Do you do menu planning? You know, plan in advance the meals that you will create and serve each week?
I must admit that my planning is usually in the morning, or sometimes the night before, but rarely any earlier than that. I just don’t seem to be able to consistently plan dinners earlier!
This usually leads to a last minute panic or a quick race to the shops to get the one ingredient I don’t have on hand, or worst of all, dinner ending up being much too late for kids who need to get to bed at a reasonable hour for school the next morning.
Recently I had a conversation over lunch with friends that made me consider menu planning again. My friend, Mrs K, uses a cute planner sheet to plan meals each week. She explained that with both herself and her husband working, they share the cooking on different nights. He’s happy to cook and even to shop for the ingredients but doesn’t like to choose the meals. So every Sunday she writes the plan and it goes on the fridge.
Now I get this. I don’t DO it but I UNDERSTAND it.
What struck me as SUPER CLEVER was her little trick for meal ideas…
On the back of her cute planner pad, she has written all the common meals they make. Brilliant!
I’ve found in the past that I can’t think of what to make when I try to plan ahead, but having them all there in a “Master List” would help with this.The list could be all your favourite basics we could divide it into categories. Maybe these categories:
The list could be all your favourite basics, or you could divide it into categories.
Maybe some of these categories:
- Chicken
- Beef
- Pork
- Mince
- Seafood
- Pasta
- Quick & easy
- Slow cooker
- Stirfry
Or you could have lists of what different people in your household would prefer to cook.
I love this idea of planning from a master list and keeping it right there on the back of your planner.
Time for me to write a list!
So help me out: tell me three things that would be on your “Master List”. I need family friendly healthy ideas that don’t take hours to cook.
