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Anyone do menus?

I so need to jump on this bandwagon too! I was thinking about trying these that Krista has in the shop:



And copied for your reading pleasure....It contains:

2 Weekly Menus (5 meals)
3 Meal Planners (3 meals)
1 Dinner Idea organizer
1 Dry goods label set
4 Pre-done grocery lists

Just having a Weekly menu would help us so that maybe we'd actually stick to it!
 
So I tried the E-Mealz last night (I just downloaded the Publix portion control example) and dinner was a hit! I'm thinking I may do this :) And it's soooo affordable, totally pays for itself!
 
I do kind of I guess. We don't actually plan out meals for each day but we plan enough meals for 1-2 weeks (since we do lots of fresh veggies it works best this way) and write them out on our notepad on the fridge. We look at that to plan the meal for the day and cross it off once it's made. That way we still get options but I know I have everything I need to make it in the house.
 
cnscrap said:
I so need to jump on this bandwagon too! I was thinking about trying these that Krista has in the shop:



And copied for your reading pleasure....It contains:

2 Weekly Menus (5 meals)
3 Meal Planners (3 meals)
1 Dinner Idea organizer
1 Dry goods label set
4 Pre-done grocery lists
Click to expand...

GREAT IDEA!!
 
Brandi said:
So I tried the E-Mealz last night (I just downloaded the Publix portion control example) and dinner was a hit! I'm thinking I may do this :) And it's soooo affordable, totally pays for itself!
Click to expand...

I am so glad you like it. We have been loving it here still.
 
I'm a bit OCD so I definitely do a meal plan. However, our lives get very busy and I need to switch things up so my meal plan is quite flexible. If I find enough time I print out a monthly calendar that I have made that has a spot for B, L, D, and Snack for each day. I then try and pencil in the WHOLE month. I do it in pencil so I can change it up if needed. I also try and keep in mind the days that DD has dance that means I have to have a super quick meal for that day. I post this on my fridge or sometimes it actually makes it into my home binder where it belongs. Then each Monday as I get ready to shop I pull out my list for the week and write down everything I need for those meals. I also include a few quick meals so that if I run into a time crunch one night making a meal I'll have a quick backup {ie grilled cheese and soup}. Last step before going shopping I quickly go through my cupboards and see if I already have something on my list and I also check to make sure I'm not running low on something we regularly eat {cereal, granola bars, etc}.

This process does take a it of work, however it has left this mamma feeling less stressed at dinner time. I'll always put in a little extra work if it leaves me feeling less stress! i think I may grab those cute menus from Krista though! They are much cuter than my excel calendar!
 
I do meal plan, some weeks better than others.
I fall into the camp of writing a list of meals that I plan on making during the week and crossing them off as we have them.
I did buy a subscription menu plan to Relish on jasmere (similar to groupon) that I plan to activate soon to see if it helps in this department. I have also occasionally done once a month cooking, which I actually loved.
 
So after all the discussion here, I decided to give e-mealz a try since they have a GF plan too. I did my first grocery shop and meal from it today. Success!! I really like it!
 
I found this website today: http://www.thebettermom.com/2011/08/bi-weekly-dinner-meal-plan-for-august-22-–-september-4/

Bi-Weekly-Meal-Plan-Aug22-1024x791.jpg


Notice that it has a place to list what you need to do for tomorrow. Isn't that a GREAT idea?? Sometimes I'm like, Oh snap, I forgot to put the chicken in the fridge and now I have to add another 20 minutes of prep while I wait for the chicken to thaw...which wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't waited till 4:45 to start dinner, kwim?

I think for me, a good thing to actually write down would be "to do ahead of time". I'm always making dinner and thinking that I should have chopped the onions, garlic, carrots, whatever, in the morning while my kids were at school and cut off half an hour from my dinner prep time in the evening. It's like total chaos the hour before dinner.
 
lmccandless said:
So after all the discussion here, I decided to give e-mealz a try since they have a GF plan too. I did my first grocery shop and meal from it today. Success!! I really like it!
Click to expand...

Yay!! I am so glad. We on on our 3rd week now and I really can't remember when have cooked this much. We don't always like every one of the meals on there but I will substitute with something from a cookbook and I print out the menus each week and put in a binder so when I have a collection saved up I can just go back through and substitute with things I know we liked.
 
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joelsgirl said:
I found this website today: http://www.thebettermom.com/2011/08/bi-weekly-dinner-meal-plan-for-august-22-–-september-4/

Bi-Weekly-Meal-Plan-Aug22-1024x791.jpg


Notice that it has a place to list what you need to do for tomorrow. Isn't that a GREAT idea?? Sometimes I'm like, Oh snap, I forgot to put the chicken in the fridge and now I have to add another 20 minutes of prep while I wait for the chicken to thaw...which wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't waited till 4:45 to start dinner, kwim?

I think for me, a good thing to actually write down would be "to do ahead of time". I'm always making dinner and thinking that I should have chopped the onions, garlic, carrots, whatever, in the morning while my kids were at school and cut off half an hour from my dinner prep time in the evening. It's like total chaos the hour before dinner.
Click to expand...

That looks cool. Gonna have to check this one out also. Thanks for posting this.
 
this is great! i just threw together a similar template in excel with a new tab for every 2 weeks. some quick formulas updated all the dates for me. i made room for prep notes & things for tomorrow. and all i have to do is go in and print out a fresh sheet when i'm ready to do the next 2 weeks! thanks for sharing this. i hope this ends up working for me!

also, i got a new cookbook today that i actually really LIKE! usually i find cookbooks to be full of lots of things i would never actually cook. thus, they are usually pointless. but i am certain i will actually USE this one. :tu off to plan a menu while i sit mindlessly in front of the tv.
 
Here... It's Taste of Homes, Moms' Best.
Since I JUST got it, I haven't acctually cooked from it, so all I can vouch for is the fact that the ingredients look normal, and most of the recipes sound pretty useful. The pictures all look normal too!

There is a section that gives you 30 min meals - main course, side, desert. There's a 10-minute meals section, and even a lot of the snacks and breakfast foods and whatnot look like they could be useful for meals. I'm going to sit down today and block out a menu & see how it goes. *fingers crossed* (I got too tired last night & just went to bed instead :giggle)
 
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