Menu Planning: Determining your Menu

Hopefully, you have followed my steps so far on Menu Planning (Setting up a Food Inventory, Making the most of your cookbooks,  and organizing your menu).  Now you are ready to determine your menu and then go shopping!

Using your basic food list, organized cookbooks, budget, grocery ads and a calendar or a fun Menu Board, let's determine this week's menu!

Determine your Menu

• Looking at a week at a time, choose a meal for each day.  Write these on your calendar or Menu Board.
• Don't forget to include side dishes, breads and dessert (if you choose). 
• If you have a day that is particular busy, make it a Crock-pot meal.
• Include a leftover meal if you don't use those up for lunches.
• Remember if the week gets hectic, switch meals around!

Here is my menu plan for this week:

Sunday:  Mom's Beef Barbecue on buns, leftover sides
Monday:  Grilled Kielbasa, seasoned noodles, green beans
Tuesday:  Henri's Crock-pot Beef Roast with mushrooms served on egg noodles, broccoli, homemade sourdough bread (rising as I write)
Wednesday:  BBQ Chicken Pizza leftovers from freezer (it's just the kids and I for dinner)
Thursday:  Chicken Fried Rice with peas & carrots mixed in
Friday:  Ham slice, macaroni and cheese, peas, cornbread
Saturday:  Easy Teriyaki Chicken with oriental vegetables and pineapple over rice

Go Grocery Shopping:

• Make your list and stick to it!  All those extras that aren't needed will bust your budget.  It is okay to buy items for stocking up, just make sure you plan on those before going!

Enjoy a week filled with meals that are planned and save you money!

I hope you enjoyed this series on menu planning.  Share your thoughts, tips and this week's menu!  We love hearing from our readers!   

Happy Menu Planning!