need to run to the store on alternate weekends to pick up fresh produce and lunch items.
Decide How Many Times You Will Cook
I do not cook every night. I cook big meals three times a week, and we eat leftovers three times. On Fridays we will either grill something, make pizza or go out.
Set Up the Plan
I use a piece of paper with 14 boxes on it. In each box I write what the day is, the date, and if there is anything going on that might affect meals, such as sports practices, meetings, or travel. I then put six small sticky notes on the paper, get out my recipes and start writing. I use sticky notes so that if the schedule needs to be rearranged for any reason, I can do it quickly.
On each of these notes is what we will eat, plus vegetables, salads and any other side dishes. As I go through my recipes, I try to make it so that we have a balance of different types of protein and a good variety of food.
Make the Shopping List
Armed with the menu plan and my recipes, I start writing down the ingredients. I write everything down into a Word document that has been generated from a template containing my usual purchases. When I am finished, I examine my pantry and freezer to see if anything can be crossed off. I do not rely on my memory for this, because it happens too often that I will not have enough of an ingredient, or I buy something I already had on hand.
The Really Simple Way to Do This
There is a website out there that will basically do all of the above for you. You pay a small amount of money for a subscription, and every week you will receive an email with six recipes and side dishes, all nutritionally balanced, along with a complete shopping list. The site is SavingDinner.com (I am not affiliated with this site in any way, but I have been a very happy customer)
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[...] you are going to make before you get into the kitchen. Menu planning is a big step in this (see Simplifying Dinner: Four Steps to Simplify Planning). By figuring out what you are going to have, you save yourself from [...]