how i do menus

Since getting married 13 years ago, I’ve planned menus for all our dinners. I also try to plan breakfast and lunch menus, though those are decidedly more casual. It’s such a habit now that I CANNOT go grocery shopping without a menu and a list in hand.

BUT, lest you think I’m a perfect angel or some kind of Martha Stewart clone, I will confess that there are times I don’t follow the menu. Maybe I got lazy and didn’t get anything out of the freezer. Maybe I didn’t read the recipe thoroughly enough and didn’t realize the sauce needed to simmer for 30 minutes or the meat needed to marinate overnight. Or maybe I just didn’t feel like cooking what was scheduled for that night and didn’t have a backup. Thank goodness for restaurants. (How badly is my homemaker halo tarnished by now with these confessions?)

When I first started on the homemaker journey and was making menus, I would do a week at a time. Over the years, I’ve practiced and now I am doing a month at a time. I still shop for a week at a time but it’s nice to have the menu for an entire month. So how do I do it?

First, I make a nice little calendar in MS Word. Nothing fancy. Then I get out my recipe box and cookbooks and just start browsing. I am fortunate not to have any picky eaters in my family so I can pretty much cook anything and they’ll eat it. I’ve got two children old enough to express their opinions (the 1 year old isn’t quite there yet) so I’ll ask them for a few ideas of what they’d like. I’ll also ask the husband too--since he does like to cook and bake--(I’m so lucky) for a few ideas. So we have pork, chicken, beef, pasta and vegetarian dishes. I spread them out so we’re not eating the same protein for 2 days in a row. I also try to make sure to spread out the *type* of dish so we’re not having soup one day and stew the next. I suppose chicken pot pie and lasagna could be generally classified as casseroles but they’re different enough that having one on one day and the other on the next isn’t too weird.

Where do I get my ideas? Well, I have a lot of family recipes that I grew up with that I use. I also love, love, LOVE the website www.tastofhome.com. I had a subscription for 3 years for their magazine and I’d say a good 85% of the recipes in my box are from them. Did I say I LOVE Taste of Home? The other 15% are the aforementioned family recipes and recipes I’ve picked up here and there. I have three Taste of Home cookbooks. I’ve also got the cookbooks no home cook worth her apron and wooden spoon should be without—Betty Crocker and Better Homes & Gardens. I’ve also got a plethora of other cookbooks I refer to from time to time but my TOH cookbooks and recipe box are the backbone of my cooking sources.

Once I get my main dishes plugged in, I’ll add in the sides. Some are pretty easy—anytime we have a pasta dish (spaghetti, stuffed shells, manicotti, lasagna, chicken Alfredo, etc.) we’ll have a green salad. I usually put down garlic bread with full intention of making French bread but more often than not that doesn’t happen. Still, the pasta dish and green salad is good and filling. Other dishes require rice such as stir fries or meatballs. Then there are some good old American dishes that go well with some kind of potato side—mashed potatoes (especially good if the main dish also makes a gravy such as Teriyaki Pork Roast which is cooked in a crockpot and then the liquid makes the gravy); au gratin potatoes (also known as funeral or cheesy potatoes); baked potatoes; potato salad, etc. etc. I have corn, peas and green beans in my freezer (I buy the big bags from Costco) that can be cooked and dressed up easily with butter and herbs. I have lots of canned fruit that I’ll add in or maybe make a fruit jello salad (just make jello, throw in the fruit, pour in a pyrex dish and refrigerate).

I do try to follow my menu as I write it. But it’s typed on paper, not carved in stone. Therefore, I can make changes. Maybe I/we don’t feel like having a particular type of meat on one day. Maybe that day is really busy and the planned meal will take more time than I have to cook it. I can switch meals around if I want/need to. So I keep track of what’s been done and what hasn’t by simply crossing out the meals I’ve made on my printed copy, which lives on the front of my refrigerator.