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Make a Household Menu
Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Chalk it up to the added stress of the holidays, maybe. For some reason, this time of the year seems to cause our family to bicker more than usual over what we will be having for dinner. This year, we've got a solution. We're working on a household menu!

Each member of the family is contributing ideas about his or her favorite dinner meals. I'm compiling the list and then will start a rotation of sorts. I'm picking and choosing from the list of favorite meals and matching them to each day's likely circumstances. From there, I'm posting a dinner menu on the refrigerator for the entire month. I'm just doing the weekdays, since weekends are far more relaxed around here and take less planning.

In this way, I'm eliminating the need to poll each and every person in the house about what they would like for dinner that night. This morning ritual was the cause of no end of stress. The rest of the family, groggy and on their way to work or school, really doesn't care what is for dinner at six in the morning. Most commonly, they answer, "I don't know. I'm not hungry now!" That left me with the sole responsibility of coming up with dinner ideas. Now, my work schedule is such that I have my busiest time of day right around the dinner hour. I don't have the energy or the inclination to plan dinner and cook it then! Often, the family ends up with the same three quick dishes made over and over as a result. This got boring for everyone!

Now, I'm looking ahead at the list of hoped for meals and plugging them into the days of the week. We'll have a quick and easy dinner on Monday, since I've only got thirty minutes to get it cooked and eaten. Tuesday is a great day for a crockpot meal, since I'm out the door at 8:30 and not returning until four in the afternoon. Wednesday looks like it will be a good day to cook that lasagna that the youngest likes; I'll be home nearly all afternoon and can give it the attention that it needs.

You get the idea. I'm planning the meals to match the day's commitments while still hopefully pleasing various family members at least part of the time. On the days when I'm working until eight or eight-thirty, I plan a dinner that my husband will be willing to prepare for the kids after he gets home from work.

The family menu has the added advantage of making grocery shopping easier, too. I can put items on the weekly list to match the menu that is coming up in the next few days. No more of the nonsense of choosing a dinner at the last minute and then finding that we don't have the proper ingredients on hand. It also eliminates those quick runs to the grocery midweek that really break the food budget. I get all of the shopping done on the big weekly trip to the discount grocery store, and we save a lot of money that way.

So there are lots of advantages to just a little bit of planning. Each family member feels that his or her preferences are being acknowledged at least part of the time. The stress of trying to dream up meals that fit into our busy schedule is diminished. The grocery list practically writes itself and we end up saving money by decreasing impulse purchases. Everyone wins!

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