menu planning newbie

i decided to start planning my menu for the week.
I go shopping once a month (for the big stuff, do fruits and veggies separately during the month) so would eventually like to do a monthly menu plan.
i would need to do this for dinner only.

i get home late (6pm or so) so a lot of the meals would have to be made ahead of time.

does anyone have any tips on getting started?
recipes (make-ahead, or quick-fix) are welcome!

Re: menu planning newbie

Use our weekly menus on this forum for inspiration. If you see a meal that sounds good or seems quick try it out.

I usually plan meals 2 weeks at a time, sometimes only 1 week. Mostly just for dinner as well.

I shop sales based on the circular, or what I know I have on hand at home that I need to use up, or what I purchased in bulk, etc.

You start with figuring out what you have and what you need. It sounds like you need meals that stretch and quick meals.

I recommend Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals or casseroles that you can cook/prep on the weekends instead. Make sure you save the recipes that you like or that work for you. Because I recycle a lot of recipes time and time again.

Having themes or a routine to your food is helpful. Like "Meat Mondays" or "Taco Tuesdays" or "Fish Fridays". I always try to plan 1 vegetarian night, 1 pasta night, 2 chicken/turkey nights, 1 red meat night and 1 fish night. plus 1 leftover night. It's not always like that but it's helpful every once in awhile.

I have a specific day that I sit down and menu plan and look at the circulars and make my shopping list. For me, we shop on Fridays. And the circular comes in the mail on Wed. So Wed. I read it, make a menu for 1 or 2 weeks based on what's in the house and what is on sale and what the holidays are, etc. Then Thursday I make the shopping list. Friday I shop. On Wed. it starts all over again.

I would plan on at least 1 or 2 nights of either leftovers or take-out at first just to see how it goes. When I originally started menu planning, I overbooked myself or didn't realize which items went bad first so I wasted a lot of food because I didn't get to it. Now I always have 2-3 days of leftovers or out for pizza to account for any last minute meal changes and now we never have any wasted food whatsoever.

In terms of cooking, prep everything you can during the time you have ahead of making the meal. So when you get to the store you might want to pre-chop vegetables or prebake the chicken, or make a sauce ahead of time.

I also freeze so many things so that I can take it out and use it later.

Hope this helps.

menu planning newbie

I shop just about every week. Some weeks may just be BJ's or aldis but I try not to shop more than once a week. In a regular week I check the circular and make my list from that. Then I come up with the week's menu based on those sale items and add anything to my list that I would need for those meals. I do include leftovers or meals from the freezer for busy nights or weeks the sales aren't great.

I do browse pinterest a lot for ideas and I have a board for things I'm anxious to try soon but I usually wait for the ingredients to go on sale this way I don't forget about them in my main boards. I would start with planning a week at a time just to get an idea of how things work out for you and then go up to two weeks, etc. I find it saves me so much stress not having to worry about finding something to make every night.

Re: menu planning newbie