If you are looking just for forms, here's what we have.
If you are looking for tips on meal planning and making grocery lists, scroll down.
Binder Divider
Meal Planning/Grocery Section binder divider I
(PDF)
Meal Planning/Grocery Binder Divider II (DOC)
Master Meal Lists
Breakfast Master List
Lunch Master List
Dinner Master List
Menus
Weekly Menu Forms
If its Monday menu form - record the type of meal (not the particular dishes) you will eat, according to the day of the wee.
If its Monday Menu form II - record what type of meal will be eaten according to the day, as well as your master meals. Either use as weekly menus or just to give you ideas to select from for each day of the week. (For recording one meal only - breakfast, lunch, or dinner)
One weekly menu per page, all three meals
4 weekly menus per page, one meal (breakfast, lunch, or dinner)
Grocery Lists
Master Grocery List (PDF)
Need to Pick Up list (PDF) can also be used as main grocery list
In addition, you can use the master grocery list as your "need to pick up list". That way you may not have to write but circle or check off what you need to pick up.
Weekly Grocery Lists
Grocery list with meal planner
Grocery list with categories
Master Foodstuff Inventory Lists
Master Spice List (PDF)
Meal Planning and Grocery List Making Overview
The basic tasks in setting up the meal planning and grocery list portion of the household notebook as well as planning your weekly meals and making a weekly grocery list are:
1. Make master meal lists, one for each meal
2. Make several weekly menus from the master meal lists
3. Make a master grocery list
4. Make/print a master "spice" or "pantry" list
5. Make/print a "need to pick up" list
Once you have completed these tasks, you are ready to start making your weekly grocery list each week.
6. Making your weekly grocery list
q1. Print out/make a binder divider for the meal planning/grocery shopping section
Meal Planning/Grocery Section binder divider
q2. Make master meal lists, one for each meal
The first task we want to accomplish is to make master meal lists. A master meal list is a listing of your favorite meals. By making master meal lists, you don't have to sit down each week and come up with meal ideas. Of course, you will add to this list from time to time as you discover new recipes, etc.
We are going to make master meal lists for each meal; breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Step A: Print Out the Master Meal list forms below (or make your own):
Breakfast Master Meal List
Lunch Master Meal List
Dinner Master Meal List
I have arranged the meal columns by type of meals (pasta based, meat based, etc). In addition, I have included a blank list (with each list), without the categories in case you want to make up your own categories.
Step B: On the master meal lists forms, list as many of your favorite/usual dishes that you can. You may also want to check online for new dishes as well.
Also list dishes that you are interested in trying.
Step C: After this is complete (or you've worked on it a while and ready to put it up and come back to it) place each master meal list in a plastic page protector in this section of the binder.
Behind each master meal list, place recipes to the meals on the master meal lists.
Be sure to get everyone's input for the master meal lists!
q3. Make several weekly menus from the master meal lists
The main idea here is to plan out several weekly menus (or monthly) so that each week, you can just rotate or pick a menu with NO planning.
Article: (offsite) The Benefits of Family Meal Planning at Muslimah Connection.
Step A: From your master meal lists, begin to make menus.
You can use our menu forms, or make your own.
If its Monday menu form (explained below)
If its Monday Menu form II
One weekly menu per page, all three meals
4 weekly menus per page, one meal (breakfast, lunch, or dinner)
Weekly Menu from DonnaYoung.org
Another Weekly Menu form from DonnaYoung.org
Colorful 7 day menu planner (offsite)
Monthly Menu Form (offsite)
Now, if you really want to simplify your planning, your may want to use the "If it's Monday, it's Spaghetti" method of planning. Basically, you plan out what TYPE of meal you will have each day of the week. The category (pasta, sandwiches, etc) does not change from week to week, but rather the particular main dish.
Example:
Sundays - Pasta
Mondays - Meat
Tuesdays - Beans/Soups
Wednesdays - Sandwiches
Thursdays - Chicken
Fridays - Take Out/Pizza/Hot Dogs
Saturdays - Potatoes
This makes making your weekly menus a snap, insha Allah. You just plug in your meals from the master meal lists that fit each day. (Even if you don't get around to making weekly menus, using this type of formula can be a time saver in and of itself).
So begin making weekly menus. Now, when making menus, be sure to include the main dish, side dish and anything else that you will serve with each meal. Don't just list the main dish, because we want to simplify and preplan as much as possible.
You can choose to put all your meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) on one form for one week or any format that you choose.
Now, once you have made your menus, you need to create a way of determining which menu you will choose each week. You can:
Simply rotate through menus
Look through the menus and pick one for that coming week
Randomly pick a menu
Here's something that I am hoping to try and that will involve the kids more. Take a copy of the weekly menus and cut each week into strips, so that I will have breakfast menu strips, lunch menu strips, and dinner menu strips. (If I have made four weeks of menus for each meal, then I will have four strips per meal). Keep the original menus in the binder and on my bulletin board will be pouches for each meal's strips. Each week, I can have a different child reach in the pouch and pick out the menu for that week. Then, on the outside of each pouch would be a slot to place the strip for that week's menu for quick views.
The menus that are kept in the binder can be kept in plastic page protectors.
Family/Homeschool Learning Activity
Take this time to learn about the food groups and nutritious meal planning
TJ has a food group lesson plan: The Five Food Groups (PDF)
I wrote it for the second grade level, but it can probably be adapted/used for other levels as well.
Objectives:
Identify the five food groups
Identify foods in each of the five food groups
Learn why each food group is important to our bodies
q4. Make a master grocery list
Basically you list all the types of items that you can possibly think of. This is not your weekly grocery list, but it will help jog your memory of things that you might need to add to your
weekly list in addition to the items for your meals.
Here's a printable copy of a master list. You can use this as your master list or use it as a guide to make your own.
Master Grocery List (PDF)
Master Grocery List (HTML)
Note: You may also want to list prices on your master grocery list.
Family Fun Activity Idea:
You can turn this into a fun family activity.
-Pick one food category.
-Have members name/write down as many foods as they can from that category in one minute.
-Compare lists and cross off duplicates.
-Add any unique ones that are not already on the master list above to your master list.
-Repeat for each food category.
q5. Make/print a master "spice" or "pantry" list
(Spice List - PDF)
q6. Make/print a "need to pick up" list
Need to Pick Up list (PDF)
In addition, you can use the master grocery list as your "need to pick up list". That way you may not have to write items but rather circle or check off what you need to pick up.
Use this list to pick up items throughout the week from the store and/or use it build next week's grocery list.
q7. Making your weekly grocery list
Set a particular grocery shopping day, if you can, and then set a day for making your grocery list, say the day before shopping day or at the start of the week. I like to try to set aside just one day for my major grocery shopping, I have found it makes the week run more smoothly if I'm not making dozens of trips out. Of course, there might be things during the week that are needed/come up.
Ok, here are my tips for making your weekly grocery list:
1. Grab your menus for this week. Go through them meal by meal and list all the ingredients (on a grocery form or plain piece of paper-- in fact, you could even just reproduce your Master Grocery list weekly and mark off/circle items on that, especially if you have space to write the prices) that you will need to buy to make each meal. (If you want to save even more time later, you might make copies of your grocery list after this step and that way, when you use this particular weekly menu, you won't have to go back and list all the items you need to buy).
2. Next, grab your "Need to pick up" list and jot those items that you added throughout the week to it onto your grocery list.
3.Look at your master grocery list and scan it carefully for any items that didn't make it to the need to pick up list and weren't needed for your menus. Add those to your grocery list.
4. Check sale papers and coupons for additional items or savings on items you have already included on your list. Try to resist the impulse to buy something just because its on sale if you don't really need it.
5. Survey family members and see if there are any things that they need/can think of that you missed.
6. Add up the prices and get a general idea of what your bill may be. If its too high, you may need to go back and plan cheaper meals.
7. Go shopping! Stick to your list! Only get things that you see in the store (that are not on your list) that are exceptional deals (if you really need them) or hard to find items.
8. Keep your receipt to add new/changed prices and/or items to the master grocery list. You may want to get a pouch for receipts or place them in a plastic page protector.
