Menu Planning

Do you menu plan? I do, in a sort of ad-hoc way.  I always plan a week’s worth of dinners before I go to the supermarket. Before I write my list, I have a look at what’s left in the fridge, and check out what is going to come in our weekly fruit and vege box, and check the calendar for any upcoming events where I’m supposed to “bring a plate.”   Having a list doesn’t mean that I cook the exact things I thought of when I wrote my list, but it means that I have the general ingredients in stock to make something. I don’t plan dinners for particular days of the week because I don’t like being bossed around, even by my past self. We usually just see what we feel like on the day.

I’m not very high-tech with my list – I have a stack of little index cards that I bought years ago thinking I’d rock me a Hipster PDA, and so I write a list of 7 dinners on a card and stick it on the fridge with a magnet.  Past weeks’ lists are in a stack on top of the fridge, which I review for ideas if I’m feeling uninspired, or whenever they cascade onto the surprised head of whoever’s opened the fridge door

So that isn’t a very sophisticated way of menu planning, but it works for me.

Here are some great posts on Menu Planning from some of my favourite Housework Ninjas:

A few people have mentioned that they use the daily reminders feature of HomeRoutines to put their menu plan for the week in, then they get a reminder of what’s for dinner whenever they look at the app. That is an excellent idea!