Making Meal Time Great—Part 1 by Trisha Roberts

Weekly Menu Plans

As the New Year approaches, I thought I would share some tips that have helped family life run more smoothly, promote a healthy lifestyle, and stimulate conversation in our home.  Perhaps you can benefit from the solution to my fumbling over the years.

Have you ever stood at the refrigerator door 10 minutes before meal time and thought, “WHAT am I going to serve tonight?” I have, and it does not lead to complete, wholesome meals.

I hit upon an idea years ago that eliminates that problem.  It takes a bit of planning, but overall saves time and encourages healthy eating.  Meals start with good food!

I made a simple table in a document with columns for breakfast, lunch and dinner for each day of the week.  At the beginning of the week I sit down at the computer and spend 15 minutes filling in the menu sheet. (If you don’t have a computer, make multiple copies of a menu table and fill out one each week).  When my children were young, each person in the family could choose a food item to be included in that week’s menu. Everyone knew that they would be having a favorite food that week.  I placed simple dinners on nights that I knew I would be short on time and placed more involved meals on days where I would have more time to prepare.

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Activities
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Frequently I based my meals on what I had in the freezer, pantry or refrigerator.  Sometimes I would plan the menu first and make a shopping list from the programmed meals.  If you get advertisements for local grocery stores, you can plan your meals and shopping list around items that are on sale.

After I had been using my menu for a while, I added a list at the bottom of my document of Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner meals that our family liked and that I knew how to make.  This simplified my planning day; if I had difficulty coming up with a meal idea, I looked at my recipe list and selected something that would work.

For Example: 

Breakfast:

Pancakes

French Toast

Crepes

Biscuits & Gravy

Omelets

Scrambled Eggs

Toast

Bagels

Coffee Cake

Muffins

Yogurt

Lunch:

BLT

Grilled Cheese

Hot Dogs

Hamburgers

Monte Christos

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Clam Chowder

Cream of Cauliflower

French Onion Soup

Tuna Fish Sandwiches

Egg Salad Sandwich

Chef Salad

Macaroni and Cheese

Rueben Sandwich

Paninis

Supper:

Lasagna

Lemon Chicken

Chicken Kiev

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Chili

Enchiladas

Pork Chops

Veal Parmesan

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Stroganoff

Ribs

Quiche

Monicotti

Empanadas

Baked Fish

Gyros

Tuna Casserole

Spaghetti

Fettuccine Alfredo

Meatloaf

Pot Stickers

Honey Pineapple Chicken

Fried Rice

Meatballs and Noodles

Strombolis

Pizza

Chicken Pot Pie

Pulled Pork

Pot Roast

Fried Chicken

Teriyaki Steak

Stir Fried Chicken/Steak

Tacos

Quesadillas

Programming my menu for the week allowed me to provide more variety in our diet and took the worry and stress out of what to fix.  I made sure that main dishes were accompanied by lots of vegetables, fruits, and salads. I knew that I had the ingredients for each meal and did not have to make a last-minute run to the grocery store.  My kids loved that they had a part in what was served and complained less about their least favorite foods because they knew that their favorite was coming soon.

Don’t miss next week’s Making Meal Time Great—Part 2 

Conversation Starters!

Blog Administrator:  Trisha Roberts

proeducationaltoys@gmail.com

www.proeducationaltoys.com

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