How to Menu Plan

Last week I shared some great websites that have gluten free menu plans, I thought this week I would share how to menu plan. I actually thought I had done this ages ago but when I went looking for it I couldn’t find anything! Whoops silly me, I shall rectify that now.

How I Menu Plan

I actually like doing weekly menu plans. I have tried monthly before but it just didn’t work for me. That’s half the battle and fun is finding what works for you.

I love recipe books, cook books, recipe magazines, recipe websites, blogs and cooking shows. I draw inspiration from all of these and often have recipes pinned, bookmarked, clipped in evernote and torn from magazines and popped into a file.

Then every week when it’s time to menu plan, I pop onto one of these sites or delve into one of the books and find inspiration for the week. If I find more inspiration than days I will list them in my diary for the next week to try them then.

I pop the meals into my diary and then write a shopping list. Most if not all of my meals have to be easily prepared as during the week is always busy for us.

Here are some other tips:

always have one night spare for leftovers, or get your own, or take away
consider slow cooker meals all year round. They are soo simple to put on and during summer they can let you avoid the heat of the oven being on
if you are struggling for ideas, consider letting the kids pick a meal. My eldest loves picking one meal a week and the added bonus is he’ll eat it as it was his choice

Gluten Free Menu Planning

Of course I have the added bonus of figuring out gluten free meals for me. I think it is quite easy making meals gluten free. Often it is swapping out ingredients to make sure I have me friendly ones.

Examples of easily swapped ingredients

Stock – I use massell stock powder to make up my own.
Tortilla’s – I use corn tortillas
Pasta – gluten free pasta is easily found in the health food section, I like pretty much any of them
Pasta Sauce – either I make my own or use a gluten free friendly one – check labels
Flour – quite simple, I use a gluten free flour
Oats – ah I have yet to find an actual swap for this so I tend to avoid recipes that have oats in them
Breadcrumbs – I use a variety of things here, depending on what I have on hand, I’ll use gluten free breadcrumbs, or rice crumbs or even crushed up gluten free chips. I have used polenta and quniona.

As I usually blog my menu plans I can easily look back on what we have had, I also mark them in my diary but there are many many free printables around that you can use and keep them in a folder. You’ll notice that many of these have space for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner which some people do. I don’t but it’s all what works for you.

Here are some of my favourites:

Money Saving Mom has a free printable pack and you can use whichever suits you.
The Project Girl has a couple of different designs of free printable blank menu plans
Eat at Home Cooks has one here
And lastly, Thirty Handmade Days has a Dinner Only template here

Do you menu plan? Does it help you?

Image courtesy of winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net