How to Plan a Two-Week Menu

Planning a two-week menu is really easy and saves time and lowers your grocery bill. There are many ways to do it. Here are some suggestions:

1. Look at your rotating pantry list, and also in your freezer, and in your refrigerator, and find the things that are set to expire soon and plan to use them in your meals, as well as any weekly specials you can find in ads. If you have more than one or two things, it may be helpful to write them down on the top of your paper.

2. On a piece of lined paper, write the days of the week and dates on every other line going down the left margin. Example:

M 3/23

T 3/24

W 3/25

TH 3/26

F 3/27

S 3/28

Su 3/29

3. It is helpful to plan a themed dinner for each day of the week for variety. This is what ours looks like:

Monday: Chicken
Tuesday: Italian
Wednesday: Beef
Thursday: Mexican
Friday: Fish
Saturday: Fancy
Sunday: Simple

4. In the body of the paper, write your meal selections next to each day and date. It helps to have your cookbook organized the same way as you do your themes so you can easily pick meals.

5. When you list meals, you can add side dishes, vegetables, and dessert. Here is one way to do it:

Chicken Parmesan/garlic bread/green beans/brownies

6. You can add in other notes and things in the in-between spaces, like breakfast and lunches for the week can be put in before Monday, or breakfast for the weekend can be put in before Saturday.

7. Here is an example of a finished menu:

B: Cinnamon Toast L: Egg Salad Sandwiches/yogurt/peanut butter cookies

M 3/23 Cream Cheese Chicken/green beans

T 3/24 Spaghetti/garlic bread/salad

W 3/25 Cola Pot Roast/sweet baby carrots and potatos

TH 3/26 Beef Enchiladas/corn

F 3/27 Salmon/rice/peas/jello

B: Cinnamon Rolls

Sa 3/28 Smoked Tri-Tip/baked potato/broccoli/cheesebread

Su 3/29 Tri-Tip sandwiches w onion and bellpepper/grapes/chocolate chip cookies

8. It is fun to display it on the refrigerator where everyone can see it, then listen to oooh's and aaah's when your family sees their favorite meals posted. :)