Menu Planning Tips

With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas passed, you might be thinking about the New Year. I always get into an organizing mode during this time of year, so I thought I would pass on some menu planning tips in case you want to get your meal planning under control.

Spend 5-10 minutes – If you want to get your time in the kitchen as low as possible, you will want to spend 5-10 minutes a couple of times a month thinking about what you want to cook that month or 1/2 month.  If you don’t have time to do this simple step, then you will probably be frustrated with your time in the kitchen for quite a few years. Just make 2 columns. One column is for the meals you want to make and the other column is for the ingredients you need for these meals.

Use simple ingredients – Many cookbooks use many ingredients that people don’t normally stock on hand which makes it frustrating when you try to plan meals. I use a simple system called Cooking From Your Cupboard that helps me put my meal planning on auto-pilot. I just keep the ingredients on hand and use the recipes my family likes and just go through the motions without having to think too much.

Cooking Quad – I know many families double meals, but quadrupling multiplies so much faster. It’s not that much harder to plan a quadruple meal if you’re already planning a double meal. If you need help with recipes and instructions for this, Smart Way Cooking should give you everything you need.

Morning decisions – If you decide in the morning what you want to make for dinner, you will save yourself so much time and stress , it will amaze you. No more wrestling with a frozen piece of meat at 5:00 or standing in front of the refrigerator wondering what you should make. This one tip has saved more time and stress than anything I can think of.

There are many menu planning tips out there. These are the ones that have worked the best for me. Let me know what you think.