Menu Plan...

Ok, this is something that has been in the works for quite a while.  I will try my best to explain it here - if you have any questions, please feel free to ask here...

Rog works a weird shift, 24on/48off, so I have come up with a menu plan that I can use over and over. 

The first thing I did was to list all of the main dishes we eat.  We have some things that the kiddos and I like (chicken and dumplings) that Rog doesn't care for.  I listed them all. Once I came up with my list, I counted them up and figured out how many weeks I could go.  I chose to do a 9 week menu rotation -this allows room to try something new on occasion or repeat some favorites - and it fits with Rog's schedule - he works every third -whatever- so I made up 3 rotations of his shift.

With me still? 

After my list, I plugged in my calendar, using only M-F. That leaves Sat open for new stuff and eating out or at parents, and we rotate meals with my family on Sundays.  After all of my main meals were in, I went thru and added the sides (veggies, rice, taters).

Now, I have 9 full weeks worth of meals. From there, I made a list of things that we need every week - bread, milk, eggs and added it to the 9 individual grocery lists - one for each of the weeks. I installed a program on my PDA called HandyShopper. It's original intent is for you to add list and prices from different stores, but I labeled them by the weeks and added my lists to my palm.  I will eventually get all my menus(breakfast, lunches and snacks) worked up and all the pricing in there as well, so I will know how much each week I will spend on groceries.  This year is going to be a definte year for trial and error, but hopefully, I can figure it all out and then it will be smooth sailing!

Now, what about my extras - I made a list of what all exrtas we need - pet care, toiletries... things that we need to have here in stock, but I really don't need to buy each week.  I divided them up among the list, and plan on picking up stuff each week and start stocking - it worked out where it is about how often I have to buy things anyways.

I think my plan is all ready to go into action.  I will be starting with week 3 next week.  I planned on starting the first of the year, and the way I marked the calendars with Rog schedule and the way the days fell, grocery shopping this weekend for next week - week 3 - seems to work. 

I will update and let you know of changes and adjustments as I make them.  I would like to think that by this time next year, I have all the wrinkles of this plan ironed out.

If anyone has any suggestions to add to this, please feel free to comment!