Sundays are our day to run errands and get ready for the upcoming week. Typically, while having my coffee I start to plan the weeks dinner. I take into account the weather for the week, what events (sports or otherwise), what we already have on hand in the fridge/freezer and what we have had recently. I usually look at the weather first, if it's going to be cold, I rather do something warm and comforting, if it will be hot then I think of dishes that don't require much cooking. During the Summertime we have Salad Bar once a week on our weekly menu because it's cool and refreshing and won't heat up the house too much, same with sandwich night. These dinners are easy because each family member can customize their own meal very easily. When it's cold I like to utilize my crock pot or tabletop roaster for dinners. I can have something cooking all day if need be while I get other things done.
The other main thing I look at is my families schedule for the week. When doing this I usually plan a leftover/ fend for yourself night on the busiest day of the week. This helps a lot for two reasons, one I'm not scrambling to try and cook something in a very short window of time. Second is that it helps clean out the fridge of any leftovers in the fridge that need to be eaten.
One of the main reasons I started menu planning is because our youngest E, is Autistic and as a result can be a picky eater. With a weekly menu up, he can see what's for dinner during the week and not be "surprised" by what's for dinner. Plus, it also battles the never-ending question of," What's for dinner?" I do ask the kids or husband if they have any suggestions for the week's menu. If the kids suggest something and it makes the menu, then they have to help cook that meal. We give the kids age-appropriate tasks to help with dinners. This way they learn to cook and spend family time in the kitchen together.
The next thing I take into consideration is what we have on hand already and don't need to shop for. We are fortunate to have an extra fridge in the garage (mostly for beverages), and a deep freezer too. When I plan the weeks meals, I look to see what is in the freezers for that week. Makes writing the menu much easier than having to buy all the ingredients for each meal every week, not to mention it helps out our grocery budget too. We like to make some meals larger just to be able to freeze the leftovers, that way I pretty much have a meal "ready to go". Going through the freezers also give me time to defrost things without rushing to do so or to make substitutions to the menu. This had really saved us during the heart of the pandemic, no we didn't "stock up" unnecessarily on items, we just shopped like normal. This helped by cutting down on trips to the grocery stores amongst the chaos. Another reason I like having a deep freezer is because we can buy a larger piece of meat and divide it up ourselves for several meals.
These are the steps I go through every Sunday to plan our weekly menu. It seems like a lot, but in the end, it really does help my week out. My family knows not to ask, "What's for dinner?" and to just look at the menu. On the side of my menu board is also a spot for writing a grocery list as we run out of things during the week. I have the chalk board with the weekly menu on it right by the pantry door and kitchen table, that way everyone can see it. Hopefully this post inspires you to give menu planning a try, it may be hard at first, but it makes things easier in the long run.
Kim