Need help with meal/menu planning!

[Anonymous]

For those of you who are good about planning a week's worth of dinners...can you give me an example of what a week looks like and how you do it? We eat super healthy - no pasta, casseroles, etc. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I have a bunch of meals that we regularly make on index cards. I flip through them for ideas and make the meal plan for the week. When I make a new recipe if we like it, it gets an index card.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a bunch of meals that we regularly make on index cards. I flip through them for ideas and make the meal plan for the week. When I make a new recipe if we like it, it gets an index card.

Great idea! I have a notebook where I keep the recipes, but I think an index card box might be easier.

[Anonymous]

For me, the key is keeping all the basics on hand, and thinking ahead when I shop.

I never plan all my meals for the week. I just try to buy a few different fresh vegetables plus rice/potatoes/squash, fruit, and plenty of freezable meat.

Every morning, I take something out of the freezer and note what else I have on hand. Then I go to FoodNetwork.com and Epicurious to find recipes that use those ingredients. If you don't have everything for a recipe, the comments will often give you ideas to adapt it.

If I find a recipe I really like, I print it out and keep it in a folder. I have a few "go to" recipes that I use a lot, but I really like trying new things.

[Anonymous]

We plan 3-4 nights in advance, with most meals based on our weekly CSA order. We make a lot of soups and a lot of ethnic food (especially Indian, pan-Asian, Mex, Tex-Mex). We have a core group of maybe 30 recipes that everyone likes (thank you, non-picky kids!), about 10 great cookbooks and recipe sites we use, and we try something new at least a couple of times each month. Pasta is a fallback for nights when we've failed to plan adequately or just don't have time for anything else.

When you're short on time, meal planning + shopping in advance is essential so that you don't waste precious minutes on unanticipated grocery shopping.