When I used to do meal/menu planning for a few clients, I NEVER planned out more than 2 weeks and usually stuck to but one week. I've found that people often simply "don't feel like eating" what's in the plan; for instance, when chicken was planned for a specific day, the client was in the mood for fish. The further out I planned, the more frequent that behavior became.

For me, the exercise was an easy matter of writing basic food groups/types and cooking techniques (mine or the clients' favorites) on 3x5's and pinning them on a cork board that was marked with seven columns.

I didn't get too specific as to what the dish would be on the board but I would stick to making sure that the week was balanced nutritionally as well has having interesting variety.

You, however, could be specific and write down specific recipe titles that you like and put them into a seven-solumn chart.

I like my MasterCook program because it allows me to put together very useful grocery lists.

Joe

Well I've tried to plan menus..and well it doesn't always seem to work.LOL Now I just go with a general idea.
Usually I buy what's on sale (meats) and make the most of the meals from that...add in a few things that we love and then go from there.
This week (gosh I can't believe it's Friday already!)some of the things I bought last Friday (payday) were pork ribs, ground chicken, boneless skinless chicken breasts, NY steaks, pork shoulder roast, 1/2 pork loins (cut those into chops, cubed some and left half of one for a roast), ground turkey, turkey brats and sausages and turkey cutlets. Some went in the freezer and some went in the fridge. So far I used the ribs, ground chicken and some of the turkey cutlets. So next week I have alot of options. Last night I took out the pork loin roast, the pork shoulder and some boneless skinless breasts. Those will become this weekends meals, the chicken will be sauted up tonight for pizza and chicken salad. The Pork shoulder will probably be Monday's meal, plus leftovers for enchiladas later in the week. I often try to make a bit more meat that I know we'll eat in one meal, for planned leftovers later in the week. Saturday will be the loin roast, tomorrow am, I'll take out 2 steaks for Sunday's dinner.
I also throw in breakfast atleast once every two weeks or once a week for dinner. Consists of waffles or pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon or sausage. Stretches the budget and is a no brainer.
I do the bulk of my shopping every two weeks. I add fresh fruit, eggs and bread during that time atleast once if not twice.
Sometimes I can't make what I planned because with 3 boys of different ages..something may come up and I won't have the time to do what I planned..
So I have to have some flexibility and some quickies in the fridge or it's drive thru..and I try to limit that to once every 2 weeks..except during baseball season (soon) then it will be much more often or concession stand food.~but I'm in charge so I have a bit more control over what things we sell.

I cook from a food storage program. So, I've always got a wide selection of meats in the freezer & staples on hand. I only shop periodically for produce & dairy. We restock the food storage twice/year. The meat is delivered to the house so it's not a huge amount of work but getting in the staples is a real chore. But, then I don't have to do it for another 6 months...sweet.

With the storage program, it's pretty easy to plan meals. I like to make the mess once & eat twice so I plan for leftovers. I also keep bags of freshly diced trinity in my freezer in one-cup sizes since it seems I use them in almost everything.

I also make up a lot of side dishes & freeze in individual portions. Same with breads of all types. Also desserts. When it's meal time, I can usually just browse through what's in the freezer already prepared & cook an entree...and dinner's done.

/tricia

Thanks! There's a Food Network Canada show called "Fixing Dinner". The professional meal planner visits a family and watchs a video tape of how they eat their meals. She checks out the kitchen organization and pantry, asks their dislikes and likes of foods, and then makes a 1-month meal plan that includes recipes and a grocery shopping list. For a 1-week period, she only believes in a 5-day meal plan which leaves 2 days for leftovers or takeout.

triciae, what is a food storage program? Sue

Of course I live alone....but I had a housefull for a week at Christmas....and cooked for a family for a lot of years.
But I rarely "plan" a meal. I shop for what looks good or is cheap or what I am currently hungry for....and make sure I always have things like frozen chicken breasts, some pesto, home made spaghetti sauce, frozen veggies and I can toss together a meal about any time.
When the kids were out of the house and both of us were working, we would come home from work, meet in the solariun for a drink and talk about our day and then I would say..."What would you like for dinner?' and start to cook. I tried to ba sure there was always some sort of fresh meat to work with, but we ate like a 5 star restraunt almost every night. However I can't tell you the number of times I had pork chops in the refrig....and could think of nothing but that frozen spaghetti and meatballs...or want to make a simple broccoli cheese soup.
Not much for planning specific meals...rather I will think, this week we'll have a pork roast and salmon and hamburgers and chicken....then decide that night what to do with the meat.
My food storage program is a freezer..LOL! And some things stay in there longer than 6 months...because I change my mind!
Linda C

I plan my meals (dinners) for the following week on sunday, based on our school & work schedules for the upcoming week. I work part-time so planning the next few meals & getting to the store mid-week is easy for me. I do keep a few things in the freezer, but I'm not a big freezer person overall. I usually plan out three-four weekday meals ahead of time based on what I have in the freezer or pantry, or what I feel like eating! I am a nutritionist, so healthy eating is important to me. I have a loose rule of planning out three items for dinner. Here is the next few days:

Saturday: dinner out at a wonderful local restaurant Grapeseed with friends!

Sunday: veggie soup (brocolli, fennel, onion, potato) with homemade pzzas - chicken pesto & a plain one for my picky 10 year old daughter, some kind of fruit

Monday: Marilyn's salmon burgers (which I love), leftover soup, salad

Tuesday: (an in-office work day for me): grilled teriyaki blsl chicken thighs; jasmine rice; peas

Wednesday: I can get to the market today, so maybe Cooking Light's scallop & shrimp fettucine; some kind of veggie; some kind of fruit - we eat a lot of frozen veggies, some fresh if they looked good in the market, a lot of salads, and I often put fresh fruit on the table for dinner - lately cut up oranges or apples & strawberries, which have been from Florida and just fantastic

Thursday: In office day so maybe some grilled hamburgers made with Laura's lean beef & served on Pepperidge Farm's whole wheat buns...sauteed mushrooms & cheddar on top; salad, or veggie or both or fruit. Alexa onion rings would be nice with this meal- these are a frozen product that get baked in the oven, they are deicious. Or, maybe we;ll get home & be tired and decide to have leftovers or what I call "chicken nugget night" - which is Whole Foods Bell & Evans chicken tenders, along with something easy like Barilla whole grain macaroni w/butter, parmesan & peas - kind of a wing it meal out of freezer & pantry boxes..raw veggies & ranch dressing mught round out this type of meal.

So, this is how I do it. I could not plan meals weeks in advance, that would be overwhelming and would drive me nuts. I think it all depends on your lifestyle, how much time or interest you have to cook on a particular day, what you keep in your pantry and freezer, and what your family's likes & dislikes are. We like to eat a variety of foods, and my basic style of cooking and approach to meals is tasty, reasonably fast, & healthy. I use a moderate amount of healthy fats (olive & canola) in our food, lots of fresh herbs especially in the summer, lots of veggies, whole grains when possible, and fruits. We eat all types of lean meats, poultry & fish. I love one-pot meals. We use regular butter - LOL unsalted for baking and their spreadable butter w/ canola oil for toast, etc. I prefer to use and eat smaller amounts of quality real ingredients rather than eat overly processed, "fake" food and this is also the philosophy I teach my clients.

cooperbailey,

A 'Food Storage Program' is generally considered to mean that you maintain one year's food supply for each family member. This pretty much necessitates cooking from scratch most things. We love the variety always available & the ease of meal prep.

My DIL loves to rummage through my pantry. She says it's better stocked than her grocery store! lol

One of my sisters married into a Mormon family & although I'm not Mormon she convined me of the benefits enough I've been doing it since the early 1980s. Rotation is the key.

/tricia

I work from a food storage "pantry" like tricia. I only have the freezer on my side-by-side refrigerator/freezer, but this is more than enough freezer storage for hubby and me.

I get groceries once a week ($50 food budget) - usually loss leaders, fresh fruit/vegetables, and no more than 25% ($12.50) of my food budget gets spent on meat.

I only plan supper - breakfast and lunch tend to take care of themselves without extensive planning because of leftovers and food in individual sizes in the freezer (like soup, chili, stew, sandwich meats/spreads, homemade mini pizzas, etc.). We eat a hearty breakfast. I never purchase commercial cereals, but depend on whole grains that I keep in storage. I make my own flakes, farina and multi-grain cereals for cooked cereal, and mill our flour.

My meal planning is flexible and more theme-like than exact. Any one day can be moved to another. It might include a loss-leader from the weekly grocery shopping. My planning looks something like this:

Monday - Big Meal (roast beef, roast chicken or turkey breast, pork roast, meat loaf, etc.). Something that will provide leftovers for a lunch or two, and at least one more meal.

Tuesday - Leftovers from Monday. This can turn into any number of things based on Monday.

Wednesday - Vegetarian or Low-Meat Meal. Often this will be a stir-fry or egg- or bean-based dish.

Thursday - Something with hamburger (or ground turkey or bison), including meaty red spaghetti sauce or a Mexican something-er-other, sloppy joes on homemade multi-grain sandwich rolls, Bisquick-based Impossible Pies.... The meat sauce, browned burger, or meat mixture (spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, stroganoff, etc.) are usually already portioned and in the freezer and are thawed during the day in the refrigerator. Boil the pasta or warm the tortillas or taco shells and make the other fixin's and you have a quick meal. I always have cheese grated in the refrigerator, shredded lettuce and other veggies ready-to-eat. Thursday is a busy day for me, so I rely on the freezer.

I also have all breads (which are homemade) portioned and in the freezer - dinner rolls, burger/hot dog buns, corn bread, tortillas, etc. I don't purchase breads of any kind.

Friday - We often go out to dinner with friends, but we might have another vegetarian night, which could include something as simple as grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade Dill Bread and vegetable soup (from the freezer), or a nice dinner salad (especially in the summer) cheese or hummas, bread and fruit.

Saturday - Sandwich night. We're always busy on Saturday, so sandwiches (of all types, including wraps, quesadillas, paninis), a tossed salad or veggies of some kind, and fresh/frozen/canned fruit work well. When the kids were still at home, this night was called "every man for himself" night. A good way to clear out the refrigerator and anything goes, including breakfast type foods.

Sunday - We usually make a homemade pizza. Good way to use up small amounts of leftover meat and veggies from the previous week. In the summer it will be a salad or vegetable feast from the garden, good cheese and homemade breads.

I depend on whole foods and don't really do all that much cooking. I spend my kitchen time baking, not cooking.

We follow the old Basic Four for food intake for the day. This plan gives us some guidelines so that we cover all the basic food groups daily.

Bread & Cereal - 4 servings
Fruits & Vegetables - 4 servings (or more)
Meat/Alternative - 2 servings
Milk/Dairy - 2 servings

Snacks are air-popped popcorn, crispy almonds/pecans, homemade granola, dehydrated zucchini "chips", dehydrated apples, veggies/fruit, homemade kefir....

I also try to make at least one new dish each week to keep from getting into a food-rut.

-Grainlady

Meal planning??? What's that? It depends--on several things. First, do I even feel like cooking; 2nd, if yes, what do I feel like having? 3rd; Is there time for that? 4th; Would we rather go out? Or, 5th; Would we rather just have some cereal and milk?