Some people may think that menu planning is the selection of the food for one meal and that may very well be what you want to do. When I write about menu planning it is more of a weekly plan of meals. This will make your cooking for the week much easier. In order to cook, you will need to have the food in your kitchen. In order to make your shopping list you need a meal plan. If you have a list prepared, then when you are driving from activity to activity or back and forth to school you can stop in a supermarket and get everything you need.

 If you are like most people you will say, “ I don’t know what we want to eat until dinner time.” Well I have an easy way to help you meal plan. Think about what you cooked this week, last week, write it on the calendar Every night when you cook write that meal on the calendar. Before you know it you have a meal plan for next week or next month. Ask your children and husband for ideas, if they are involved they will be less likely to give you a hard time about eating. I hated it when one of my children would say, “I don’t want that for dinner” but if they are involved with the process then it’s fun to them. I would like you to work on a week by week meal plan.

I can give you ideas about what to cook, but what I really want is for you and your family to build your own meal plan. Let’s do a little bit of both. Does your family prefer chicken, fish, meat, pork, veal, vegetables, potatoes and/or rice? My mother told me that a healthy meal is a meal that has different colors. I think of sweet potatoes or carrots, asparagus, string beans or peas, chicken or pork, red, green, yellow or orange peppers.  I hope you get my point. Different foods have different vitamins in them. When you eat a variety it is very healthy.

Pick 4 or 5 meals for the week. Let’s build your list: 

• protein which could be meat, poultry, fish, dairy or beans
• vegetables which could be asparagus, broccoli, peas, peppers, carrots
• starch or carbohydrates which could be potatoes (sweet or regular), rice, couscous or pasta

Let’s have fun with this, mix it up. If you want to be adventurous have the children look up recipes on their own. Encourage them to be part of the process. If that is a problem for you then you don’t have to. You can make all the decisions if you want. I have found that when I bring my children into the process they are more likely to eat and try new foods.

A typical shopping list for me would be:

• chicken cutlets, lamb chops, frozen uncooked shrimp, pork loin
• asparagus, mushrooms, string beans (frozen or fresh)
• rice (I use Near East rice pilaf), potatoes, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes
• salad with dressing or oil and vinegar ( I prefer balsamic vinegar)
• duck sauce for pork loin, bread crumbs (I use flavored) eggs and flour for chicken cutlets
• panko breadcrumbs and shredded coconut for coconut shrimp

This is food for 4 meals and this is just a sample list. Let’s have FUN.