Creating a weekly menu for a family is quite useful activity, which will help you make the most of your time preparing hearty and healthy meals, and will also significantly reduce your financial expenses on food.
Surely we all know the situation when the refrigerator is empty and you urgently need to prepare something for your household. Very often at this moment we go to the store and buy quite a lot of products that we, in fact, do not really need.
On top of everything else, they often make dishes that do not bring any value or benefit to the body. If you want to avoid all this and also start practicing healthy eating for the whole family, you need to create a menu for every day.
It won’t take long to work on drawing up a nutrition plan - on average, it takes an hour of time. At the same time, you will receive clear “instructions” for the next seven days, which will help you finally free yourself from the endless "kitchen slavery", and will prove useful to your spouse and children.
To ensure a balanced and appropriate diet basic principles healthy diet, you should diversify it with certain recipes. They, in turn, can be found on the Internet or relevant literature. So, how to create a menu with good recipes for a week for the family?
The benefits of planning a menu for the week
There are many benefits to creating a complete healthy meal plan for your family for the week. You will spend no more than one hour on the entire development process, and this time will more than pay off within a week. You will stop asking yourself a stupid question “What can I cook quickly?”, you will begin to eat more correctly and balanced, you will begin to spend on kitchen work minimal amount time.
Creating a simple weekly menu for your family will give you the following benefits:
- You will save yourself from unnecessary hassle, since the meals will be planned in advance;
- You will stop wondering what to buy for home to eat after work, and how to quickly cope with preparing a family dinner;
- You will be able to eat more varied, and, importantly, tasty;
- From an early age, your children will learn to eat nutritiously and correctly, not to snack on unhealthy foods, not to overeat, and not to eat “dry” food;
- You will be surprised to find that you begin to spend less money on purchasing food, and spend only on really necessary products, and not on quite expensive “garbage”, which can be used to save yourself in the absence of a full lunch or dinner in the house;
- You will stop eating fast food, canned food and processed foods, and you will no longer have to eat borscht that was prepared on Monday all week.
So, if all the listed advantages of pre-meal planning for a certain period captivate and attract you, it’s time to take decisive action and start making a list of products that you should purchase. This is no less important step than creating the menu itself. Because if you write down only the dishes, during the process of preparing them some component may be missing, and you will have to spend time on additional “runs” towards the market or supermarket.
Meal plan for you and your family: where to start?
Weekly and monthly meal plans usually do not include breakfasts, since they are prepared quickly and are very varied for each family.
First of all, it is worth discussing mistakes that absolutely should not be made.
For example, many women like to search for recipes using a tablet or computer. In fact, instead of the apparent convenience, you will also have to spend time constantly “looking” at the Internet.
Therefore, you should use old-fashioned methods - if you have a favorite blogger whose recipes you have been wanting to try for a long time, just write them down on paper, or, as a last resort, print them out. This will make it more convenient for you to look for clues directly while preparing a dish. It’s even better if you use a cookbook, where all the proportions, quantities and mixing methods are clearly written out.
If you have enough big family, do not forget to take into account and write down on a piece of paper what is temporarily or permanently prohibited to individual members. For example, if your child is allergic to carrots, making carrot cutlets for dinner might be a good idea for everyone else, but it certainly isn't for him. Therefore, you will have to either replace this ingredient for everyone, or prepare something special for one.
If you are planning to compose economical menu for a week for a family who is in this moment not worried better times financially, we recommend that you go in advance to the store, market or supermarket where you most often buy food. Write down the prices for “basic” food. If you prefer certain companies, write down only the cost of their products. Fix prices for vegetables in an average order.
What does “basic” food mean?
These are those products that are used almost everywhere, in any complete dish or snack, and which can “help you out” at any time, being quite filling, appetizing and loved by everyone.
Among the “basic” products are usually listed:
- Chicken meat (especially fillet);
- Potato;
- Rice or buckwheat;
- Out of season vegetables ( onion, carrots, cabbage, etc.);
- Out-of-season fruits (apples, bananas, kiwis, oranges, etc.);
- Pasta;
- Chicken eggs;
- Butter and vegetable oil;
- Dairy and fermented milk products;
- Flour.
Of course, lists of traditional “basic” products cannot be tailored to each person, much less to a specific family. But still, you must agree that the listed food sources are the most in demand at any time of the year. If you have a special family (for example, you practice a raw food or vegetarian diet), write down what you buy most often for preparing family lunches and dinners.
Some meal planners forget to consider many important things.
For example:
- Family dinner in a restaurant or cafe on Fridays;
- Training in sections for children on Thursdays and Tuesdays;
- Fasting days.
Yes Yes, fasting days not only ardent guardians need female figures, but also all other family members! We strongly recommend that you make at least one vegetarian day a week. During the vegetarian day, your household should only eat dishes made from cereals, vegetables, dairy and fermented milk products and eggs. Completely exclude both meat and fish.
Example of a vegetarian day:
- Breakfast: oatmeal with milk and nuts, cheesecake with raspberries, green tea;
- Snack (most likely outside the home): banana and whole grain muffin;
- Lunch: vegetable broccoli soup (prepared very simply and quickly), vegetable stew(potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants), cheese, diet cake (raw food);
- Dinner: cottage cheese, several fruits and cookies.
Please note that if you return home late (or your children come in the evening after sports clubs), dinner these days should be as light as possible. Under no circumstances should you apply for it. fried potatoes with meat or something similar.
In the presence of family tradition dine out at certain days weeks, do not include these days in the plan (if you don’t have lunch at home).
Rough plan
How to create a weekly menu for a family?
First, write down all the recipes you would like to try this week. Then specify the products that will be needed to sell them. Visit a store or market to calculate approximate costs from your family budget. Make a list of all the food you need, slightly rounding up the amount. Make notes to yourself regarding “forbidden” dishes and products from your spouse or children. Eliminate days when you are not likely to eat at home.
Also, a responsible housewife will definitely have a balanced menu. Remember that you need to take natural and healthy products, high in vitamins, micro and macro elements. Don’t forget about variety so that the dishes don’t get boring and are always a joy.
Is it possible to save on groceries when your family is large? Of course, if you approach the matter of cooking responsibly and seriously. In particular, it is imperative to plan in advance what will be prepared during the week and buy all products in one place, once a week.
What is important to consider when choosing meals for the week for the family:
1. Breakfast must be light, but at the same time satisfying. Complex carbohydrates are excellent for the first meal, which means a variety of cereals.
2. Lunch is considered the heaviest meal of the day; at this time you need to consume the maximum calories.
3. Dinner should be hearty, but at the same time light.
4. You should definitely eat soup or a vegetable dish once a day.
5. For an adult, the daily amount of calories should not exceed 2000 kcal.
6. In addition to vegetables, every day with food you need to saturate your body with proteins and, of course, complex carbohydrates.
7. To make it easier to diversify your meals from day to day, do not repeat side dishes often and when preparing dishes, avoid repeating any one product.
Advice! You need to eat according to the season. So, in the summer, you definitely need to include a vegetable first course in your diet and different variants fresh salad.
Weekly menu for a family of 4 with recipes and grocery list
Monday
An excellent option for breakfast would be with grated cheese. For lunch you can serve borscht, and for the second course stewed cabbage with ribs, salad with fresh carrots. Dinner is pancakes with meat or cottage cheese filling. Charlotte with apples will be a wonderful dessert dish.
Tuesday
For breakfast, prepare rice porridge with milk and pumpkin. For lunch, you can again serve borscht, which will be left over from Monday, and as a second course, serve noodles with chicken, Olivier. Dinner is this, and for dessert you can eat some ice cream with nuts.
Wednesday
For breakfast, feel free to serve cottage cheese with sour cream, fresh berries or jam. For lunch, prepare a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers, as well as baked potatoes with meat. Make it for dinner fish cutlets steamed with buckwheat, dessert - sweet bagels.
Thursday
Oatmeal pudding will decorate any breakfast; lunch includes pumpkin, cabbage rolls with meat and beet salad. For dinner, boil potatoes in their jackets and serve them with herring. Dessert will be cheesecakes with sour cream and jam.
Friday
Cheese casserole is a great breakfast dish. For lunch, prepare soup, make zrazy with liver, and vinaigrette salad. Dinner is pancakes with any filling, and a delicious and healthy dessert will be a dessert made from apples and pumpkin.
Saturday
Made with yogurt, this is an excellent breakfast. You can make soup for lunch, bake fish with sauce, or steam broccoli. Dinner is mashed potatoes and baked chicken breast, and raspberry jelly will be a light dessert.
You should have dinner 3 hours before bedtime. The menu should consist of large quantity proteins, so your diet should include meat or fish dishes. Cooked food should not be heavy, and overeating should be avoided. Potatoes, rice, pasta are suitable as a side dish. As an addition, you can use salads and season with any vegetable oils.
The calorie content of the daily diet should be: breakfast - 40%, afternoon snack -10%, lunch and dinner 25%.
There can be any cooking method, but it is advisable to use alternatives: stewing, boiling and baking. Eating fried and smoked foods is permissible only in small quantities and in rare cases.
As a basis, you can take an approximate menu for the whole family for 7 days. Depending on the culinary preferences and habits, you can make additions and changes to the menu.
- Monday:
- Breakfast: Buckwheat, tea
- Afternoon snack: Fruit salad with yoghurt
- Dinner: Mushroom soup or cheese soup with sausage, vegetable pancakes
- Dinner: Mashed potatoes with chicken or potato zrazy with liver
- Tuesday:
- Breakfast: Rice porridge with raisins and prunes
- Afternoon snack: Berry and fruit smoothie or egg toast
- Lunch: Shchi with mushrooms and meat or Ukrainian borscht
- Dinner: Pasta with tomato sauce, baked salmon fillet, fresh cabbage salad
- Wednesday:
- Breakfast: Cheesecakes or zucchini pancakes with sour cream
- Afternoon snack: Apples with yogurt
- Lunch: Bean soup, cauliflower casserole
- Dinner: Steamed fish cutlets with buckwheat
- Thursday:
- Breakfast: Millet porridge with milk and butter
- Afternoon snack: Pancakes with fruit or cottage cheese muffins
- Lunch: Soup with meatballs or meatballs
- Dinner: Vegetable zucchini stew
- Friday:
- Breakfast: Semolina with raisins
- Afternoon snack: Strawberry jelly or vegetable smoothie
- Lunch: Rassolnik or chicken kharcho soup
- Dinner: Chicken chops with rice, vegetable salad
- Saturday:
- Breakfast: Cottage cheese casserole, fruit smoothie
- Afternoon snack: Apple ratatouille
- Lunch: Chicken noodle soup or fish soup
- Dinner: Lazy cabbage rolls or veal roast beef
- Sunday:
- Breakfast: Omelette with cheese or scrambled eggs with sausages
- Afternoon snack: Pancakes in batter
- Lunch: Pea soup
- Dinner: Stewed potatoes with meat, vegetable salad
The sample menu is for one person and four meals a day. Depending on how many family members there are, meals from the diet should be multiplied by the required number.
Before going to bed, as a second afternoon snack, all family members can be offered to drink a glass of kefir or fermented baked milk. Fermented milk products should be in the diet daily. They contain vitamin D, which is easily absorbed by the body, which helps improve digestion. Before purchasing, be sure to pay attention to the expiration date.
A secondary role in the cooking process is played by the beautiful presentation of the dish on the table. Beautiful and delicious dishes affect the increase in appetite, and this stimulates the secretion of gastric juice. Thanks to this, food is better absorbed. This should also not be forgotten.
If you adhere to the rules of a balanced diet, this will help maintain the health of all family members and improve the quality of life.
Planning a menu for a week for a family with recipes is not easy; in addition to the correct purchase of food products, you need to take into account the tastes and characteristics of family members, the family budget and the availability of products in the nearest store, and your own supplies at home.
If you approach this issue rationally, then the task and its subsequent execution will not cause any special problems or hassle. You need to write on a piece of paper sample menu from 4 to 5 meals, then check your own orders and make a list of necessary purchases. This approach will not only optimize time and expenses, but will also allow you to switch to a healthier diet. 
Of course, it is worth considering that some products will have to be purchased within a week, as they may spoil. These are, for example, purchases such as:
- Bakery products;
- Dairy products with a short shelf life;
- Fresh vegetables and fruits, aromatic herbs.
Saving time in the evening
This approach allows you to plan your free evening time, because thanks to the available products, you can defrost and marinate meat or chicken, make minced meat, or even prepare dinner for the next day. In this article we only consider dinners with recipes, since breakfast does not cause much trouble, and we usually have lunch at work.
In addition, in the evening, when you are tired after a busy day at work, you do not need to buy groceries in a hurry, thereby avoiding thoughtless purchases that consume a sufficient part of the funds allocated for food. Well, having any product at hand, there is no need to rack your brains and study recipes, because you already know what you will cook. Although there may be deviations from the menu, it is not necessary to strictly follow the list of dishes.
Principles for planning a balanced menu
In order for this principle to take root in your family, you need to learn how to properly create a menu; for example, you can start with 2-3 days. At the same time, you should definitely take into account the seasonality of fruits and vegetables, and, if possible, try to prepare several new ones, with increased complexity, for variety in the diet. Those dishes that you like are added to the list, from which a plan for the week is drawn up. For convenience, they can be written out at large leaf, by category, and when drawing up a plan, simply choose what you want to cook and eat. 
It is worth considering:
- Features of your family, health of relatives and financial wealth.
- Stock up on the products you have in your cupboards. Conduct a thorough audit, see what should be included in the menu.
- Separately, make a list of dishes and products for entertaining guests, but keep in mind that guests may drop by unexpectedly, so think over plan B.
- Pay attention to promotions and all kinds of sales in supermarkets. This will allow you to save a lot and add new dishes to your diet. It is worth taking into account price fluctuations for seasonal vegetables and fruits.
Drawing up a correct and useful purchasing list
Every person’s diet must include the following products:
- Meat, fish and poultry, seafood;
- Dairy and lactic acid products;
- Vegetable oils, chicken and quail eggs:
- Fresh vegetables, seasonal fruits, spicy and aromatic herbs;
- Cereals for breakfast and side dishes for meat dishes;
- Sweets in the form of marshmallows and marmalade, tea and coffee, cocoa for them;
- A variety of spices, because with them each product begins to sound original and new;
- Bakery products, confectionery products;
- A small supply of canned goods for salads and other dishes;
- And many other products tailored to your nutrition.
Convenient menu form
You can write out the menu on regular A4 sheets, or you can print them and put them in a folder with transparent files. Moreover, on one side of the sheet there will be, for example, a menu, and on the other a list of the main products for preparing dishes this week. By compiling a couple of dozen such sheets, you can vary your diet throughout the year. 
An electronic menu option is no less convenient; in addition to dishes and purchases, you can also store recipes for their preparation. Well, after compiling the list, give it to the family for approval, and try to compile it in this way - within a week you need to have 2-3 favorite dishes of each family member. This way, a smooth compromise can be reached.
So, let's start creating a menu, and consider a new dish every evening with a list of ingredients and preparation. As mentioned above, the article will give examples of first courses, but, as a rule, many of us do not dine at home. Let's look at an approximate menu for a week for a family with dinner recipes.
A good option would be to prepare first courses by boiling meat, fish or vegetable broth in a large saucepan 2-3 times a week. Then in the evening all that remains is to prepare the vegetable base and cook fresh soup, literally one serving for each family member. The broth can also be used throughout the week to prepare main courses for dinner.
Monday:
- Breakfast – Milk buckwheat porridge, soft-boiled egg with toast, tea or coffee.
- Lunch – Chicken broth soup with Gossamer noodles.
- Afternoon snack - Carrot and celery salad dressed with vegetable oil.
- Dinner - Stuffed with vegetables oven-baked peppers, vegetable salad, fruit tea.
- At night – Drinking yogurt.
Ingredients:
- Bell pepper – 5 pcs.
- Onion head
- 4 stalks of celery
- Round rice – 100 gr.
- Hard cheese – 125 gr.
- Champignon mushrooms – 200g.
- Salt and spices, fresh herbs, a little vegetable oil.
Preparation:
- First of all, let's put the rice to cook and boil it until almost done.
- While the rice is cooking, fry the chopped onions and mushrooms, add chopped celery stalks to the mix.
- Wash the pepper, cut it in half without cutting off the stem, and remove the seeds.
- Discard the almost finished rice and add it to the vegetables. Season with spices and salt.
- Fill the pepper boats with the mixture, sprinkle with grated cheese mixed with herbs and freshly ground pepper and bake in the oven until done. Serve with any vegetable salad.
Evening tip! Cook a little more rice, it will be needed for tomorrow's lunch.
Tuesday
- Breakfast – Kefir pancakes with jam, green tea or coffee.
- Lunch - we still have chicken broth and rice cooked from dinner, so we can prepare rice soup with herbs and croutons from yesterday's bread.
- Afternoon snack – Bun with jelly.
- Dinner – Mashed potatoes with pumpkin and carrots, baked fish or herring, cucumber salad.
- At night – A glass of fruit juice.
Pumpkin and carrot puree
Ingredients:
- Potatoes – 600 gr.;
- Fresh carrots – 1 pc.;
- Pumpkin – 200 gr.;
- Milk – 200 ml;
- Butter – 75 gr.;
- A little salt and pepper to taste;
- 2 sprigs of green onions.
Preparation:
- Peel the vegetables and cut them into small pieces. The pumpkin for this recipe can be frozen.
- Place the vegetables in a saucepan, add water and add a little salt.
- A few minutes before the vegetables are ready, heat the milk with a piece of butter.
- Mash the vegetables in a saucepan, drain the broth first, add milk and butter and whisk with a whisk. Add some salt to taste and serve, garnishing the tender and bright puree with chopped green onions.
Evening tip! Let's cook a portion of fresh meat broth from a rather fatty brisket.
Wednesday
- Breakfast – Scrambled eggs with tomatoes, toast with cheese, tea and coffee.
- Lunch – Vegetable soup in meat broth, radish salad.
- Afternoon snack – curd dessert– casserole or ready-made cottage cheese with jam.
- Dinner – Roast chicken with potatoes, salad of cherry tomatoes and red onions with herbs.
- For the night - Ryazhenka.
Roast chicken
Ingredients:
- Potatoes – 3 pcs. per person;
- Chicken – weighing up to 2 kg;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- 2 onions;
- 2 medium carrots;
- A little oil;
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, spices, a little herbs.
Preparation:
- Cut the chicken into portions and place on a greased baking sheet. Add garlic, cut into several pieces, and onions.
- Peel the potatoes and carrots, cut into small pieces and add to the chicken.
- Salt and season with spices, add herbs.
- Place the pan in the oven for at least 45 minutes, then check the readiness of the meat and vegetables. You can add fresh tomatoes, then the roast will turn out with sauce, but for this use a deeper baking sheet.
Evening tip! Boil 2 root vegetables each - beets, potatoes, carrots.
Thursday
- Breakfast - Oatmeal with chocolate chips, toast with liver pate, sweet tea or coffee.
- Lunch – Soup with potatoes and green peas, compote, baked apple with honey and nuts.
- Afternoon snack – A portion of fruit jelly.
- Dinner – Herring or pickled mackerel, vinaigrette.
- At night – A glass of milk.
Spicy vinaigrette with spicy dressing
Ingredients:
- Boiled vegetables - from the evening of the previous day;
- A can of green peas;
- 3 salted (not pickled) cucumbers;
- 100 gr. sauerkraut;
- A bunch of greenery;
- Head of red onion;
- 2 teaspoons mustard;
- 57 gr. olive oil;
- Juice of half a lime.
Preparation:
- Cut the boiled vegetables into pea-sized cubes, focusing on the grains from the can of canned product.
- Pickled cucumbers and sauerkraut are also finely chopped. The smaller the cubes, the tastier the dish, and the salad looks more appetizing.
- Season boiled vegetables and pickles with peas with a dressing of mustard, oil and citrus juice.
- Before serving, sprinkle the vinaigrette with fresh herbs, serve with fish and fresh black bread.
Evening tip! Cook mushroom broth from fresh or canned champignons with the addition of a small amount of dry porcini mushrooms.
Friday
- Breakfast - Hot sandwiches with boiled meat, cheese-crusted tomatoes, tea or coffee with cookies.
- Lunch – Thick soup in mushroom broth, with noodles and herbs.
- Afternoon snack – Apple puff pastries with tea.
- Dinner – Potato casserole, coleslaw, fruit juice.
- At night - Yogurt.
Spicy coleslaw
Ingredients:
- Fresh red cabbage – 400 gr.;
- Shallots – 3 pcs.;
- A bunch of fresh herbs;
- Spoon of mustard with grains;
- A little salt and black pepper
- 100 gr. mayonnaise;
Preparation:
- Chop the cabbage - you can use a food processor, a grater, or simply chop the vegetable into thin and long strips.
- Mix mustard with chopped herbs and mayonnaise, season the sauce with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Chop the onion and scald. The straw should be thin and long.
- Mix cabbage with onions and season with sauce. Serve with potato casserole.
Evening tip! Relax, tomorrow is the weekend!
On weekends, you can prepare your favorite dishes that take a lot of time, bake homemade pies or pies, make small preparations for cutlets or meatballs, cut meat and fish into portioned pieces.
It’s difficult to talk about feeding a family on weekends; of course, you can plan meal preparation for these days, for example, we still have mushroom broth. A little onion, garlic, white wine and fresh mushrooms, a glass of Basmati rice, 20 minutes of continuous stirring and you will have a great risotto.
One of the most important and necessary habits, which greatly simplifies and makes life easier, is creating a menu for the week.
Before I started planning my menu for the week, the process of preparing food was like racing a lathered horse, and in this metaphor I was the horse. Every day I asked myself the same question: “What to cook for dinner?” 1. Why do we need a menu for the week?
After opening the refrigerator, the question turned into “What to cook with what you have?” And since there was always something missing in the refrigerator and supplies, you had to get dressed, go to the store or market to buy the missing products, and stand in lines. After returning home, I just wanted something simpler and faster, since all my energy was spent running to the store and back. As a result, most often sausages or dumplings were taken out of the freezer... To all the reproaches of conscience that I was a bad housewife, an ironclad argument was given: I have too little time and energy to cook often.
I remember my husband, who was already tired of my endless moaning “Oh, what to cook?” He suggested drawing up a menu in advance, purchasing the necessary products and cooking according to plan. I rejected this proposal as nonsense: how can I plan on Monday what I want on Thursday? For example, I’ll put meat on the menu, but I’ll want fish. Or I’ll buy ingredients for the Olivier salad, but I won’t want to cook it: why throw it all away? My husband shrugged his shoulders and left me alone.
And now lyrical digression: Wives, listen to your husbands! If you argue about who is right and who is wrong, then in the overwhelming majority of cases, the man is right. Because we women are beautiful, emotional and charming. And they, men, are reasonable and logical. And where we are guided by emotions “I don’t want and I won’t”, then they come from common sense: “there is a problem - here is the solution.” And if I had immediately listened to my husband’s sensible advice, it would have helped save a lot of effort and time, both for me and for him.
Then a period came in my life when I could no longer afford to be a disorganized, bad housewife: our family was replenished with a charming daughter. My forgetfulness and lack of concentration immediately ceased to be an excuse. Is it possible to explain to a little man that his mother did not feed him because she forgot? Or she didn’t change the diaper because she was tired. The appearance of a little joy in my home made me become more organized and start looking for ways to do everything: be a good wife, a caring mother, and not forget about myself.
I remembered my husband’s advice and one day I sat down at the table and made my first menu for the week. Over the next months, as I reinforced this habit, unexpected and startling discoveries were made.
Firstly, planning a menu for the week significantly saves time spent on food preparation. As it turns out, shopping and standing in lines take much more time than cooking itself. And this discovery came as a surprise to me. I buy all the products once a week - on Saturday, and after that I don’t waste my precious time on shopping.
Secondly, creating a menu for the week saves energy and nerves. I no longer struggle with what to cook for dinner. I set aside an hour on Friday evening to find answers to these questions. Over the next week, just look at the menu and start cooking, fortunately, all the products are at hand.
Thirdly, planning a menu for the week saves money. Primarily because it can be planned rational use products. For example, if for some dish you need a quarter of a head of cauliflower, then for other days of the week you can also choose recipes that contain this vegetable. As a result, nothing gets spoiled or lost, which means that money is not wasted. In addition, purchasing a large number of products at one time (for the whole week) in large stores and hypermarkets is beneficial due to discount systems and low prices.
Fourthly, my family began to eat proper and healthy food. Store-bought convenience foods have disappeared from my refrigerator, but you can always find fresh herbs, vegetables, and fruits in it. I plan the menu based on what vegetable soups and salads should be on the table every day, and fish, poultry and meat - every week. My child doesn’t know what store-bought cookies or muffins taste like. I can always treat him homemade cakes or a fresh fruit dessert and not be afraid that along with the “delicious” he will eat a dose of carcinogens, food additives and dyes.
Lastly, planning my weekly menu has helped improve my cooking skills significantly. I freed up time, gained strength and desire to try new recipes, cook interesting and tasty dishes for my family and friends. Previously, when I saw interesting recipe, I wrote it down in my culinary notebook, and alas, in 90 percent of cases I forgot about it or could not find the time and opportunity to prepare it. Now, if I'm interested in a recipe, 90 percent of the time it will be ready next week.
In short, creating a menu for the week has become one of the most important and necessary habits for me, which has made my life much easier and turned the boring process of cooking into an interesting and exciting activity. My husband never tires of bragging to friends and acquaintances that he is very lucky to have a wife who is an excellent cook. And I am no longer tormented by my conscience that I am a bad housewife. On the contrary, every day and week I improve, learn and discover new things in order to delight every day with delicious and healthy dishes their loved ones.
Menu planning in itself is not a panacea for all problems that may arise in the process of organizing home meals.
Creating a menu for the week will not help solve problems such as:
- Inability and unwillingness to learn to cook. If the housewife knows how to cook only three dishes (for example, scrambled eggs, pasta and sandwiches), then no matter how hard she tries to create a balanced and varied menu, she will not succeed. First the alphabet - then reading. First, we learn to cook at least a dozen dishes - then we create a menu from them.
- Lack of self-discipline and desire to change oneself better side. Creating a menu isn't everything. The most important thing is to follow this menu. If you make up perfect menu, but it will just hang on the refrigerator door without practical application, then you simply wasted your time compiling it. Excuses like: “yesterday I planned to cook fish, but today I wanted meat and I decided to change the rules” will only lead to disappointment in the menu planning system. Only in this case the problem will not be in the system, but in the lack of discipline on your part. If you have already decided to create a menu and follow it, then keep your word for at least one week, and only then evaluate the results.
- Spoiling of other family members. If it is customary in your family that the housewife cooks for everyone separately and depending on their immediate desires, then you can envy your family members and pay tribute to the degree of your love for them. If this suits you, then let it remain that way. But if you feel that indulging home gourmets comes at the expense of your free time and energy, and you want to change the situation, then it won’t be limited to just creating a menu. Before drawing it up, it is necessary to agree that each family member gives voluntary consent to comply with it. And after compilation, show willpower and strength of character to remind the picky people of their own decision. And this is much more difficult than just creating a menu...
- Expecting instant and perfect results. Like any system, menu planning takes practice. And the more you practice, the better the results. It's almost certain that the first menu you create won't be perfect. More precisely, this is how it will look on paper. But as soon as you start following it, it turns out that you cooked too much today and are now tormented by the question of where to put the leftovers. And tomorrow, on the contrary, is too little. And the day after tomorrow they didn’t calculate their strength at all and instead of the four planned dishes they managed to cook only one. Thus, the actual menu will differ significantly from the planned one. But I can definitely promise that if you continue to follow this system, then every day your skills as a good housewife will improve, your menu will become more and more practical, and your cooking will bring more satisfaction. As a rule, any habit is formed within a month. Just give yourself time and room for error.
2. We make a list of dishes that we know how to cook
So, we came to the conclusion that creating a menu for the week is a useful and necessary thing. But where to start? You can try to immediately take the bull by the horns and create a sample menu. It would seem that it could be simpler: divide a piece of paper into 7 parts according to the days of the week and on each day write down the dishes that we will cook.
But this is only at first glance simple. First of all, it is very difficult to immediately remember all the dishes that you know how to cook. In this case, the process of creating a menu can drag on for a long and painful period, occupied by attempts to remember another recipe. Well, if there is nothing special to remember or you are simply too lazy to waste time on this, then the menu for the week will unpleasantly surprise not only you, but also your family with its monotony and scarcity.
Therefore, before you ride forward on a horse with a saber at the ready, I advise you to slow down a little and do some preliminary work: compiling a list of dishes that we know how to cook. Believe me, if you create a menu for the week, having such a list in front of your eyes, you will greatly facilitate this process, and the menu will turn out to be more interesting and varied.
To compile such a list, we will need: a piece of paper, a pen or access to a computer, about an hour of free time. If you write down recipes that you often cook, then arm yourself with these notes.
Now divide the piece of paper (file) so that you get 6 columns:
Example of a table to fill out
The number of columns can be increased if desired, but these six will be the basic ones. They can be reduced only if no one in your family ever eats breakfast, soups, salads, desserts, etc.
Now remember all the dishes that you know how to cook and enter them in the appropriate columns. If you eat processed foods (for example, muesli for breakfast or sausages as a second course), then write them down too. Now our goal is not guidelines for healthy eating, but a simple listing of all available dish options for the menu.
For example: 
I advise you to fill out this plate until you have gone through all the dishes that you know how to cook. If you need a break, then take it, and then again, with renewed vigor, begin to storm the memory bins. Don't stop until you have at least 20 dishes. This is the bare minimum, without which creating a good menu for the week will be very difficult. If the number of recorded dishes is approaching or more than 50, then you can already be congratulated and called a skillful housewife.
Lyrical digression: When I first compiled a list like this, I was in for a very unpleasant surprise. It turned out that my ideas about myself as a housewife who can cook many different dishes, to put it mildly, were exaggerated. I barely scraped together two dozen items.
This discovery became a very powerful incentive for me at one time to learn how to cook new dishes and expand the range of the menu. Since then, my list has grown significantly, including in categories and subcategories.
I hope that after you create your list of dishes, the surprises will be only positive. If not, then it’s never too late to learn and improve.
3. Choose convenient form for the menu.
I will talk about the three main options for this form, show examples and provide ready-made templates for download. And you can decide for yourself which form is more convenient for you.
For example, this is what my weekly menu looks like (the cards are on the refrigerator door): 
I didn’t make it in this form right away: I spent a long time selecting an option that was convenient for me and experimenting with in different forms. But now the process has been brought to almost automaticity and does not cause any difficulties.
How to create a menu for the week?
Option #1. The menu for the week can be compiled electronically in free form in any program convenient for you. Universal programs for these purposes will be Word and OneNote (included in the basic Microsoft Office package). For example, my summer menu looked like this:
Monday
Breakfast - Scrambled eggs with tomatoes (new)
Lunch - Burrito (in the refrigerator)
Afternoon snack - Grapes
Dinner - Gazpacho (new) + Berry pie with blueberries (new)
Tuesday
Breakfast - Rice porridge (new)
Lunch - Gazpacho (in the refrigerator)
Afternoon snack - Berry pie with blueberries (in the refrigerator)
Dinner - Zucchini and potato pancakes (new) + Fresh cabbage salad with garlic dressing (new)
Wednesday
Breakfast - Semolina porridge (new)
Lunch - Zucchini and potato pancakes (in the refrigerator)
Afternoon snack - Jam pie (new)
Dinner - Eggplant cream soup with baked tomatoes (new)
Thursday
Breakfast - Oatmeal (new)
Lunch - Eggplant cream soup with baked tomatoes (in the refrigerator)
Afternoon snack - Jam pie (in the refrigerator)
Dinner - Bitochki from crab sticks(new) + Pepper rings stuffed with cottage cheese and herbs (new)
Friday
Breakfast - Corn porridge on water (new)
Lunch - Crab sticks (in the refrigerator) + Pepper rings stuffed with cottage cheese and herbs (in the refrigerator)
Afternoon snack - Apple strudel (new)
Dinner - Cauliflower soup (new)
Saturday
Breakfast - Buckwheat porridge (new)
Lunch - Cauliflower soup (in the refrigerator)
Afternoon snack - Apple strudel (in the refrigerator)
Dinner - Pork in orange glaze (new) + Chinese salad with Chinese cabbage and chicken (new)
Preparing for future use - Frozen eggplants
Sunday
Breakfast - Egg in bread (new)
Lunch - Champignon puree soup (new)
Afternoon snack - Lemon cake (new)
Dinner - Pork in orange glaze (in the refrigerator) + Chinese salad with Chinese cabbage and chicken (in the refrigerator)
Note: Without fail, I prepare breakfast every day, and on the other days I alternate: on even days I prepare soup and dessert for two days, and on odd days I prepare a second course (also for two days) and a salad. This simple alternation saves a lot of time and effort. And in the refrigerator there is always (!) ready-made food, which is very helpful in situations when “guests are on the doorstep” or “I’m too lazy to cook something today.” “New” is what is being prepared on this particular day. “In the refrigerator” is already ready meals, which were prepared in advance for several servings.
Over time, I realized that the electronic form is not very convenient, since the menu should be in the kitchen, and not on the computer. It is optimal that it is always in the area of closest access, for example, on the refrigerator door. And then I changed the form for the menu.
Option No. 2. It turned out that it is much more convenient to use a printed menu. I made universal template for the menu for the week, I printed it out, filled it out by hand and hung it on the refrigerator door. There was no need to waste time creating a menu in electronic form, and the menu itself was always in front of your eyes. And visually the menu in this form was much easier to perceive. I printed out such forms at once for six months (26 forms), and then only took them out from a special folder as needed.
My template looks like this. On the right is an example of my winter menu for the week, made in this form. 
You can download this “weekly menu” template in doc format at the end of this post.
However, there were several disadvantages to this scheme. For example, separately from the menu, it was necessary to make a list of products for the week - look for each recipe from those that were planned for the week, and write out necessary ingredients. In addition, I am a visual person, so for me remembering dishes only by their names is not very easy. So after a few months I moved on to the next stage.
Option No. 3 - Magnetic cards.
I wrote down all the recipes that I know how to cook in electronic form and provided them with a photograph (in finished form). Then, in the Word program, I drew an A4 sheet into rectangles measuring 5x9 (corresponding to the size of a regular business card). In each rectangle I wrote the name of the dish, the ingredients it consists of, and added a photo. In total, I got 12 cards on one sheet. Separately, I made small rectangles with the names of the days of the week. 
A4 sheet with cards
Next, I checked the telephone directory and found out where in our city there is a service for printing on magnetic sheets. It turned out that in the nearest computer center. There they printed all these cards for me on an inkjet printer. For each sheet I paid an amount equal to approximately $2. I cut the sheet into cards with regular scissors.
Since the cards correspond to the size of a business card, I store them in a regular business card holder, sorted into categories: soups, main courses, salads and desserts. 
And then everything is simple. When creating a menu for the week, I take out a business card holder with cards and, under the names of the days of the week, on the refrigerator door I hang the dishes that I want to prepare (see photo above).
The advantages of such a system:
Creating a menu for a week takes minimal time; you don’t need to write or draw anything.
Each card has a list of ingredients. Therefore, I don’t make a separate grocery list for the week. When going to the store, I simply take the cards with me, put them in my wallet and, checking them, buy everything I need.
The cards hang on the refrigerator while cooking. I can see at any time exactly what ingredients and in what quantities I need.
And finally, it's fast and convenient. I'm very pleased.
I hope that my experience in creating a menu for the week will be useful to you and will help you create a form that is convenient for you.
4. Drawing up a menu for the week, taking into account resources and capabilities
We will need a list of dishes that we can cook and the form we have chosen for organizing the menu (forms, templates, other forms). If we already have these tools, then creating a menu will not require much time and effort.
But if you start this process immediately, you will definitely encounter questions without answers to which it will be impossible to continue drawing up the menu for the week:
- How much time do you personally want to spend on cooking? weekdays and on weekends?
- How many dishes will you cook every day?
- Will you cook on your own or with help?
- How much money can be allocated for catering for a week? It’s good if in a family money is an inexhaustible resource, but what if the family budget has limitations?
- How to please the tastes and wishes of everyone at home? What foods do they prefer?
Let's look at these questions.
1. How much time do you personally want to spend cooking on weekdays and on weekends? Before adding any dish to your list, estimate the time it will take to prepare it. For example, if you work and come home in the evening, then you should not plan dishes for dinner that will take more than 30 minutes to prepare. Give preference to either already prepared food that just needs to be reheated, or home-made semi-finished products (for example, pre-made dumplings) or quick meals.
To save time, cook a lot at once, 2-3 times (for example, soups). Last night's dinner easily turns into today's lunch (or getting ready for work), and the leftovers can be frozen and used at a later date. Examples of dishes that can be frozen or prepared for future use can be found in the previous parts of the article (see links at the beginning of the post).
On weekends, if desired, you can devote more time to cooking and include complex dishes in the menu (for example, from yeast dough or meat dishes, requiring long-term marinating).
2. How many dishes will we prepare every day? I am convinced that a good housewife is not only a cook, who must provide her family with tasty and varied food. Good hostess- this is, first of all, a happy, well-groomed and satisfied woman who finds time for her family and for herself. And the stove and kitchen are already secondary.
If you have the idea that every lunch or dinner should consist of “first, second, salad + compote,” and all dishes must be fresh, then soberly evaluate your time and energy. If opportunities allow, then create a menu taking into account these desires. If you can and want to cook only once a day and one dish, then create a simpler menu. If it is not possible to cook every day, then simply create a menu that will contain semi-finished products and dishes prepared with a reserve of 2 days.
For example, I am a housewife, so I can afford to cook breakfast every day, and on the other days I alternate: on even days, soup and dessert for two days, and on odd days, a main course (also for two days) and salad. Thus, in addition to freshly prepared food, there is always a supply of “yesterday’s” in the refrigerator.
3. Will you cook alone or with help? If someone at home is ready to help you with cooking, then do not reject this help. For example, family members can be assigned light work“assistant chef”: peel potatoes, chop cabbage, wash dishes, etc. Or have someone else prepare a signature dish once a week.
Our family has already developed a tradition: on Sunday morning, my husband fries “signature” potatoes. So this is one of the first dishes I put on the menu.
4. How much money can be allocated for catering for a week? The question is as sensitive as it is relevant. Few families can boast of an inexhaustible financial resource and the fact that they can afford not to count money. Most people count and roughly imagine how much they can spend on food and how much they can’t. Estimate how much you can allocate for food for a week and, based on this financial opportunities, choose dishes. For example, you can give preference to cheap dishes costing up to $1, from $1 to $3, etc. (By the way, I’m going to tell you about dishes in low price ranges soon).
I personally believe that food should be simple and affordable. The remaining money is better spent on something more important than food: health, recreation, education, etc. Therefore, when drawing up a family budget, I am guided by the principle: “It would be better if my children today eat hake more often than salmon, but tomorrow they will have the opportunity to study at Oxford.” You can agree and argue with this, but I prefer this approach.
5. How to please the tastes and wishes of everyone at home? This answer will be the simplest: you can and should involve your family in creating the menu for the week, taking into account their tastes and preferences. Give them the opportunity to choose their favorite dishes, and, of course, don’t forget about your own.
So, answering these questions and taking into account the resources and opportunities available to us, create a menu: from Monday to Sunday. Keep before your eyes a list of dishes that you know how to cook and write down the selected dishes from it in the appropriate lines of the weekly menu.
As a result, you should get a menu for the week, the implementation of which will not only not tire the hostess, but will bring pleasure.
If, looking at the compiled menu, you feel a joyful anticipation of the planned week, then I can congratulate you - you have compiled a wonderful menu!
5. How to make a grocery list for the week?
What benefits does making a weekly grocery list give us?
Firstly, going to the store with a pre-compiled list is much more enjoyable and faster. You know exactly what you need and don’t waste time thinking and doubting.
Secondly, if you follow the list, you will not spend extra money on unnecessary products.
Thirdly, it will save your energy: you won’t have to go to the store several times (or send your husband) to buy something forgotten, stand in line and waste time on this, in general, burdensome activity. It's better to spend 15 minutes making a list than spending 2 hours on another trip to the store.
How to make a grocery list for the week?
1. Open the recipes you have chosen and rewrite all the products that are included in them.
2. Add to the list foods that are not part of recipes, but are consumed during the week (bread, seasonings, salt, sugar, tea, coffee, etc.).
3. Combine duplicate products. For example, if for one recipe we need two eggs, and for the second one, then combine them into one line: - eggs - 3 pcs.
4. Cross off products from this list that you already have at home. For example, if there are 5 potatoes on the grocery list, and you have another half a bag stored at home, then you can safely cross out this item.
5. Divide the list of products depending on the location of the shelves in your store. For example, I shop at a large hypermarket, so in order not to rush around its departments, I immediately create a list of products depending on their location:
- groceries;
- dairy products;
- meat, poultry, eggs
- Fish and seafood;
- vegetables, fruits, herbs;
- frozen food;
- bakery and confectionery products;
- tea, coffee, seasonings;
- miscellaneous.
6. Print (or rewrite) the list. If you prefer to create a menu for the week in electronic form and have the opportunity to transfer it to a PDA (personal pocket computer, smartphone, communicator, etc.) or directly display it on your phone monitor, then this form is very convenient: you don’t need to print or rewrite anything . It is enough to get your phone in the store itself and, checking the monitor, purchase everything you need from the list.
7. Determine the day for the purchase. Warn your family that you are planning shopping on this day, and, if necessary, use their help.
That's all. By making a menu for the week and a shopping list, we have made our life much easier, freeing up time for more important and interesting things; created conditions for significant savings in the family budget and expansion of culinary skills and abilities.
If you try to create a menu and follow this system for at least a month, you will be able to form a very useful and necessary habit.
Being a good housewife is easy!