Pages

December 31, 2016

Struggles (and Solutions!) With Menu Planning

I have been given a lot of thought as to why sometimes the menu planning I have done doesn't work and what I can do about it. I have mostly gotten past the initial challenges of what stops me from making menus in the first place. I can pretty well get the menus made easily enough. It's just sticking to them that can get to be a bit difficult. I can't help noticing how the challenges end up sounding whiney (I'm too tired, I don't feel like it, I don't want... ) - suck it up and put on your big girl panties, baby!!!


Here are some of my challenges and the actions I am taking. What are yours?


PROBLEM #1 Top reason for me - Delays in getting home - If I end up working late, stopping at the grocery store, running an errand, or whatever, I might not get home until after 7:00/7:30 or later, so I tend to just pick something up on the way home, rather than making hubby wait until 8:00 or later to eat (which makes for a cranky hubby).

SOLUTION: Make more things ahead of time. For instance, this morning I assembled a casserole and stuck it in the fridge. Hubby can stick it in the oven when he gets home, so dinner is already made when I walk in the door. Alternatively, I rely more on crockpots for the same reason. I have also worked harder at better scheduling my errands - doing things on my lunch hour instead of after work, stacking things so I finish 3-4 errands on one night instead of multiple nights during the week, etc.


PROBLEM #2 - Procrastination - This is my other biggie - when I am too lazy to do the advanced prep after a "hard day at the office", and then in the morning I am too rushed (or again, too lazy). Bad Girl!

SOLUTION: Sadly, I don't have a good one other than a kick in the tail and forcing myself to be more disciplined. However, I am really really trying to make the effort on this one. It also helps to remind myself of the ripple effect of my efforts (see #6), and the financial, health, weight loss and other benefits of getting off my tush and doing what I need to do.


PROBLEM #3 - I forgot to do the prep - I didn't pull something out of the freezer to thaw for instance.

SOLUTION: I have created a short list of about 5 different dinners that I can make without advanced prep - a frozen pork roast in the crock pot, spaghetti, vegetable soup in crockpot (made with canned and frozen stuff - goes together in about 5 minutes), etc. I also try to keep on hand some frozen prepped items like cooked ground beef. Also putting together a short list of things that can be cooked from frozen - like burgers or chicken fillets on the grill. I have added a column to my monthly menu planning spreadsheet for advanced prep - like pull ground beef out of freezer today in preparation for tomorrow night's meal. Other days it might say to pre-cook ground beef or cut up vegetables or chicken or assemble a marinade.

PROBLEM #4 - Not planning ahead for events/appointments. Sometimes I forget that I will be attending a meeting and not coming home for dinner (and then poor hubby gets stuck with a tv dinner), for instance.

SOLUTION: When setting up my monthly menu, I added a column called What's going on, where I list meetings and appointments that are occurring that day. I try to factor those into my planning - by using crock pot meals, and preassembled casseroles for instance, where I can just leave hubby heating instructions.


PROBLEM #5 - Food wastage - OVERCOOKING and ending up with so much food that we can't eat it all before it goes bad. Also, if I already have 25 different leftovers in the fridge, I don't want to cook yet another meal for more leftovers!

SOLUTION: Planned leftovers - like the turkey breast I made in the crockpot, I included in my meal planning with a turkey Caesar salad one night and a turkey casserole another night to use up the leftover meat (and I may STILL have enough for at least 1-2 more casseroles). I also factor in how much I will need of leftovers for lunches. I am trying to get better about freezing things instead of optimistically sticking things in the fridge (still need to work on that a little more). Also, incorporating a leftover/pick what you want out of the fridge night into the menu planning following a few days of large meals. I also try to make sure I include some no-leftover meals during the week (usually towards the end of the workweek like Thursday) like grilled chicken breasts with no extras made.


PROBLEM #6 - The ripple effect - when I miss a night of cooking and bring home takeout, that usually means I don't have anything to pack for lunches the next day, so this expense actually becomes MORE expensive! It also may effect future meals, if I were planning on using tonight's meal as a basis for a future meal (like leftover chicken or beef).

SOLUTION: A stern talking to myself to discourage myself from saying "it's easier to buy takeout". I am really working on my discipline in this area (with varying degrees of success). I also have a mental list of a few things I can make for lunches (like tuna salad sandwiches) when I have no leftovers. We don't usually have lunchmeat in the house, so that's not often an option.


PROBLEM #7 - Not "in the mood" for what I planned 

SOLUTION: Fortunately this one doesn't happen too often to me as I rarely have a "taste for" anything specific and I don't make the leftovers the next night, so I don't get sick of eating a certain food (except sometimes as leftover lunches). I know others struggle with it though and I have seen the suggestion of just writing up a list of 5 or so meals that you are prepared to make and then picking one off the list each night. This seems like a good solution to me. Also swapping nights - I planned chicken tonight and pork tomorrow, but I'm in the mood for pork tonight, so I just swap the two nights' meals.


PROBLEM #8 - But I *LIKE* eating out! Especially for lunches, this is really tough for me. I used to meet friends for lunch to eat out several times a week. I really enjoy this social time and I LIKE restaurant food!

SOLUTION: I pack my lunch every day after reviewing just how much those lunches were costing me. I limit myself to lunch once a week (hubby wants it to be once every other week, but HE doesn't have anyone he "does lunch with"). During the warmer weather, I arrange to meet friends at parks where we eat outside and they can pick up lunch, but I just pack my own. This works well. During the winter, it is a little more of a challenge. I also remind myself of how much healthier I am eating and how this is supporting my financial AND weight loss efforts.



How about you? What are the challenges you face in following a menu plan and what solutions do you have for those challenges?

December 30, 2016

Menu Planning 101

Yesterday, I discussed why everyone should consider menu planning, but I know that many people struggle with even getting started with the process.

Here's how I do menu planning. 

First column - Date
Second column - Day of Week I just use Su,M,Tu,W,T,F,S
Third column - Description of food (i.e. salmon fillets, corn, biscuits). If it is a new recipe I color the cell light blue
Fourth column - Advanced prep - this is where I write on Tuesday to pull out ground beef to thaw for Thursday or assemble casserole for tomorrow night.
Fifth column - What's going on - this is where I write what meeting is that night, if someone is visiting, etc.
Extra columns - Summary - I use this one sometimes just to get a quick summary of what I am making. For instance, I may list the main dish - beef, poultry, pork, seafood - so I can see what percentage of each I am making. I may list the prep method, like crockpot, make ahead casserole, freezer dinner, etc. I don't do this every month, and sometimes I just do and erase it, just to make sure I am fairly balanced or because I am curious about something.

In the past I have done something similar using the calendar templates, but the calendar squares just weren't big enough for my purposes and to make them bigger was making the calendar month more than one page long, so I didn't like that (though I can certainly see why people would like it).

During the month, if I make the food as planned, I color the cell bright yellow. If I make something different than planned I color the cell light yellow. If I blow off the menu and we order in pizza or takeout, I color the cell red.

That shows me at a glance how we are doing through the color coordination.

I added a sheet to that workbook for tracking my freezer inventory, so it's right there when I am planning my menus. 

I also have a separate sheet for a Master Recipe Listing, which is just a master list of all the recipes I have in my monthly menu plans (with columns designating them by category (i.e. Beef), type of cooking (crockpot), portion of meal (dessert, entree), where I got it (which cookbook, internet url, etc.). I'm finding this very useful for making sure I mix up my recipes every month. 

I also have a sheet for new recipes. As I am seeing recipes in my cookbooks that I want to try later, I add them to this worksheet (in a format that will match my master recipe list) so that i don't forget about them. This way I will just have one place to look instead of dragging out a gazillion cookbooks when I am doing my monthly menu planning.

I hope you can see that a small investment of time upfront will make menu planning an easy and painless process for you!

December 29, 2016

Why Menu Planning Makes A Huge Difference In Life If You Are Busy

I started menu planning a while ago. Before that, here's what would usually happen (and occasionally still does happen... sighs)

1) If I didn't have something pre-planned, I would decide on the way home that dinner was too much trouble, since I was tired or had a long day at work, and I would pick up fast food, usually an unhealthy choice. I would thereby blow the budget for the month with poor food choices. We were eating take out food 2 or 3 times a week (sigh.. occasionally more).

2) As a result of buying fast food, I would also have no proper leftovers for lunch the next day, leading to another take out meal and more money spent (or hubby getting sick of tuna fish sandwiches).

3) I would decide what I was going to make for dinner that night during the drive home and discover when I got home that I was missing an ingredient. Either I would order in (pizza, anyone?) or I would have to make a trip to the grocery store for the missing ingredient and end up spending more money than I meant to (never can just buy one thing at the grocery store) and more time than I meant to (dinner at 8:30 tonight, dear).

4) We ate certain meals A LOT because they were quick and easy (spaghetti and barbecued leftovers come to mind). I probably used a rotation of about 8-10 meals over and over again and half of them were not very healthy choices.

Since I have been menu planning, I have:

1) Saved money by: stocking up on sale items; using leftovers effectively in future meals (planned-overs); not buying take out as often; cutting down trips to the grocery store.

2) Saved time by: not having to think every day "oh what am I going to make for dinner tonight???" - I only take about an hour once a month to sit down and write out the dinner ideas (frequently incorporating past monthly menus, since all the work has been done). I prepare things in advance where possible (like browning ground turkey for tomorrow's crockpot meal as I am preparing tonight's dinner, cutting up the onions for tonight's dinner AND tomorrow's dinner all at the same time); cutting down trips to the grocery store.

3) Spent more time with hubby by: knowing the second I walk in the door what needs to be done rather than spending 20-30 minutes looking through the fridge or freezer and cookbooks hoping desperately for inspiration; planning ahead with crockpot meals so I don't have to do ANYTHING when I walk in the door except maybe throw some vegetables on to steam or put together a quick salad.

4) Made wiser food choices: by cooking myself rather than eating out I am making healthier food choices and giving hubby and I a greater variety of nutritious choices.

5) Adding variety to our menus: by planning ahead, I am making sure to include new recipes every week to keep our menus interesting and varied. This really helps me to continue a healthy eating lifestyle. I also make sure to mix things up during the week (oh, I'm already having chicken twice that week, I'll make this night beef or pork or fish instead). I also am more likely to try new ingredients, because I usually research 2 or 3 recipes using the ingredient before I decide to buy it.

I really struggle with some of these challenges when I don't pre-plan. It doesn't have to be a rigid straight jacket (just the opposite I think, since it encourages me to always be trying new recipes). I just find that it makes my life go more smoothly when I do it, so I wanted to encourage others to try it. I frequently flip nights around (switching what I had planned for Wed. and Thur. for example); it's no big deal.

How about you??? Will you take a crack at menu planning? How about just looking ahead to the next couple of days or week?