31 Days of Homemaking Day 15
Meal Planning, “What’s for Dinner?”
For some homemakers meal planning can be like a dirty word. Thinking about what to make and making a plan can seem like such a daunted task. But it doesn’t have to be. You just need to ask yourself a few questions and in just a little while you can have a meal plan.
Questions to Ask Yourself
- Ask yourself what are your family’s favorite meals to eat? Write those down.
- Ask yourself what new recipes do I want to try? Write those down.
- Ask yourself what are some really simple meals I like to make? Write those down.
Now you should have about 5-6 dinners in mind after asking these questions. This can be your meal plan for the week. Then the next week you can make a few family favorites add on a new recipe or two. By the end of a month if you keep your lists for the previous weeks you will have a month of menu ideas at your fingertips.
Now that dinners are taken care of what about other meals
What I like to do for breakfast and lunch is to automate them for ease. I will make the same breakfast most weekday mornings. We will usually have toast and egg and oatmeal each morning. Then on the weekends I will make pancakes, waffles, scones or muffins. This makes my planning for breakfasts really easy. If there is a week I know I will have more time I will make a more elaborate plan for that week. I try to make it as easy as I can for myself.
I will also make a similar plan for lunches. Since we are homeschoolers my husband is the only one who needs a lunch away from home. So we eat dinner leftovers for lunch anytime we have them. When we don’t have leftovers, I keep sandwich or salad fixings on hand to make for a quick lunch. Sometimes I will freezer cook some items and use those during the next few weeks for our lunches. What ever works for your family do that but make it easy for you and a plan that fits how your family eats.
Meal Plan Your Way
Meal planning doesn’t have to be a daunting task. If you already meal plan but want to expand to planning a month at a time here are a few posts on how I meal plan my dinners for a month at a time, part 1 and part 2. But if you are not used to meal planning I would start with a week or two at a time. It took me years before I started meal planning a month at a time. Just set up a system that works for you so whenever anyone asks “What’s for dinner?” you will already have a plan in mind.
How do you meal plan at your house? Weekly? Bi-weekly? Monthly? Or not at all?
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I am one of those homemakers who doesn’t like to plan out meals. Everyone in our family has different tastes and it’s hard to think of things that we all like. I do try to serve the same items for breakfast most days….cereal, homemade waffles from the freezer or sometimes eggs and toast. Lunch is usually leftovers, a sandwich or maybe macaroni and cheese. Dinner is more challenging, but I think with these tips, I can make it a little bit easier on myself. Thanks!
Erin, I am fortunate that both of my kids aren’t picky eaters. They both have things they don’t like but in general they will eat almost anything I make. I can see where dinners would be a challenge if my kids were.
After much trial and error, I have decided that meal planning for a month at a time works for me. I print out a calendar at the end of each month and plan for the following month. I make changes when needed but it works great for us. Breakfast is usually cereal or toast and fruit during the week, eggs & bacon on the weekends. Lunches are leftovers or sandwiches.
I like meal planning for a month at a time. I get all my meal planning done in about an hour and I don’t have to think about it for another month.