Menu Planning Ideas

I like to cook. I really do, but I don't always like deciding what to make. I don't enjoy the panic of looking into the freezer at 5 o'clock and seeing only an icy chicken and a rock hard roast. It defeats me before I've started. The only remedy I've found to this is planning ahead. I'm not good at this. But, I have found a few ideas that have helped me. Several years ago I read a book called The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner.   The book has recipes and good ideas, but the basic idea is to assign each night a category and choose something from that each week to simplify menu planning.  I often use this when I'm trying to make a menu and come up with chicken dishes three meals in a row. It helps me balance the types of things I'm making.


My category list is like this:

Sunday- Eat Out/ Your On Your Own (I don't usually cook on Sundays)
Monday- Soup and Sandwich/ Comfort Food
Tuesday- Italian/ Fish
Wednesday- Chinese/ Crockpot
Thursday- Try Something New/ Mexican
Friday- Classic Food/ Pizza
Saturday- Chicken/ Grill Night

I have two meals for each day, because I homeschool and my husband is here for lunch most of the time. I often will plan one leftover day in there somewhere too.  I typed out my list and put it into my recipe binder, and then I took the recipes I make often and put them into categories on the next few pages. It is my go to spot when I just don't know what to make for the week. Your categories will almost certainly be different than mine if you do it.

I also do a similar thing for breakfast. I just don't have a list typed out.

As far as making the menus and shopping lists, I really like using www.pepperplate.com. Explaining pepperplate kind of needs it's own post, but you can check out the website if you are interested.

What are your tips for getting dinner on the table?