Have you ever thought you just didn’t have the time or energy to cook?
Is eating out putting a strain on your budget, or waistline?
Why do kids seem to need 10 meals a day anyhow?
The hardest part of cooking for my family is simply deciding what to cook, but I’m here to share my answer. It’s a sanity-saver, a money-saver, and will leave you feeling calm and prepared.
Ready for it? A weekly menu.
I know it sounds simple, but when you know what you’re cooking—with the bonus of knowing you already have the ingredients on hand—it’s an amazing relief.
When you know what you're cooking—with the bonus of knowing you already have the ingredients on hand—it's an amazing relief. Click To TweetLet’s start with a few tips:
- Through personal experience, I’ve found most entrées freeze quite well. (If this concept is new to you, check out this Good Housekeeping guide to freezing food.) So consider making a double portion on a night when you have time to cook, and freezing half of it for a later date. Here’s a list of 10 freezer meals, as a starting point. Do this regularly, and you’ll be ahead of the game for the coming weeks. When something comes up and you just can’t cook, pull that little miracle out of the freezer and pop it in the oven.
- Make sure you change things up every now and then. Even Grandma’s tried-and-true favorite can get old if you make it too often. Don’t be afraid to get creative and try something new. I find it helpful to grade each new dish on a scale of 1-10. That way, when I’m poring over recipes six months from now, I’ll know if I want to include it on the menu. I write the first initial of every family member right on the recipe page and ask them to rate the new dishes we try. A rating of 7-10 is a keeper; 4-6 is okay, but not something to make too often. Something that merits a 0-3 rating? Forget it. We don’t waste the time, energy, or ingredients on a second appearance.
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Getting your children involved in the planning is a great motivator if you want help in the kitchen! Let them draw up their own little wish list menus. My children know the healthier their wish is, the more likely it will end up on my menu—which is the one I shop for.
- If your freezer is anything like mine, you have hidden food from two years ago, long buried and forgotten about. Set aside a few hours to sort through it, discard anything that’s been stored too long—I know it’s hard, but every bit of space in your freezer is valuable!—and make a list of the remaining contents. Cross off items as you use them, and when you add something new, jot down what it was and the date you froze it.
Now on to the nitty-gritty. Your first step will be:
Making your weekly plan
Check out the newpaper’s coupons and store ads for the week, and take note of any can’t-miss deals before you make your menu and shopping list.
Sit down with your calendar, and look at the week you have coming up. Plan quicker meals on your busiest days. Maybe some soup if the weather seems ominous or cold. When you can, serve a meal that can incorporate any leftovers from the day before. My mom always said, “Leftovers are free food.” She was right, and they’re a time-saver too.
On a day you know you’ll be gone all day, perhaps a crock-pot meal is in order. Why not try the Slow Cooker Verde Chicken recipe we published a few months ago? Here are some other ideas, too.
TIP: If you are making something that needs meat thawed out, or beans soaked, write a reminder on the hard copy of the menu you keep on the refrigerator. You’ll thank yourself on a hectic day when you otherwise might have forgotten!
Breakfasts are easy around here. My kids are old enough to fend for themselves. Sometimes I might make up a batch of waffles or muffins to freeze, but cereal is always an option. Smoothies, eggs, and oatmeal are other quick alternatives.
Lunch: I rarely do much cooking mid-day. I’ll be honest: during the school year, this busy homeschool mom just doesn’t have much time for making a hot lunch. We eat a lot of sandwiches, simply because they’re easy. I actually love a good sandwich, but I have a couple of kiddos who absolutely loathe them.
Do you also have some picky eaters? Fussy kids are an easy fix: let them make their own freezer meals in advance. It works out beautifully. The week’s lunches can be put together on the weekend, and it just takes a moment to place them into the oven or microwave to heat up.
Voilà—you’re free from noontime drama, and your kids eat what they want for lunch while learning to plan and to cook. Everyone is happy, and that right there was worth the planning.
Dinner: This is the main meal I plan. We have an available download for a simple dinner-only menu with detachable shopping list, and a second for those ambitious few that want to plan all three meals a day, but honestly, I only plan dinner. I do add a list of breakfast or lunch ideas for those “there’s nothing to eat” comments. Yeah, my kids are just like yours.
Getting your children involved in meal planning is a great motivator if you want help in the kitchen! Click To TweetSo, you’ve decided on a menu for the week. Now you’re ready to:
Implement the plan
This is the fun part. Because you have a plan, you can be ready to feed your family all week with just one shopping trip. Did you catch that? ONE trip to the grocery store! No more running out for a missing ingredient, and spending $50 on that item plus 10 more that caught your eye. There’s just something about an empty cart that begs for unnecessary purchases, isn’t there?
Now just don’t drive off without your shopping list. I’m not saying that has ever happened to me…but for an extra layer of precaution, snap a picture with your phone when you’ve finished making your list. Then if you do forget it, you have a copy.
It’s okay to make adjustments mid-week—maybe something came up that gives you less time to cook on a particular night, or the weather changed your desire for a hot meal. With seven days planned, you always have some wiggle room.
Congratulations! You did it, just like an OCD pro. You are PREPARED to take on the week, and life’s going to be a lot easier without that yikes-it’s-4p.m.-what’s-for-dinner worry.
Download all three printables for this post:
