Sometimes I really get sick of planning meals. I’ve been doing a meal plan pretty much every week for the last 27 years. I figure that’s about 1,404 meal plans so far. I kind of miss the early days of our marriage when we ate out all the time or just cooked frozen pizza. I don’t even remember going to the grocery store then although I’m sure I did!
The other day I was sitting at my desk trying to plan my meals for the week and I just couldn’t do it. I was tired. I was tired of cooking. I was tired of grocery shopping. And I was tired of trying to find new recipes (I try three or four new ones every week.) No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t pull together a menu.
I’d like to say that this was a rare occurrence but it happens more often than you might think. But regardless of whether I feel like making a menu plan, I have to do it. So when I get stuck like I was the other day, here are some ways I get through it:
1. Use the categories method. I list five different categories of food and then just plug in meals to fit the categories. Here’s an example:
- Mexican
- Pasta/Italian
- Soup/Stew
- Sandwich
- Beef or Chicken
Having the categories gives me direction, and sometimes that’s all it takes.
2. Copy an old menu. I have a stack of my old menu plans, so if I’m desperate, I can just pull one of those out and repeat it.
3. Copy someone else’s menu. There are tons of menu plans available at no cost on the internet. Take a look at those and see if any of them help you plan your menu. Here are a few places to look:
Homemakersdaily
Food For My Family
Organized Junkie
My Weekly Menu Planner
4. Make it an easy week. Instead of trying to come up with your customary awesome menu, just choose family favorites that are easy and sound good. Here’s what mine might look like:
- BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, French Fries, Green Beans
- Tacos, Cheese Dip
- Frozen Pizza or homemade
- Baked Potato Soup, Cinnamon Bread
- Teriyaki Chicken, Tortellini w/parmesan, steamed vegetables, frozen garlic bread
5. Wait until later. Sometimes when I’m trying to plan my menu I just can’t do it. But if I put it away and come back a little later, I can bang it out in record time.
So if you’re struggling to make your menu for the week, maybe one of these ideas will help you get through it. They work for me!
How and when do you make your menu plan?
I have five kids, 14-22. I also have chronic fatigue, chronic depression, and a chronic headache. A few years ago it got to be too much. I couldn’t keep up with the needs of my family. While seeking medical and therapeutic help, I also worked on our division of labor at home. This is where things stand now: I don’t cook dinner. Or choose dinner. Each of my kids and my husband have one night a week that they are in charge of dinner. That way, they each know they will get what they want at least once. They are all learning to plan, shop, and cook. And they become more tolerant of what others serve because they know how it feels to have people not like your food. If they don’t like what is served, they can make their own food. No one cooks on Fridays because people are so here and there on Fridays. It’s a great time to heat up the leftovers. Friday evening or Saturday morning I ask everyone what they will be making for dinner the next week. One daughter wants to make tacos every time. That’s fine because everyone likes tacos. One daughter likes to try new recipes; she’s a great cook. Others usually choose between a few family favorites. I am the food referee who says that they can’t serve canned beef stew again. (If it’s been a rough week for someone and they’ve been taking meal prep seriously lately, I might give them a break. They can make frozen pizza or canned stew or frozen lasagna or something simple. But only one person per week.) From this I write up a weekly menu which is posted on the fridge. I also make up the shopping list for the week. On Saturday afternoon my husband does the grocery shopping for the week, usually with one or two kids in tow. I also have one daughter (who loves order and organizing) put the groceries away each time. When he gets home from shopping everyone helps bring the groceries in. This is all done by my husband and kids because a weekly shopping trip take so much out of me that it takes a couple of days for me to recover. We’ve been doing it for a few years now and it works wonderfully. All of my kids can cook and shop (they started shopping with me when they were still young; they started cooking with me for real around 9 and could make a simple meal on their own around 10). People don’t argue because it’s just the way it is. If they are going to be gone on their night, they trade with someone. On a rare occasion I will take over someone’s dinner so I can cook. It works great for us!
Soon they will start moving out and I will have to come up with a new plan. I’m aware of this and just enjoying a plan that works while I’ve got it.
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That is really awesome! And it’s great for your kids to have that experience. That’s one thing I wish I had done differently – have my kids take more responsibility with the meal planning and cooking. I was a full-time homemaker so I just did it all myself. The kids could clean but their cooking skills weren’t up to par. That did change some when I briefly went back to work – my daughter took over all the cleaning and cooking and some grocery shopping since she wasn’t working. It was AWESOME!
So sorry for all the things you deal with. That makes life very hard. I’m impressed with how you have structured your environment to make it work.
I try to use cooking as a creative outlet, which makes it quite enjoyable. But I know sometimes I come home and just don’t have the energy. I’m quite impressed that you’ve been cooking so many meals for so many years without throwing a tantrum!
I didn’t say I didn’t throw a tantrum! No, I don’t mind cooking. My husband is very easy to please and loves to eat. I try a lot of new recipes. We also eat our leftovers so I don’t actually have to cook every night. The other night David came home and saw me making some soup. He said: “I was really looking forward to the leftover chicken and scalloped potatoes.” I reassured him he could still eat those since the soup was a side dish. I love that he is so easy to please and loves leftovers, too. It makes cooking a lot more fun!