Menu planning

Weekly menu planning is one thing that I've found to be essential in our household. Not just from an allergy point of view, but also just out of sheer convenience! I've been planning weekly menus for years. I was tired of sitting in front of the cabinet almost every night, not knowing what to fix, and then when I finally decided, find out that I was missing an ingredient. Since planning, I've cut my trips to the store by half (sometimes more), and also my grocery budget (I can't go in and just buy one thing). Here's what I do:

Every Wednesday I sit down with my recipe file. I look through and decide what I'll fix. I have a list with each day of the week. You can type it, buy special pads, or just plain write it down like I do. Whatever floats your boat. Once I decide on a recipe, I decide which day to fix it based on how much time I have or if there's an after-school acitivity, and list it by that day. I keep my grocery list right by me and write down any ingredients that I need to buy so that when I shop, I make sure to have everything. When my list is finished, I hang it on the fridge for all to see.

On Thursdays, I sit down with my coupons and plan out what to buy and what coups to use. I do my shopping Friday mornings after I take the kids to school. By taking a day to do each step, it's much easier and less daunting. There have been times when I'm too busy to plan on Wednesday, so I have to do it and coupons together on Thursday, and I find myself rushing through it, and not wanting to fix what I planned the next week. Take your time! Also, if you think of something throughout the week that sounds good, jot it down on your list (I use a separate pad for menu and grocery lists) on the page you'll use for next week so that when you sit down to plan, you already have one day taken care of!