Menu Planning??? What will they think of next?

In my surfing today I found this humorous, but interesting little article. I can identify with it 100%. If her ideas sound overwhelming at first just begin with a menu plan that you can rotate, and work into the coupons & sales, etc. Do always go with what you find in your cupboard...I'm sure you are already doing this step of her plan. We used a similar plan when you guys were little and it does save on the mommy stress! Menus can be for one week and use it every week. Or it could be two weeks worth of menus and use it over for the second half of the month. What every works for you. And by actually planning out what is available to eat you can slip in some items that are home-cooked and better for your family. What? you'd rather eat potato chips than baked potatoes? Well, who wouldn't! But the extra effort will be worth it as you see, over time, the inches shed.

PS: I have not been to the sites that are listed in this article.

Any thoughts? Have you found anything that works well for you? Hey! could this be a goal?


My Mommy Secret to getting things done…

by DAWN WILKERSON (click the title of the article to go to the article on it's website)

     My biggest secret to keeping myself organized is a menu. You heard right… a menu keeps my family ticking.
     Just think about it, if you have a menu planned out, you will save several hours a week asking, "What would you like for dinner?", what about the time saved driving to the grocery store 3-5 times a week? How about this, if you don't have a menu, all day long there is this little voice in your head asking, what are you going to feed everybody tonight? Am I right? I know I am! Trust me, I have been there!!! I also know that I want my focus to be on the present not the future of food.
     I have a simple process that I want to share with you. It all starts Sunday evening… towards the end of Sunday dinner I ask what meals haven't we made in awhile that you would like to see on the menu soon. (Now I learned to put the word soon because if they all have a suggestion and it doesn't fit this weeks menu do to my budget, timing or nutritional value, it gives me an easy out to say it will be on a future weeks menu). Their suggestions give me a starting block.
     After cleaning up dinner I get my calendar out ( I LOVE the Amy Knapp's Family Organizer as it has the monthly page and weekly pages that have To do list, tear out grocery list and menu! Love it!). I then pencil in the meals the family choose by what works best with our schedule. You see, during football season, my son HAD to eat by 4pm or he didn't eat until 8:30pm so it was always a quick easy meal or crock pot day. If I have a meeting or something to attend, then again an easy meal or crock pot meal. You know your schedule, make the meals work within, if you don't take that into consideration you might as well, throw the menu out the window and go buy a pizza.

     Once I have the family's legitimate suggestions penciled in, I look at the pantry and freezer… list which ingredients are still needed for those meals. Then from the pantry and freezer, what meals can I still make which will take minimal extra groceries. I fill those in.
     Keep in mind, when you are starting out, your eyes may not be accustomed to finding the ingredients they need on your shelves but after doing it for as little as a month, you will dramatically see your grocery bill go down.
     I then go through the grocery sales flyers and see, is there something on sale that I can add to a future menu? This is “stock the pantry and freezer but not busting the budget.” This is what will enable you to shop from your pantry and freezer so you spend your grocery money on the fresh produce and future menus!
     When I was first starting out with making my own menus, I would pick a style of food for each day of the week… for example, Monday was Mexican (start the week with a Fiesta was my thought), Tuesday – Comfort foods (usually soup or crock-pot), Wednesday – Italian or Pasta, Thursday – Fish or chicken, Friday – PIZZA night!, Saturday – breakfast for dinner, Sunday – left overs.
     I really encourage you to play with it and see what works for you. There are several programs that you can purchase that offer menus and recipes. That may be your starting block. One that I have used in the past is www.savingdinner.com, it comes complete with menu, grocery list and recipes.
     Just think about what you will do with your time when it is not being filled with Mom, what's for dinner?
     I will leave you with this one last thing… my menu for this week!

• Monday – all'arrabbiata pasta (fire red sauce over pasta) 
• Tuesday – chili (supposed to be the coldest day of the week here) 
• Wednesday - Tent chicken (chicken and veggies in individual portions in aluminum foil tents for the oven) 
• Thursday – Breakfast for dinner (pancakes and sausage) 
• Friday – Homemade Pizzas! 
• Saturday – Hot wings and salads 
• Sunday – left overs (from mom: we never had any leftovers when you guys were growing up! so I would do something that could cook while we were at church.) 

     Happy Menu planning! Your family, budget and most importantly your mind will thank you!
     Many blessings to you! Dawn