Since we've switched to "primarily vegan" eating choices, menu planning has gained greater importance, for without planning, it's easy to fall back into meals of frozen pizza, meat in the crockpot or quick meals out, which are typically less healthy. I've tried, without much success, to find a menu system that works for our household. Despite the wonderful suggestions I received from friends or found on Pinterest, eventually they all failed miserably after a few weeks here at the Willis Residence. I either forgot what we were making, planned too much food for the week or had to make too many trips to the grocery store. All of this created frustration, which led to abandoning the system all together........leaving us again with that evening stress after a long day of "What's for dinner???"
I needed something simple, that would communicate well, so both Aaron and I knew the menu details, since we both cook. I also needed something that allowed me to see all my recipe choices, because I often I forget all my options and have little time to sort through cookbooks and recipe boxes. Lastly, I wanted a system that would be very efficient, with less food waste and fewer trips to the grocery store, which in turn would be healthy for the budget!
Last week I came up with a creative idea that combined my love of laminating, magnets and manipulative devices to devise a menu system that meets all of the above criteria: It's simple, it's fun, it's flexible, it's efficient, it's tactile and it's visual. I often wonder why I didn't think of this sooner??
Here's how it works: I have magnetic strips for each day of the week in bright yellow (i just used the paper I had on hand, you could color code to your liking) and red strips that list possible food choices for any given week. I started by making a list and putting into a table on a Word document: I included all my favorite easy and reliable recipes, along with strips that say "leftovers", "eat out", "small group" (this is our church group, we always share a meal, so it takes the place of cooking that evening) and "new recipe". If the "new recipe" is a success, I would add it to my running document of additional recipes. I also made duplicate strips for simple sides like broccoli, potatoes, rice, beans, salad, etc, that we might use multiple times in the week.
Dare I say it's actually "fun" to create the menu, moving the little magnetic strips around, but it's flexibility can't be underestimated. For example, I had scheduled spaghetti with salad for Wednesday, but realized we had quite a few leftovers from Monday and Tuesday, so I swapped out the spaghetti for the leftovers and moved spaghetti to Thursday (which was originally supposed to be leftover night).
The last perk of this system is it's quite easy to go to the refrigerator and write down the grocery list for the week based on the posted menu. I was able to purchase all the groceries for the week in one trip.
Granted, we've only adopted this system for a week, but it's been a huge success - even Aaron gives it a thumbs up. I'm looking forward to week 2 - that has to be a positive sign for success, right?
