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Podcast Episode 12: Simple Menu Planning Tips

by Marci Ferrell
Food Homemaking Menu Planning Podcast Reader Favorites

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I’d love to help you simplify your meal planning. Check out my new menu planning course here.

 

Who doesn’t want to save money, time, their sanity, reduce stress, eat healthily, and avoid the dreaded question “What’s for dinner?” It sounds great right, and we’d all love to do it but how do we get there?

Menu planning is the answer to all those questions above. We have a jam-packed episode today filled with tons of tips, examples, and ideas so stick with me, and I know there will be something that will appeal to each of you in some way.

I hope to get you in the habit of menu planning if you’re not already and if you already are but find yourself in a rut, then I hope this episode will give you some encouragement to keep going. If you’re already a die-hard habitual menu planner, maybe you’ll gain some new ideas to jazz up your weekly menu plan.

Listen & Download the Podcast:

Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Favorite App

Find all Podcast Episodes with Show Notes Here

Grab a free PDF to help you in keeping track of your family's favorite meals. These are the meals your family loves to eat, and the ones you love to cook. @mferrell

 

Show Notes:

My Simple Method in a Nutshell:

The first thing I always do is look at my calendar for the week. I note days when I need a quick meal, or we’re having company or going out.

I usually use a piece of scrap paper for my initial planning and write the days of the week (noting any events from the calendar next to the day) and then put under each day B L D.

I have my handy master list and a few cookbooks that I may use for that week and I start planning. I’ve made sure to see what is in my fridge/freezer/pantry that I need to use up and try to work it into my meal plan. My menu is many times foundational on what I already have on hand.

Get good at choosing recipes that use up what you already have on hand in your fridge, freezer or pantry.

I do always plan all three meals every day for a week at a time. Work leftovers into your lunches, and it is amazing how creative you can get with using them up.

After my scrap sheet looks kinda finalized, I neatly (my handwriting needs much to be desired so hopefully if no one else can read it at least I can) transfer it to a favorite menu planning sheet and put it up on the fridge.

I make my grocery list from the menu plan –making sure to check what I already have on hand, so I’m not double buying items and always make a note in the menu plan to mark recipe books and page numbers for recipes, so I’m not trying to figure out where that recipe came from.

My list is written out to work my way through the store in an orderly manner, so I write it out by the layout of my grocery store.

At the bottom of each day, I’ll write if there is anything special I need to plan for the next day – like meat to thaw or company coming for dinner. I’ve also started writing at the bottom healthy snack ideas for the week. It helps me to have it to look at before I want to grab a cookie instead of a scoop of cottage cheese.

The last thing I like to do is keep my menu planning sheets, so I have them to look back on for reference. After you have quite a few, you already have a meal plan ready to go for the week with maybe just a few tweaks. You’ve just created your own free menu planning site!!

Resources:

Menu Planning Made Easy Online Course

Homemaking 101 Series: Menu Planning

What's for Dinner?

Menu Planning PDF

Favorite Family Meals PDF

100 Days of Real Food Kids Lunches

Homemade Chicken Broth in a Crock-Pot

Simplified Dinners for New Cooks by Mystie Winkler (I highly recommend this resource!)

Plan it Don't Panic: Everything You Need to Successfully Create a Meal Plan by Stephanie Langford

Download this episode (right click and save)
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Related posts:

  1. Podcast EP 77: Simple Summertime Meal Planning Tips
  2. EP 14: Simple Tips for a Clutter-Free Home
  3. Podcast Episode 47: Simple Ideas for a Christ-Centered Thanksgiving
  4. Homemaking 101 Series: Menu Planning


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Comments

  1. Nancy Nuzzolo says

    at

    I enjoy your podcasts and blog posts so much. Keep them coming. So thankful I found you????

    • Marci Ferrell says

      at

      Thank you so much Nancy

  2. Stephanie says

    at

    Thank you so much! I am so thankful for your ministry to us a younger wives!! Its so needed!

    • Marci Ferrell says

      at

      Thank you for your encouragement Stephanie xo

Welcome to Thankful Homemaker

So thankful you’ve stopped by for a visit. Please grab a cup of coffee or tea and sit a bit. I hope to remind you that contentment in our role as homemakers begins with finding our satisfaction in Christ.

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Marci Ferrell
"Prayer is the most tangible expression of trust i "Prayer is the most tangible expression of trust in God." ⁣
~ Jerry Bridges
"The spiritual disciplines are ways by which we ca "The spiritual disciplines are ways by which we can spiritually place ourselves in the path of God’s grace and seek Him." ⁣
~ Donald Whitney⁣
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Link to listen to all the episodes in the Spiritual Disciplines Series at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
The means of grace or spiritual disciplines are wa The means of grace or spiritual disciplines are ways the Holy Spirit conforms us more and more into the image of Christ.⁣
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Link to listen to Introduction to the Spiritual Disciplines at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
This is the secret of being content: to learn and This is the secret of being content: to learn and accept that we live daily by God’s unmerited favor given through Christ, and that we can respond to any and every situation by His divine enablement through the Holy Spirit.⁣
~ Jerry Bridges⁣
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Listen in to EP 46: Our Need for Contentment at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
“So what does contentment mean? It is an inner s “So what does contentment mean? It is an inner sense of rest or peace that comes from being right with God and knowing that He is in control of all that happens to us.”⁣
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The quote is taken from EP 46: Our Need for Contentment - link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker to listen to the episode (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)⁣
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Contentment in our walk as believers is learned, j Contentment in our walk as believers is learned, just as Paul learned it, so do we as we walk this walk with the Lord. It does not come naturally to us. We know deep down the secret to contentment is to keep our eyes on the Lord in every situation. ⁣
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Come listen in to Our Need for Contentment at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
"Rather than mourning over sin, the world redefine "Rather than mourning over sin, the world redefines it, or worse, celebrates it."⁣
~ John MacArthur
There is no heart God cannot conquer.⁣ There is There is no heart God cannot conquer.⁣
There is no life He cannot change.⁣
There is no past He cannot forgive.⁣
~ Steve Lawson
What does it look like to live a fruitful life in What does it look like to live a fruitful life in the empty nest years?  What do I do now? What does my day-to-day life look like? Am I needed anymore? These are questions that raced through my mind as the empty nest season approached and was quickly upon me.⁣
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