Master Menu

I was a little surprised at how much interest my comment about the master menu generated, LOL! I received several posted comments and a whole lot of emails, and I'm still chuckling. I'm happy to share my menu! My husband just doesn't want anyone showing up on our doorstep for taco night :)

I was so tired of planning over and over and over again our weekly menu, forgetting good recipes, or eating something 4 times in a 2-week period, etc. So much time! So much energy! So much brain power! Just do it once and be done!

My spreadsheet now has 3 pages (tabs, actually). The first page is an overview of the entire 8-week plan. The other two tabs are the first two weeks in detail, including side dishes and master shopping lists. Eventually I'll have tabs for each of the 8 weeks. I've been using the list for two weeks now and I am in loooooove! It's detailed enough to just print and go, no additional thought required. But it's flexible enough to swap out recipes, move things around when plans change, etc. I'm sure I'll need to make some modifications at some point, but it's working well so far.

So, here you go. Click Here.

This can help get the juices flowing on a possible format for your own favorite family recipes. Or maybe you only want a 4 or 6 week rotating menu. Or you want to have spaghetti more often, why not? Or you want more slots to try new recipes, put them in! Think of the food-storage possibilities!! If you know you are going to make spaghetti 6 times a year... buy all 6 jars on sale and be done for the year! Maybe you'll want a Mexican food night... or a soup and salad night... or a seafood night... the possibilities are endless.

Today I went grocery shopping and it was so nice. I knew we weren't going to be around for dinner tonight or tomorrow, so I just crossed all of those ingredients off of my shopping list and bought only the things that we are actually going to eat! No more "we should eat more broccoli, so I'll buy some today", just to let it rot in the crisper. I only bought what I needed, what has a specific purpose for the week. Most importantly I didn't have to plan the menu. I just printed off the list, went through my fridge and cupboards to see what I already had, and went to the store. Very minimal brain power. It frees up brain cells to create templates :)

If any of the recipes I've listed on our own menu intrigue you, let me know; I'm happy to share! Many thanks to my friend Jamie for introducing me to this concept!