One of the most important skills I learned from my mom (homemaker extraordinaire) was the menu plan. It saves a ton of time, money, and headaches, and it gives me the freedom to cook things I enjoy. Since getting married, I’ve read more about and experimented with my menu planning strategy in order to streamline it. Here’s what I’ve come up with.
Why menu plan?
On a practical level, I’ve found that planning the week’s dinner menus allows me to tailor my cooking to my schedule. By making a plan in light of my calendar, I can anticipate the busier days (and plan for a simple, low-maintenance meal) and also allot time for more elaborate cooking on days that lend me more time. Another benefit of menu planning is that it directly translates into a grocery shopping plan, making it more organized, time efficient, and cost efficient. Finally, taking time to plan meals allows me to put thought into what my family (and when hosting, my guests) might like. It’s a great way to show affection, especially on birthdays or other special occasions.
Set aside a regular time to plan.
In a lecture I heard by Rebecca Vitz Cherico, the founder of Little Ways Kitchen, she described the importance of scheduling time to menu plan. In the busyness of daily life, this task can easily fall to the wayside if we don’t actively set aside time to do it. For me, my menu planning day is Friday. The week is winding down, so it’s usually a slower day when I can focus, and I still have a few days to make adjustments before grocery day on Monday.
Open your calendar.
Whether you use a paper calendar on the fridge, a bullet journal, or an online calendar, it’s important to look at the days ahead to see how to integrate your meals into family life. I put all of my menu plans into my Google calendar, since that’s where I record all of my scheduled events. On a day with a busy afternoon, I might decide to make a slow-cooker meal. If I see we’re hosting guests on Friday, I’ll want to plan something fun that they’ll enjoy. And if we’re having a date night, then I’m off the hook for that day! However you choose to plan, make sure to write down the week’s plan somewhere — on the calendar, in a chart on the fridge, or on a chalkboard — so that you don’t forget and so that you can make adjustments if needed.
Use a list of go-to meals.
Staring at a blank calendar that seems to demand seven perfect meals all at once can be intimidating. It’s hard to recall all of the things you know how to make, what your family prefers, and what you’ve made recently so that you don’t fall into too much repetition. One way I like to combat this menu planning paralysis is to keep a running list of go-to meals and recipes. I keep my list in a Google doc so that I can find things quickly and add to it easily. Some of the meals are simple, easy ones that I don’t need a fully detailed recipe (for example, “Spaghetti & meatballs with salad or veggies”).
As Mendelson writes in Home Comforts, it’s good to have several such basic meals under your belt so that you don’t always have to spend the extra time and energy going through a cookbook. At the same time, I also like using the same Google doc to write out or save links to recipes I’ve received from friends or found on the Internet (such as a fancy Cobb salad, pictured here). That way, whenever I’m making my menu plan for the week, I only need to open that one document to get plenty of ideas.
Make sure each meal has the three basics.
According to Home Comforts author Cheryl Mendelson, a well-balanced meal has three basic elements: protein, starch, and fruit or veggie. Of course, you’ll find all sorts of dietary recommendations out there, especially when it comes to unique systems such as vegan, keto, or Whole30. Each household’s health and dietary needs are unique and will impact the specific items and proportions worked into each meal. By and large, however, these three broad categories ensure that your meal has substantial nutritional value, and they leave room for flexibility so that you can tailor them to your needs.
Check your supplies.
It’s always frustrating to come home after a big grocery run and realize that after buying all that pasta, I had three boxes of it in the cabinet all along! Stocking up on supplies is only helpful if we actually use those supplies. I like planning my menu in the kitchen so that as I come up with ideas, I can check the pantry, fridge, and freezer to see what I have and what I need to get. In her lecture, Vitz Cherico encouraged her audience to take advantage of the freezer and pantry space, storing the building blocks for some of your go-to recipes so that in a pinch, you can always assemble a meal.
Work in “overflow days.”
This is my euphemism for “leftover night” (which just sounds sad and tired to me). It’s often too much and unnecessary to plan a separate home-cooked meal for every single night of the week (unless you plan to use all the leftovers for lunches). If that’s the case for your household, plan to recycle some of your meals, either as they are or transformed into something else. For instance, whenever I make picadillo and rice (a Cuban family favorite), I like to use it to make pasta bolognese or taco meat the following evening. Also, no shame in planning to order pizza or Chinese food one night!
What about breakfast and lunch?
My menu planning method focuses primarily on dinner, since that is usually the most substantial, most formal meal of the day that requires the most preparation. But breakfast and lunch are still important meals and should still have the three basic elements (protein, starch, and fruit or veggie). Because our morning routine looks pretty similar each day, I like to work with a rotation menu for breakfast. (For instance, on Mondays I’ll make breakfast smoothies, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I’ll make eggs with toast and fruit).
Other sources of menu planning inspiration
1) Refer to a good cookbook. Look for something that suits your family circumstances (think straightforward, crowd-pleasing meals, not elaborate gourmet cooking), and mark the pages that you think you can take on. Make sure you read all the instructions so that you can plan ahead for time and ingredients. As you figure out which meals you like to make and your family likes to eat, add them to your go-to list. A friend of mine likes to go through cookbooks with her husband so that they both are involved in choosing and trying out meals. Before long, they’ll have an arsenal of favorite recipes!
2) Use a meal item chart. Drawing from Home Comforts, I created a chart of meal fundamentals (See “Resources” below). Each meal should have at least one protein, at least one starch, and at least one veggie OR fruit. Using the chart, I can assemble the basic skeleton of any family meal. Chicken + rice + broccoli. Meatballs + pasta + salad. Ground meat + tortillas + tomatoes. This chart is not exhaustive, and it is organized according to my family’s particular preferences. Still, you might find it or some version of helpful for your own needs. Also, remember that this chart still gives you just the skeleton of the meal — you’ll still need to decide what kind of seasoning or cooking method to use, so you might want to find a more detailed recipe as well. But the chart can help get you going.
When it comes to lunch, I like to pack something for those who will eat it out of the house, either at work or school. I like to do this while making dinner, since I’m already in the kitchen getting food out, and so that I won’t forget! Keeping in mind the three basic meal elements, lunch usually consists of leftovers, sandwiches, or salad with raw veggies or a piece of fruit.
A note on rotation menus
Some home chefs like to have designated menu days, such as Mediterranean Monday or Taco Tuesday. I think this approach can work, so long as it doesn’t restrict your plan. In most households (including my own), each week looks different, so on some Tuesdays it might make more sense to make a slow cooker meal than a taco spread. What I find helpful is to have my list of go-to recipes categorized by theme (such as “Favorite Asian Dishes” or “Best Pasta Meals”) and then apply them to days of the week. For instance, I’ll usually make some sort of meal with chicken breasts and some kind of Asian dish, but I’ll assign them to different days, depending on the week.
Resources
“Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner,” Cheryl Mendelson (Home Comforts)
The Basics of a Well-Balanced Meal
