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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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Charles Spurgeon on gentleness and respect:⁣ Ha Charles Spurgeon on  gentleness and respect:⁣
Have your doctrinal views, and all your knowledge of Christ, packed away in a handy form so that, when people want to know what you believe, you can tell them. If they wish to know why you believe that you are saved, have your answer all ready in a few plain, simple sentences; and in the gentlest and most modest spirit make your confession of faith to the praise and glory of God. Who knows but what such good seed will bring forth an abundant harvest?⁣
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#spurgeon #spurgeonquotes #apologetics #
We have a generation of people who think they can We have a generation of people who think they can stand before the judgment seat of God despite their sins. ⁣
~ R.C. Sproul
When we start our mornings with purpose, it seems When we start our mornings with purpose, it seems to help in the productivity of our day.  I always say if I get nothing else done the rest of the day because it didn't go as I planned, but I got to my morning routine, I already accomplished quite a bit.⁣
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Come watch the video at the link in my profile @thankfulomemaker - click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image.
"Reading the Bible in a year? Good. But don't just "Reading the Bible in a year? Good. But don't just read it, study it, and do so not just to brag about it but for your good and God's glory."⁣
~ Burk Parsons⁣
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Link to EP 95 Developing a Daily Bible Reading Habit in my profile @thankfulhomemaker - click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image 😍🎧
Do you ever find yourself flitting from task to ta Do you ever find yourself flitting from task to task and at the end of the day realizing you didn't finish any of them? Do you have trouble staying focused and on task? ⁣
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A tool that has helped me immensely over the years to stay on tasks, whether it's household chores, reading, social media, blog work, paying bills, and a host of other items, is just a simple household timer.⁣
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It has helped me realize that household chores that I think take FOREVER 😂may not take much longer than 5-10 minutes.⁣
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Link to the podcast in my profile @thankfulhomemaker - click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image 🎧❤.⁣
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#productivity #timer #kitchentimer #stayontask #focused #staying focused
“The simple truth – every day is precious. Whe “The simple truth – every day is precious. When it's gone, it never comes back to you.”⁣
~ Emilie Barnes⁣
⁣
Read: Serving the Lord in Our Mundane Moments at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
“Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, but “Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.”⁣
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Link to listen to EP 96: My Top 5 Productivity Tips for Busy Homemakers in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
We all know the books we read shape us and grow us We all know the books we read shape us and grow us. I've been challenged by books, taught by books, and comforted by books over my years of reading and being read to. ⁣
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I can still pick up a book to read to my grandbabies that I read to my children when they were little and be taken back to those days of sitting with my babies on my lap getting lost in the story. I can hear in those memories the giggles, or surprise or sadness depending on the story in the voices of my children. It's been fun to make new memories with my grandchildren and possibly one day even my great-grandchildren.⁣
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Just as we turn the calendar and think about our Bible reading plan for the year, I know many of us think about what books will be on our nightstands, in our cars, suitcases, coffee tables, and on our bookshelves.⁣
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Here are some tips that have helped me to read more over the years - the link to the post is in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
“Maturity starts with the willingness to give on “Maturity starts with the willingness to give oneself.”⁣
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Link to read What is Spiritual Maturity? in my profile - click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image.
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