Tips for creating your meal plan

First of all let me tell you that creating a meal plan for two seasons will take a little time. I would set aside about a week. But the time invested is well worth it. When you go to sit down and meal plan during the year it should only take you a couple of minutes to plan out the entire week.

I would suggest keeping a couple things in mind when planning out your menu.
First, only use recipes that you are cooking now. This is not the time to go pull out that huge pile of recipes that you have been wanting to try. Instead, just designate one day out of the week for trying a new recipe. I like to try out new recipes on Sundays. I have personally found that the meal planning idea works best if I use recipes that I am familiar with. Plus, when life gets busy I will be more likely to make those taco's that I have made a dozen times, than to try to pull together that fancy and complicated recipe while everyone is starving and getting ready to rush off to football practice.
So stick to family recipes, recipes that you know your kids will eat (we will talk more about that later)and recipes that you can confidently put together.

The next step is to pull all of your family favorites from your recipe binder that use seasonal ingredients. For example in the summer it is all about recipes that utilize fresh fruits, light sauces, basil and fresh tomatoes. And for fall it's pumpkins, mushrooms, butternut squash and pears. Only make these recipes when the ingredients are in season. Your family will learn to anticipate certain meals when the seasons change. And your food will taste great!

I try to cook pretty "clean" around my house. Cooking with ingredients that are in season is included in this concept. You will also notice that I don't use canned soups or processed ingredients.

When planning meals for the day's theme I keep in mind flavors and nutritional value. For example if I am planning salads for Monday I will choose four salads with four different "featured" flavors. This keeps variety in my menu. Also I like to mix up high calorie meals with lower calorie lighter options so I can plan a realistic menu plan. So here is an example of what I am talking about..
Say I am doing Chicken Tuesday...I am going to try and think of four different chicken dishes that have completely different flavors. And maybe two will be on the heavier "comfort food" side...and the other two will keep me in my skinny jeans!
So I would do something like this..
1. Ginger-Soy chicken (lighter)
2. Chicken Parmesan
3. Balsamic glazed Chicken (lighter)
4. Mexican Chicken
If you keep this in mind while you are creating your menu you will find the end results to be much more "workable" during the year.

I just want to talk for a minute about how to include feeding kids with your menu plan. My kids have three food groups spaghetti and meatballs, chicken pot pie and chicken nuggets...you get my point. I like to try and make recipes that can be broken into two steps. If I stop at step one...then my kids will be happy with it. And then I go onto step two..which usually includes the sauce for Nate and I. For Example if I am making Linguine with Clam sauce my kids will eat butter Parmesan noodles instead. I also try to have homemade versions of my kids favorite foods in the freezer as a back up plan if a recipe is not "kid-adaptable".

I hope these tips help. Happy menu planning! And remember that meal planning doesn't just make our lives easier.... It also helps create "food memories" and moments around the dinner table that are feeding more than just hungry tummies.