In part 1, I went into WHY menu planning is so awesome. The summary: it can save you money, time, sanity, and help you eat better. Yay, menu planning!
Now onto HOW to menu plan.
The short answer is that everyone needs to find their own way; what works for me probably won’t be the exact combination for you. But if you try and take the time to adjust as needed, you will find what works for you. And then you can reap the benefits!
There are a few things to plan around:
- what you have
- what you are in the mood for
- what is on sale
There are a few ways to plan:
- a loose plan with 6-7 meals per week, and you choose each day what to make
- a firm day by day plan
- a themed plan (for example, we do leftovers on Mondays and pasta on Thursday)
And then there are numerous choices for how long your plan is:
- weekly
- bi-weekly
- monthly
How will it work for you? Time to jump in! I usually go weekly, and by mostly what we have and what’s on sale, and used a themed idea for a few days and then a more firm plan for the rest. But when the week is a little crazy, or we have a holiday, or something else comes up, I can easily change it up. I would start a with a week at a time and see how it works for you.
There are lots of menu planning resources you can utilize – there are tons of blank templates online you could use (some links here). You could also use monthly meal planning services like Food on the Table. Or set up a two or four week plan and repeat.
And don’t forget my 4 part series on chesed meal menu planning. And since reading other peoples’ menus can be inspiring (at least for me!), here are some of my menus: a good Shabbat menu, Sukkot menus (part 1 and 2), and some holiday menu planning tips and tricks.
The most important thing about meal planning is to actually do it! 😉
