Menu Planing - Detailed Instructions and Suggestions

So many people seemed to like my menu planning (and soy yoghurt) that I thought I would do a better job explaining how to get a menu plan.

Firstly I wrote down all the meals I enjoy eating and cooking that aren't too hard to make.  I use Excel to list these in categories as shown below:

Red Meat	White Meat	Fish	Either
Lamb Shanks	Lemon Pepper Chicken	Salmon & Hot Veg	Pizza
Lamb Chops	Chicken Stir Fry (Lemon, Chilli,)	Fish cakes/fingers	Cold rolls
Shepherds Pie	Roast Chicken		Bolognese
Beef Stew	Lime Chicken salad
Steak Sandwiches	Honey Soy Chicken
Thai Beef Salad	Lime and Ginger Chicken
	Satay Chicken
	Honey Mustard Chicken
	Herb & Garlic Chicken

Following that I made myself a calendar of January, thinking about what weeks and days I had which activities on.  I also counted up how many slots I had, and basically added leftovers in free spots.  I also paired food.  You may notice I have pizza with mince listed, the next day a chicken dish (which is served with hot veg, then the day after, Shepherd's pie - yes, for the leftovers.  :)

I use the oven, stove, BIKM a thermo-cooker, and a slow cooker.

Lunch is usually the other leftovers.  I haven't specified whether I have hot veg or salad with some, as usually that is interchangeable, but trust me I'm not vegetable-less.

 

Month:	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
January	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Steak Sandwiches	Honey Soy Chicken	Steak Cold Rolls	Leftovers	Herb & Garlic Chicken	Pizza (mince)	Honey Mustard Chicken
	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
	Shepherds Pie	Lemon Pepper Chicken	Thai Beef Salad	Leftovers	Leftovers	Roast Chicken	Leftovers
	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
	Lime Chicken noodle salad	Beef Stew	Satay Chicken	Leftovers	Leftovers	Leftovers	Chicken Stir Fry (Lemon, Chilli,)
	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
	Leftovers	Salmon	Leftovers	Leftovers	Lime Chicken salad	Lamb Shanks	Cold Rolls
	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
	29	30	31
	Pizza (Chicken)	Lamb Chops	Pollo Bolognese