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I am often asked ‘How do you do your menu planning?’ Well this is one of those things that I have to set time for. For me it’s not exactly the easiest way however for us it helps us save money which is the key especially in this economy.
Tuesday afternoon the sales ads for all the local markets come in the mail. So I sit down and really read them to see what is on sale. So I am not having to go to more then one store. Yes most stores do honor other stores sales ads but around here its slim.
After reading the ads. I make a list of things from the store that has the most on sale that we actually will use. After that I hit the freezer to see what meat is in there then the cupboard for to see what we have.
Then I break out recipes and past dinner menus, to see what we have and what is on sale. From there I make a list of the recipes then compair it with the little things like spices, amount of eggs and what not to make sure we have it. Then build the menu.
I love trying new recipes, so the meals go on a two week calender sheet. in those spaces it fits everything for dinner that day for instance, grilled steak, potatoes, corn on the cob, koolaid. There is still space for a happy face or a frown if it was a hit or a miss.
I often make the misses twice unless it was really really bad just in case it was one of those days it just didnt sound good so we can give it a second try. If if it gets a second frown, or a huge miss I mark the recipe so I know not to use it again. If it was a really big hit it also gets a star and the recipe is marked as well.
I break out the recipes and the past menus to get an idea of the the flow of meals. Plus sometimes I forget to mark the recipe so having the past menus is a good thing for me to reference back to.
I keep all recipes in a little box, and all past menus in a 3 ring binder so everything is nice and neat. This does take some amount of organiation and dedication but it gets easier as you do it.
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