• Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

Thankful Homemaker

Gospel-Driven Encouragement for Homemakers

  • Home
    • The Gospel
    • Statement of Faith
    • My Church Home
    • Church Finder
  • Welcome
    • About Me
    • Start Here
    • Advertise & Sponsorship Info
    • The BAR Podcast Network
    • Privacy Policy
  • Blog
    • Homemaking
    • Menu Planning
      • Menu Planning Made Easy Course
    • Marriage
      • Marriage Series
    • Motherhood
    • Christian Living
      • Spiritual Disciplines Series
      • Sermon on the Mount
    • Bible Study
    • Time Management
    • Holidays
      • Christmas
      • Easter
      • Thanksgiving
      • Valentine’s Day
      • Summer Fun
      • Gift Guides
  • Podcast
  • Resources
    • Book Recommendations
    • Homemaking Courses
    • TH Gear – Mugs, T-shirts, Tote Bags & Sweatshirts
    • Journals & Notebooks
    • My Favorite Blogging & Podcast Tools
    • Free Library
  • Shop
    • TH Gear – Mugs, T-Shirts, Tote Bags & Sweatshirts
    • Books, Home Items & Other Favorites 🥰
  • Free Library
    • Sign-Up for Access
    • Enter Free Library (Password Required)
  • Connect
    • Advertise and Sponsorship Info
    • Patreon Support
    • Buy Marci a Cup of Coffee 🥰
  •  

EP 12: Simple Menu Planning Tips

by Marci Ferrell
Food Homemaking Menu Planning Podcast Reader Favorites

532 shares
  • Facebook288
  • Twitter

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

If you're encouraged by the podcast & blog consider becoming a friend of Thankful Homemaker at Patreon

Simple menu planning tips to get dinner on the table in a matter of minutes each week and avoid the dreaded question, "What's for Dinner?" #menuplanning #menuplan #healthymealplanning #mealplanning @thankfulhomemaker
Simple menu planning tips to get dinner on the table in a matter of minutes each week and avoid the dreaded question, "What's for Dinner?" #menuplanning #menuplan #healthymealplanning #mealplanning @thankfulhomemaker

Inside: Who doesn’t want to save money, time, their sanity, reduce stress, eat healthily, and avoid the dreaded question “What’s for dinner?”

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 to the Podcast:

Subscribe to the Podcast on Your Favorite App

menu planning made easy

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.

Free Weekly Menu Planning PDF @menuplanner #freemenuplanningpdf #weeklymenuplan

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!!


Family Favorite Dinners Free Printable

Additional 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)
SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Become a patron at Patreon!

Related posts:

  1. Podcast EP 77: Simple Summertime Meal Planning Tips
  2. Homemaking 101 Series: Menu Planning
  3. Simple Tips for Beginning Homemakers
  4. Free Tool to Simplify Your Meal Planning


Free Resource Library

Get more posts like this in your inbox!

And while you’re at it, you’ll receive access to our FREE library of resources to help you in your homemaking!.

(I will not spam you. Read my privacy policy.)

« Christmas Love – 1 Corinthians 13 Style
Weekend Coffee Break {January 5th} »

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

WEEKLY HOME CLEANING SCHEDULE SIDEBAR AD

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.

read more…

Ultimate Homemaking Binder Side Bar Ad

Categories

  • Bible Study
  • Christian Living
  • Holidays
  • Homemaking
  • Marriage
  • Menu Planning
  • Motherhood
  • Podcast
  • Time Management

thankfulhomemaker

Marci Ferrell
Whether you're running errands, doing household ch Whether you're running errands, doing household chores, or sipping your coffee, you can do it in style, reminding yourself and others you are a Thankful Homemaker 🥰⁣
⁣
Shop TH Gear at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
What do you think of when you hear the word discer What do you think of when you hear the word discernment? The dictionary defines it as making a distinction between good and evil and truth and falsehood. As believers, we all desire to be discerning and wise in our choices. As we mature and grow in our knowledge of the scriptures, the hope is we will use that information to make choices in line with God's will.⁣
⁣
We become discerning people by not just knowing what to think but how to think. Being spiritually discerning is an ability to see the world the way God does. This comes about as we grow and mature spiritually into the likeness of Christ. It is about seeing “All That's Good.”⁣
⁣
Read Seeking Whatever is Good at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
“Waiting exposes our idols and throws a wrench i “Waiting exposes our idols and throws a wrench into our coping mechanisms. It brings us to the end of what we can control and forces us to cry out to God. God doesn’t waste our waiting. He uses it to conform us to the image of his Son.”⁣
~ Betsy Childs Howard⁣
⁣
Listen in to EP 23: Seasons of Waiting at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
As I’m sharing this episode, I’m finding mysel As I’m sharing this episode, I’m finding myself in a waiting room on the Lord, and it’s been a long one, and I don’t see an end near.  It has reminded me that when I gave myself to Him, I gave up my “right” to be in charge. The reality is we never were in charge anyway; we just came to that understanding when the Lord opened our eyes to His sovereign control over our lives.⁣
⁣
Even though it is a truth I know or we know, how many times do we want to think that somehow we can effect change in our life situations?⁣
⁣
Waiting is hard because there is no guarantee that my waiting will end in this lifetime. One thing I have learned – my waiting has deepened my trust in the Lord and has helped me to develop patience, perseverance, and endurance.⁣
⁣
It’s also given me different eyes to see with compassion others who are in a season of waiting.⁣
⁣
Listen in to EP 23 Seasons of Waiting at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
Six questions I have written in my Bible that have Six questions I have written in my Bible that have been a help to me over the years may be a help to you, too, to be prayerful and slow to speak. These are helpful questions not just in our friendships but in our marriages and with our children, and truly any of our relationships:⁣
⁣
1. Is this the time to say this?⁣
2. Am I the person to say this?⁣
3. Is it necessary?⁣
4. Is it true?⁣
5. Is it kind?⁣
6. Do I need to say this?⁣
⁣
Listen in to EP 140: Threats to Biblical Friendship at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
We all know that fostering true biblical friendshi We all know that fostering true biblical friendship isn’t easy – it takes work. Jesus told us in John 16:33 that we’re going to have trouble in this world, and trouble does touch all our lives in various areas, but this includes our friendships too.⁣
⁣
We’ll be hurt; we’ll be the ones hurting others; selfishness is a battle; jealousy and envy raise their ugly heads; we have our fears and insecurities, failed expectations, the damage our tongues do to one another, not appropriating the gospel and these all come from hearts that are still battling sin. ⁣
⁣
So when these threats to our friendship with one another in Christ come up, it shouldn’t surprise us that we have these issues, but what we need to keep at the forefront of our minds is how we respond and deal with them when they do come up. ⁣
⁣
I want to walk us through some of these threats, and this list I’m working with isn’t exhaustive – there are many more threats than what I am addressing today – but these are areas that stood out to me that have been a battle within some of my friendships over the years. Sadly, it is often the sin I’m battling in my heart, and I need to get my thinking, attitudes, and actions lined up with God’s Word.⁣
⁣
Listen to EP 140 Threats to Biblical Friendship at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
May we be women who are willing to return to the a May we be women who are willing to return to the authority of God’s Word, embrace God’s priorities for our lives and homes, and live out the beauty and wonder of womanhood as God created it to be.⁣
⁣
Read more at The History of Modern Feminism at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
Women will never find fulfillment and satisfaction Women will never find fulfillment and satisfaction by trying to be "like" men and shedding their uniqueness as a female.  They will only find satisfaction in Christ.⁣
⁣
Come read The History of Modern Feminism at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
“Complaining will seem increasingly ugly when yo “Complaining will seem increasingly ugly when you let the beauty of God’s Word transform your words.” ⁣
~ Ronnie Martin⁣
⁣
Listen in to EP 24: Dealing with Our Grumbling & Complaining at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Access the FREE Library!

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Thankful Homemaker · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy & Disclosure

Copyright © 2023 · Divine Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email