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. :)

How to Remove Wrinkles From Clothing

Besides ironing, a simple and quick way to remove wrinkles is to fill a spray bottle with water and put a splash of fabric softener in it. Spray your clothes lightly, shake them, and smoothe them with your hand, and they will look like they just came out of the dryer.

How to Create a Rotating Pantry

Rotating pantries help keep you stocked with staple items, and help manage food storage. We are trying to work up to a year's worth of food storage, that way if we should have a natural disaster, loss of employment, or other setback of some kind we are able to sustain our family for a time. To create a rotating pantry:

1. Make a list of things your family uses to cook meals regularly. Ours looks something like this:

Tomato Sauce
Tomato Paste
Cream of Chicken Soup
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Olives
Mushrooms
Diced Green Chilis
Flour
Sugar
Salt
Rice-A-Roni
Oats
Spaghetti noodles
Egg noodles
etc...

Ours are grouped by categories, canned goods, dry goods, boxes and packages, etc. to correspond with how they are stored so it's easy to find things.

You can also go through your favorite recipes and write down the non-perishable ingredients to add to the list. It's also helpful to add freezer and toiletry items as well if you have storage space.

2. Next, laminate your list or place it in a sheet protector and hang it by your pantry where you can see it or place it in a home-management notebook. The plastic covering makes it possible for you to use a dry erase marker to add expiration dates by each item or box of items so you can be sure to use them before they expire.

3. When you plan your menu, use items that are set to expire soon first. It is also helpful to put the oldest items at the front of the pantry to make sure they get used, and put new items in the back after shopping.

For storage ideas, check out Shelf Reliance:



Happy Storing!