I need help with my weekly menu planning. Every so often I try to sit down and make a menu for the week, but I always get exasperated and quit. I'm lucky if I'm able to make a shopping list for the next 2 days. Part of it is our erratic schedule. My husband is only home for dinner maybe 3-4 days of the week. But I was wondering if you guys could share your meal planning tips, or even, if you have the time? share a sample weekly menu??

I would love to consolidate my shopping. I hate having to go grocery shopping every few days, and I think I would spend less (in the long run) just going once a week too.

THE RESPONSES:

• I do lots of "basics" shopping. Maybe it sounds boring...BUT...there are things my daughter and I LOVE, and so those always go into the week - like some sort of pasta dish or mexican food. So, for shopping, we always get versatile basics.....tortillas, some sauce, some pasta. These things can be used in a COUPLE meals, and also usually last us into the second week. I make two loaves of bread a week, so that takes care of some breakfast stuff and some side dishes with dinner. We always have fruits and veggies, and, again, I stick with ones we both like AND I can get some milage out of....like, grapes....snack AND frozen AND use them in a fruit salad. Oh and speaking of salad...I get some salad basics (now that its hot) and have lately been making different salads. I made a goat cheese and carmalized onion one the other day, and then last night we had a tuna/tomato salad. So I bought one big bag of greens and got two different dinners. And I always buy groceries with the idea of at least one low stress dinner....sometimes frozen waffles with strawberries or something odd and fun like that. That is good but in case I need a "chill out" night of not getting to involved with dinner.

  Ok...so, when I shop, I ALWAYS buy: tortillas, pasta, broccolli, apples, citrus, one rice meal or the like...cous cous or polenta...something easy, bread stuff, butter, some sort of bean, cheese, juice, juice, juice (can you tell I have a two year old!), veggie booty!, potatos or turnips. Then I add onto those things for whatever I'll need for specific dishes.

  Oooo...and I'll share a new recipe that a friend just told me for a quick easy, no-stress dinner...nachos! Make or get tortilla chips (I buy a bag from a local mexican restaurant) and spead a layer in a large glass baking dish. Spread refried beans (can be vegetarian!) and cheese on top. We sprinkle with spike and some already baked chicken. Then bake at 350 for about 10 to 15 minutes. I made some with some guac I made and it was really great, filling, and we all just ate off of one plate and were full. It was fun.

I actually only do serious planning for about 3 days or so, and I pretty much just make it part of the plan to head to the co-op a few times a week for fresh stuff. It's really close, and if thats an option for you, I suggest it. Its a little de-stressing for me and going to the store that often gives me more ideas. Our co-op actually has recipes and demos on certain days. That is where I got the onion/goat cheese salad idea. FREE recipes....yay. Oh, and it keeps me up on deals and sales. ALWAYS a good thing. And now that it's summer time, I do the same with the farmers market here. Again....fresh stuff, good ideas, and often free recipes.

• Dh and I are trying to cook more "as a family." (He has always done the shopping, and most of the cooking.) And we are trying to reduce our monthly grocery bill. So naturally we are looking at weekly menu planning.

  To be honest, we just started today, and haven't had a chance to sit down yet. We just bounced around ideas. But I just got Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair and it is *excellent.* She has sample lunches and dinners by what goes best together taste-wise and nutritionally. Since we are trying to change our diet to more whole foods, and healthier whole foods at that, we were toying with the idea of cooking entirely from her cookbook for one month and seeing a) how we like the recipes b) how we feel physically and psychically eating this way and c) how much money we spend on food. If you can get your hands on this book, I highly recommend it...I just am drooling over some of the recipes and I am just reading them!

  Right now our staples are veggie and chicken (sometimes) stir fry, bean and rice burritos, pasta and sauce, fresh veggie salads, peanut butter and jelly, and oatmeal (dinner, lunch and breakfast in that order, LOL). Healthy but we are looking to expand a bit...and plan better. We must go to the grocery store every other day. I am completely with you on that one. It's exhausting and we spend too much.

• Are you trying to save money, time or eat more healthfully? I've found that I can do all as long as I am consistent and {sigh} disciplined. I usually gather the flyers of all the close grocery stores. The sales on the front page(s) are called "loss leaders" and if you buy only those, you will save lots of money. I make my upcoming plans and menus based on those items. I also look for sales on my staples and buy those in addition to the loss leaders. You will likely discover what stores routinely have what items at the best prices. I have a grocery list on computer that I print out and I highlight the things I need as I run out. When I am *really* organized, I hightlight in colors coordinated with certain stores. I'm fortunate that a local store here delivers, and I order most items that cost the same at each store from there.

  I find having planned leftovers is great, too. Spaghetti sauce becomes part of lasagne, stuffed peppers, pizza cups, etc. Leftover pot roast becomes bbq beef sandwiches. This is especially helpful for planning lunches. Anyway, I find I eat more healthfully, for less money and meals take less time when I do this. I've also had great success with Once a Month cooking.

• Meal planning is pretty simple for me. I have a little book where for the past 4 years or so I have been writting all of the recipes that we use and like. So when I need to make my grocery list, I sit down with that book and the one cookbook that I have (American Vegetarian). I go through and write down 6 or 7 meals to have for dinners. Then I make my list of ingredients that we need. Then I think about lunches and breakfasts.

  We also like to try new recipes a lot. So I will sometimes check out new cookbooks from the library or look for recipes online. This week we are trying all new recipes - Libyan food. So far it's been yummy. (As soon as we try a new recipe that we like, I write it down in my recipe book so that I have it from then on.)

• I do something similar. I have an Excel file that has a list of our "Family favorites," along with the last time it was on a menu - I'm up to 48 different meals now. I actually only shop every 3 weeks (plus one quick run to get milk and fresh fruit/veggies, although that's at the farmers market now). When I make my menu, I will pull out about 10 old standby meals, pick 2 new ones out of recipe books or from other sources, and then count on leftovers or visiting to take up several more meals.

  I'm getting more nerdish as time goes on; I'm slowly adding the ingredients to my spreadsheet tabs so that I can eventually create a macro that will write most of my grocery list for me. So my advice is to start writing down what you all like so that you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time you sit down and decide what you want to have for dinner. It also keeps you from getting into ruts - my DH still teases me about the months where almost every other meal was pasta. (I'd just gotten a new pasta sauce cookbook.)

  A few of the meatless or relatively healthy meat meals that are on our list include the following:
  various homemade pizzas (chicken and goat cheese is my favorite)
  quesadillas, tostadas, tacos, taco salad, veggie enchiladas, etc.
  black beans and rice, red beans and rice
  chicken fried rice
  greek chicken kebabs w/rice
  penne w/artichoke and feta
  chicken vegetable chili
  pesto pasta w/tuna
  roasted veggies w/rice
  various grilled fish, shrimp, chicken, etc.
  polenta w/vegetable saute and garlic bread

• I have gotten pretty good at this. Here is what I do. I started making meal plans when my oldest was a baby because it was so much more difficult to make a "quick" run to the grocery store with a baby and now with two I am so glad that I am in the habit of this.

  I usually choose one of my many cookbooks and flip through it to find 6 or so dishes that seem good. Write them down on a separate piece of paper with the page number of the cookbook. Then as I am choosing the recipes I write my shopping list. Actually, two shopping lists - one for Whole Foods and one for the regular grocery store. I also figure out what would be good accompaniments to the main dishes I chose and write down the ingredients I need for those too. I also check as I go along to see what I have in the fridge or pantry and choose recipes based on those things. This usually takes me about half an hour or so to do. I also keep a pad of paper on the fridge and I write down staple-type stuff that we need as we run out or get close to running out. I also always get stuff for burritos and sandwiches and then I don't have to worry about lunches much. For lunch we usually have either leftovers, sandwiches or burritos. Actually, sometimes I make our big meal for lunch if I feel like cooking then and save the easy stuff for dinner. This is especially helpful on the days that I have playgroup and I don't get home until 5:30 or later.

  When my second was born my mom and I went through my cookbooks and made four weekly meal plans that I have as standbys. I also made grocery lists to go along with them so if I don't have time to come up with a new plan, I can pull out one of those. I also save the other meal plans I make in a file folder so that I can use those too. I am working on getting grocery lists together for every meal plan I have, but I haven't done that yet. I tend to just throw away the list I made to take to the store because it gets messy and unreadable. I will cut and paste my meal plans at the end of this post. I hope that helps. If you want to ask me anything else, please do. I am so used to doing this now that I can't imagine managing my shopping and cooking in any other way.

  Menu # 1
  Lasagna with garlic bread and salad
  Scrambled Tofu Burritos
  Scalloped Potatoes & veggie sticks
  Chickpeas with spinach and couscous
  Black Beans with Rice and Kale
  Lentil Soup and cornbread

  Menu # 2
  Beet carrot casserole and noodles
  Chole with cucumber salad
  Sweet potato kale soup with corn/green chile muffins
  Tofu cutlets and salad
  Chili cheese rice and steams
  Carrots with zucchini cream cheese sauce and couscous

  Menu # 3
  Two bean pie with veggie sticks
  Steams, rice and baked tofu
  Fresh spinach tart and salad
  Pasta Primavera
  Split pea soup and muffins

  Menu # 4
  Miso soup and scallion rolls
  Homemade Pizza
  Saag and Rice
  Sauteed Tofu with toast and veggie sticks
  French fries and salad
  Chilaquiles

• I do ours the same way. I go through a different cookbook every week, and pick out 7 meals. I double ALL meals that can be frozen. I make the list like you do (one shopping list, one recipe list). I buy "staples" in bulk. 50 lbs of flour, oats, black beans, cases of whole wheat tortillas, bulk bags of peas, cases of soymilk etc. Anything freezable goes in the chest freezer (we have one of the smallest ones and it fits a LOT!).

  I usually do my meal planning while my youngest is taking a bath. I pretty much know what we have on hand, so I just bring in the paper and cookbook into the bathroom with me. I then make a copy of the list and give a copy to my husband. He brings home the groceries. (He works at the co-op.)

  here's what a sample menu might look like off the top of my head:
  Baked beans w/ a large salad and some fresh fruit (I'll have my husband bring home whatever tasty is in season..melon, nectarines, navel oranges etc.)
  Pad Thai w/seitan and a salad
  Cincinnati Chili w/salad
  Cauliflower/Gruyere Quiche with a salad
  Mexican Pizza w/salad
  White bean and sausage soup with a salad and homemade bread
  Breakfast for Dinner (the kids LOVE this one) pancakes, sausage, hashbrowns and fruit salad

  For breakfast we eat WIC cereal (hey...it's food) or organic quick oats, and the kids make their own school lunches and I usually scrounge up leftovers for my youngest and I. On school breaks I'm likely to make pasta and some fruit for lunches, or tuna fish sandwiches....simple/no menu required/lunchy kind of stuff.

• I am most successful when I plan *realistically.* Which for me is planning about 75% quick & easy meals and 25% meals that actually need a fair amount of cooking. I also keep my meal plan fairly flexible - the only caveat is to make sure you eat your fresh produce first. I also plan breakfast & lunch as a la carte.

  My shopping list might look like this:

  *Breakfast & Lunch*
  Grapes
  Bananas
  yogurt
  English muffins
  oatmeal
  Boca veggie sausage
  eggs

  *Dinner*
  Sunday - Baked potatoes, salad, & steak
  Monday - Salad fixings
  Tuesday - Quesedilla
  Wednesday - Pasta florentine
  Thursday - homemade Chicken soup

• Here is our menu for the last week and a half:

  Kathy's chicken enchiladas made with tofu
  Heather's Sloppy Joi's made with Christi's tomato sauce
  Heather's Easy Black Bean Soup
  Spaghetti using Christi's sauce (I tripled the recipe)
  Salmon with baked potato and salad
  Polenta (again with Christi's sauce) and spinach salad
  Heather's Quinoa salad with falafel and pita
  Niri's Tofu Enchiladas
  My mom's lentil and bulgar enchiladas (yes, we had many variations of enchiladas)
  Kathy's potato quiche

  I bought a huge package of wheat tortillas and another of corn tortillas. The enchilada recipes are so different, it didn't feel like we had the same thing all week. Can you tell I use the attic for my menu planning??

  I always sit down and plan two weeks worth of meals when I go shopping. I use our old favorites and try to add two new meals. The attic is great for simple recipes that taste wonderful. I also use http://www.allrecipes.com.

• This will be my second month of doing Once a Month Cooking (OAMC). Last time I just did the meats and bagged them up. I want to shoot for whole meals this time. But just having my meat cooked and in serving sizes has been a huge help. Want spaghetti? Just open the sauce and throw the meat in. Chicken fajitas go over big here. All I have to do now is thaw the chicken and roll them up. My kitchen stays cleaner and I'm spending less. We're eating better too cause it's all from the co-op so it's organic. I could probably cut the bill way down if I used the grocery store sales.