The picture you see is from my actual fridge. Most folks who come into my kitchen glance at it and assume it's our family calendar of activities (not that it doesn't sometimes show those soccer games and school programs). But upon closer inspection they see I have information on what the dinner plans are for every day of the month. Then usually they look at me and say "I could NEVER plan meals by the month. The week maybe, but the month?"But the thing is they can and you can too. My monthly meal planning came out of necessity. Both my husband and I work, we have a young son and we co-parent his daughter who is with us every Tuesday and every other weekend. He is a volunteer EMT, both of us are prone to a work trip here and there, both kids play soccer...and well, our evenings after getting home would go like this:
ME: What do you want for dinner?
HUBBY: I don't know. What do we have?
ME: Frozen chicken I think. Not sure what else.
HUBBY: Takeout?
ME: Sure. What are you in the mood for?
(And anyone with a significant other knows how this merry-go-round goes)
So a few years ago, after reading various articles online about menu planning and family scheduling and having my own childhood recollections of the Family Circle monthly meal calendar, I decided to create a calendar for our meals to eliminate the nightly confusion (and frankly also stress), cut down on our eating out and hopefully, in the end even save a little money. Now it's such a part of our routine that the 11 year old checks to see what meals are coming up and offers her own input on upcoming days.
The best part is, it's a PLAN. Notice this thing isn't carved into a stone tablet. It's on a dry-erase board for a reason. Kid #1 has a program at school now on Tuesday? Maybe that's a better night to have had something that's been in the crock-pot all day versus the chicken tenders I had planned. Did we just get invited to a grown-up party? Sweet! No cooking for me and now just need to make sure kid#2 has a meal planned for him and the babysitter. London Broil showed up on sale at the local store? That sounds like a very nice dinner to have on Sunday and we'll save the roast that is already in the freezer for another day.
So along with sharing recipes, cooking tips and tricks and the occasional culinary observation, I will also be sharing how I create and use the monthly meal calendar, how to grocery shop, use sales and try out new dishes on your family without anyone batting an eye. I will welcome your questions and also invite you to share your experience if you decide to start your own monthly plan.
For now, if you like the calendar I use, you can get one here:
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