Do You Plan Your Menus?

So, last night on Twitter, I mentioned I was menu planning, and a couple of folks asked me to share, so here it is! 

I used to do this all the time, but after the second child was born, our lives went CRAZY and I rarely could plan anything more than a day ahead, let alone a week. 

My daughter and I are working on keeping a calendar so everyone can have a clue what the whole family is up to. It's a work in progress. -------->>>>

Now, some of these recipes will not be eaten this way by the whole family. Spicy chicken cakes will have a plainer kid version. I fully expect the children to eat plain focaccia, with raw spinach dipped in dressing and plain feta. My daughter will eat deconstructed fajitas, with raw red peppers on the side. But at least there's some food here that I can get excited about, because I've been in a huge food rut. 

We'll see how it works out. More labor intensive meals are for Sat and Sun night. Simple stuff is for crazier weekdays. 

So, do you plan YOUR menus? What factors influence what you choose?

MENU

Spicy Chicken cakes with horseradish aioli

Spinach and Feta stuffed Foccacia

Cheeseburgers, roasted potatoes and green beans

Salmon burgers, steamed broccoli

Slow Cooker Thai Chicken with Edamamame & Rice

Slow Cooker Fajitas with spanish rice

Leftover Fajitas salad

Greek salad with chicken

OTHER

Breakfast--eggs, toast, fruit, whole grain pancakes, homemade waffles, bacon, canadian bacon, milk, 

Snacks--fruit, cheese, quickbreads, cookies, veggies & dip, yogurt, fruit bars, smoothies

Lunch--sandwiches (pbj, turkey, ham, grilled cheese, veggies, fruit), salad, 

Shopping List 

(I have some things on hand, like potatoes, lime juice, fresh ginger, soy sauce, olive oil, minced garlic, salad dressing, mayo,  and dried spices. I also have frozen organic burgers from Costco, as well as frozen salmon burgers, and a huge bag of whole wheat sandwich buns). 

Steam in the bag broccoli

Steam in the bag green beans

Edamame

romaine lettuce

cucumbers

1 jar pitted kalamata olives

3 packs baby carrots

3 packages romaine

4 cucumbers

3 red onion

large bunch bananas

big container strawberries

blueberries

cantaloupe

2 lemons

2 (6-ounce) packages baby spinach
1 bunch fresh oregano

2 bunches cilantro

green bell pepper

3 red bell pepper

1 pound fresh asparagus

1.5 lbs sweet potatoes

1 bunch fresh chives

peanut butter

jam

bread

Fat free milk

Whole milk

Lactaid

Cocunut yogurt

plain  greek yogurt

turkey

ham

gouda

brick cheddar

Feta

Eggs

Bacon

2.5 llbs of chicken pieces

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast

1 flank steak

Rice milk

Almond milk

1 (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
1 package golden raisins
1 can mandarin oranges

large jar medium salsa

flour tortillas

Rice

OTHER

swim towels

sunscreen

dog food

toilet paper

pullups