10 Menu Planning Tricks

Whether you live 50 miles from the nearest grocery store, or just around the corner, planning meals ahead of time is a fantastic way to save time and money. It might be a little old-fashioned, but you’ll be amazed by how much easier it can make the week out to be!

Here are some of my tips for making menu-planning a success:

1. Check weather – Check the forecast when you’re making your menu. Is it soup weather? Do you need to avoid using the oven?
2. Check schedules – If the kids have a million activities, then fast meals are probably your best bet. But, if it’s a slow week, go ahead and plan that three-course meal!
3. Check sales – Some people prefer to shop by what’s on sale, so check your market to see what you can get a deal on when making your meal plan
4. Gather recipes – Get all your recipes for the week together so you don’t have to search. Bookmark those in books and pull out anything written out somewhere. I keep a folder with this week’s recipes in a special place on my cookbook shelf just for this purpose.
5. Make one new recipe – You don’t want to get in a rut, so try and make at least one new thing every week.
6. Reuse ingredients – If your recipe only calls for 1 cup of spaghetti sauce, then try and find another recipe to use the rest of it. Make those ingredients work for you!
7. Plan for leftovers – If you tend to have leftovers, then use them by planning one less meal than you probably need and force yourself to use them!
8. Make grocery list at the same time – I take a piece of paper and on the lefthand side I’ll write out my meals. On the other side of the paper I’ll make a grocery list with everything I need for each meal item as I go, plus any odds and ends. This makes meal planning so much simpler!
9. Take suggestions – Don’t forget to ask your family if there’s anything in particular they want to eat to add to the menu.
10. Don’t over plan – Last, but not least, don’t over plan! Leave room for improvisation and leftovers. After all, you don’t want to feel like a slave to your list.

How do you plan your meals? Do you have any tips or tricks? Share with me in the comments!