Menu Planning - The Art and Science!

“What should I make for breakfast/lunch/dinner?” seems to be a question that horrifies every woman who cooks for a bunch of picky, choosy and sometimes health conscious food lovers. Every individual loves different type of food and it is on the shoulders of the “woman of the house” to please everyone’s wishes and taste buds. With the super growth of the health conscious funda, now it’s not just about eating to please your buds rather it’s about pleasing your body and consequently it’s about smart cooking and menu planning.

Menu planning can be said to be a process of planning and scheduling intake of meals for a general or specific individual requirements.

The best way to achieve balanced diet is to plan meals in relation to other food for the whole day.

It is advisable to eat small regular meals during the day rather than one huge meal.

A good menu is one which will not only provide adequate calories, fat and proteins but also minerals, vitamins essential for the physical well being of each member of a family. The diet should contain ‘Basic five food groups’.

A family meal should cater to the needs of the different members. A growing adolescent boy may need rich food to satisfy his appetite, whereas a young child may require soft and bland diet. Pregnant woman may require more greens in the diet. Heavy worker may require more calories and B vitamins than other members of the family. Meal pattern varies with age, occupation and lifestyle of the family members.

Planning of meals should be done in such a way that recipes should be simple and nutritious. The planned meals should also fit into the budget of the family and the cost of the meals can be reduced by bulk purchasing and using seasonal foods.

Losses of nutrients during processing, cooking should be minimized. Sprouted grams, malted cereals, fermented foods enhance the nutritive value. Good quality protein should be distributed in all meals. Pressure cooker can be used to conserve nutrients.

The planned meal should meet the recommended dietary allowances of an individual as well as cater to preferences of vegetarian or non-vegetarian.

Variety in colour, texture and taste should be introduced in foods by using different kinds of food and cooking method. The interval between meals should also be considered.

Effective menu planning is rewarding in terms of time and money, especially the little effort that it takes. Here are some tips for successful menu planning:

• Make a commitment: As with any goal―losing weight, exercising, or eating healthier―the first step is to decide that you’re going to do it. Ask people who eat with you about their likes and dislikes about foods and then factor their preferences into your plans.

• Pick a planning style: Planning for the next day or planning for the coming few days or planning for the entire week. Use planners or calenders to do this.

• Make a shopping list: Make a list of things you buy frequently (such as milk, eggs, chicken breasts), then add extras so you don’t have to start from scratch each week.

• Cook perishables first: Cook with perishables like fresh fish or salad greens early in the week.

• Grade your efforts: Critique your meal each time after finishing it.

• For menu planning to be done most effectively, you need to set aside a regular time to do it: Begin by collecting: a pad of paper and pen, your grocery list, if you have one started, any cookbooks or magazines you’ll need, your laptop to access Simple Bites, or your other favorite food sites, for menu planning tips and dinner ideas.

• Decide what you want to prepare: Soup or Salad, Ethnic, Pasta, Casserole and Quick & Easy. Or the cooking styles – grilling, crock-pot, stir-fry, roast.

• Save one day a week for a new dish from a cookbook or a food blog if you like to try new things. If it’s from a blog, make sure you print out the recipe and keep it with your menu plan or in a notebook just for that purpose.

• Make a note of where the recipe is as you write down the menu for each day.

• Keep your shopping list next to your menu planning sheet: As you write down a menu item, look at the recipe and review it, writing down what you need to get from the store.

• If you tend to have a lot of leftovers from your meals, plan one day as LO (leftover) day:  It’s a buffet on the cheap that cleans out the refrigerator and reduces the amount of food you waste. And as a bonus, it’s a no-cook night for you.

• Lastly, look for twofer opportunities:  What’s a twofer? It’s getting two meals from the effort of one. You can do that by using the leftovers from one meal in the next meal, or doubling the recipe and freezing half for another dinner on a day when you absolutely don’t have time to cook.

The size of your family, the time you have for cooking, your family’s food preferences, and whether or not you have picky eaters ALL affect what you cook.

Post by Faiz Lahori