What's for dinner?

At some time, we’ve all been faced with the dreaded question of “what’s for dinner?”. I hate that question. Usually when I’m asking myself that it’s because I don’t have a plan, don’t have the right foods to make a meal that would actually taste good, or I haven’t planned ahead to defrost meat or mix something up the night before. As a result, the answer to this question is usually that we end up going out. There’s nothing wrong with going out sometimes, but it’s just not the same as a home cooked meal. Mr. C and I ate out a lot during college. We were both working, taking classes, and I was commuting 2+ hours a day most times. By the time I got home I didn’t want to cook anything and after awhile you just can’t stomach pasta or ramen noodles.

When we go out we TRY to pick healthy places (except for those times we’re going out specifically to eat something horrible for us), but it gets pricey. Cutting back on eating out can save a lot, depending on how often you’re going out. Also, when you make your food you know what’s in it and that’s something I love. Have I convinced you yet?

So how did we go from going out WAY TOO much to eating at home minus a couple times a week? Because I love lists and it’s been FOREVER since I’ve made one on here, I’m going to give you a handy dandy list of what I do each week to plan our meals.

1. Collect ideas

• I think it’s helpful to have some ideas in front of you. Grab your cookbooks, go buy one that inspires you, or find free recipes online on pinterest or through your favorite blogs. I have a couple foodie blogs listed on “my fav blogs” tab on here that have been really helpful to me. I also have accumulated a few amazing recipes on my “mmm, what’s cooking” board on pinterest if you’d like to check that out.

• Make a list of the meals you make frequently that don’t require recipes. My list of these includes things like tacos, mini pizzas, chicken stroganoff, pasta, and my favorite salads and veggies for sides. I’ve made them so often or they are so easy that I just know what I need. Throw in some deserts and breakfasts just to make it interesting.

2. Designate a space to put your weekly menu

For awhile I used a little magnetic white board on our fridge to hold our dinner menu. Now I use a weekly calendar I was inspired to make here.The calendar has space for me to write in breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Because I’m using it every week I didn’t want to have to keep printing it and laminating wasn’t really holding up that well. Instead I framed it and use some fined tipped dry erase markers to write in the meals directly on the glass.

3. Plan your meals

• I grab my grocery sale flyers for the week (or pull them up online) and use that to begin my plan. For example, if there’s a killer deal on pork shoulder then we’re probably having pulled pork that week. I also try to use a couple recipes that call for similar ingredients in the same week. This is especially true with fresh herbs. I love using fresh but they can add up. If I only have one recipe that uses fresh basil I’m most likely not going to use it all, but if I can find two I have a much better chance of getting my money’s worth.

• I typically plan a big meal for Sunday night. By big, I mean something that yields 6 to 8 servings, like soup, lasagna, enchiladas, etc. I do this because this sets us up with lunches for the first part of the week. We take our lunches 99% of the time. It saves money and helps us both to eat healthier. I also have a little more time to devote to cooking on a Sunday. This Sunday I made stuffed shells which is supposed to serve 8. We each had one serving for dinner and then I had 6 more servings for lunch, meaning we both have lunch for the next 3 days. I’ll usually make a bigger veggie dish so I can save a little for the next day too. In the case of this Sunday, I made a green salad with fruit and saved a bit for our lunches. I portion out the leftovers into little glass containers so I don’t have to waste time doing this during the week.

• After I’ve decided on a few key things to make, I fill in the calendar with my ideas. I put the nights we’ve planned to go out to eat, then begin writing in dinners and figuring out how many lunches I’ll get in leftovers. Because we have enough lunches this week to last us until Thursday, I can make things that won’t yield leftovers on Monday and Tuesday, such as those mini pizzas that aren’t good reheated. I usually make a couple “complicated” meals and then fill in the other days with easier things, usually the meals I don’t need a recipe for and can just throw together. If I know I’ll have a lot of veggies I might just plan to sauté them and add to whole wheat pasta.

• It may seem crazy that I have a spot for “snacks” and “breakfast” on my menu, however, I use this to get an idea of how much extra fruit and veggies to buy. I try to make one thing for breakfast to last through the week such as banana bread or cooked oatmeal. I’ll figure out what fruits to buy based on what’s on sale, although bananas are always on the list. I’ve found that knowing how much to buy has really cut down on our waste because I know how much we’ll actually eat every week instead of buying 3 pieces of this fruit and 5 of that and then at the end of the week I have a ton left because there was no way humanly possible for us to eat it all.

• We go to two grocery stores each week, so I check the ads and write on the list where it is that I’m buying each item. I buy most of my fruits, veggies, and meat at one store and canned goods, breads, etc. at the other.

• After you’ve made your list sort through your coupons and get them all ready. I usually stick the ones I’ll be using in an envelope or baggie. I really need to make something just for this purpose though…..

4. Grocery shop

Plan a time to go. Mr. C. and I used to go after church on Sunday – every SINGLE Sunday. I guess I’m getting old because all the people and their carts are beginning to drive me nuts. We’ve recently switched to going Saturday evenings before date night if possible. Exciting Saturdays I tell ya! Having a semi-set time means that we know when we are going and we make sure we go. The most important thing is to STICK TO THE LIST! I can’t say I ALWAYS stick to the list, but I’m much better than I used to. I may buy 1-2 things each trip that weren’t on the list, but it’s usually things that are pretty minor and I’d say that 50% of the time I only buy what is on the list.

5. Be flexible!

I know it sounds like I’m not flexible with all this planning, but things do come up. Sometimes I’m just too tired for dinner or I’m craving Chinese or whatever. Sometimes we ditch the menu for a night and go out. I can usually move the days around, get rid of a menu item without wasting the food (like throwing the meat in the freezer for later), or I’ll just move it to the beginning of the next week if the ingredients will still be good.


I hope this gave you some good tips for your own meal planning! I can’t believe what a difference this system has made in our cooking. And, never again do we have to ask ourselves, “what’s for dinner???”!