How to Create a 30 Day Menu

Have you ever been plagued with those late afternoon thoughts of what you are going to make for dinner? Do you go through a whole routine of panic on a daily basis? Creating a weekly or monthly menu will help you cut down on those afternoons of panic. Here are some tips on how to create a 30 day menu so that you, and your family, will always know what's on the menu for the day.

Pick a Menu & Location- You can create you 30 day menu on a sheet of notebook paper or you can create an extravagant form on your computer and print it out. You can even draw your menu out on a large piece of poster paper. It's totally up to you on which you would prefer. I find that the printed out form version is easier to work with and easier for everyone in the household to translate so that they know exactly what to expect for dinner. Next select a location for your menu and always put you menu in that same location. You can put it on the fridge, on a bulletin board or even just draw and write it all out on a dry erase board. Just make sure your menu is in a location where it is easy to see for everyone interested in seeing what's planned for the day.

Do Some Research- It will take you a bit of time to compile a 30 day menu. You will need to make a list of all the recipes that you and your family enjoy eating. If you are like me, that list will not be enough to fill a 30 day menu withouth duplicating a few recipes several times during the month. You can take this opportunity to do some research and to find new recipes for your family to experiment with. You can go through any cookbooks that you enjoy using, get recipes from family and friends and even look online for new recipes to fill your 30 day menu with. One of the best sites to look for recipes on is http://www.kraftfoods.com. This site is filled to the gills with recipes that your family will love. If you sign up to recieve their free magazine you can use those magazines for recipe ideas. Just click on their I save all of my Kraft magazines and go through them from time to time in order to add a new recipe to our 30 day menu.

Write It On the Menu- When you find recipes that you enjoy write it down and include all of it's ingredients. After you have several recipes picked out it's time to start placing them onto your 30 day menu. Consider the types of foods that you normally eat on particular days of the week when you work on the correct placement for the recipes on the menu. If you normally eat a chicken dish on Tuesday you may want to put a chicken recipe on Tuesday. If you have trouble with side dishes it is a good idea to include them on your 30 menu as well but that is completely up to you and your preferences.

Shop According to Menu- While you are creating your 30 day menu it is a good idea to have a grocery list sitting beside you. That way you can make your grocery list for the upcoming week while you are adding recipes to the menu. If you make your shopping list while you are making your menu you will be less likely to forget an ingredient when you go shopping for the week. This is also why it's a good idea to add side dishes to your menu instead of just the main dish.

Leave Room For Change- We all know that life is unpredictable. Everyone has to be prepared for change from day to day. When you create your 30 day menu it's a good idea to be flexible. For example, Monday night is pizza night but you decide that you aren't in a pizza mood. So why not trade pizza night with chicken breast Thursday? There's no harm in it. You should have already done all of the shopping for the week so you will have all of the ingredients already in the house. There's no harm in changing days, pushing recipes to another day or just forgetting about a recipe all together. The 30 day menu is meant to help your life run smoother, not to make you feel guitly if you go out for a steak dinner on taco night.

However you decide to set up your 30 day menu just be sure that it is filled with foods that you and your family love. Creating a 30 day menu is an act of love for both your family and yourself. It helps you prevent the dinnertime panic and lets everyone know what to expect. You don't have to stick to your menu as long as you have the ingredients available for the meal you would prefer. Creating your 30 day menu will only take you about 30-45 minutes to do and will save you hours of panic in the month ahead.