How I make a Menu

***** Warning very long- though informative- Post *********
Pictures to follow

It's the end of the month again,
I am absolutely flabbergasted
and totally befuddled that it is the
END of AUGUST!!
Holy Cow! Do you know that
December is just four squares on the
calendar away from August.

Well, I'm not talking about December
cares right now, though they are
on my mind, 
never you fear.
No, today, as the end of the month approaches,
I am thinking about the new month,
which means two things 'round here-
Bill Paying (ugh!)
and Menu Planning (yum!)
but unless anyone out there in cyber land is
raising their hands and shouting from the rooftops
that they'd like to pay my bills,
I think I will settle in and talk menu.
Plus, I've been fighting with the menu planning page
for a month, this will be a good start.

So I start with a few of my favorite books-
cookbooks that is.

These are the three I turn to the most,

I can always find healthy, fast & friendly
when I open these three books- and 90%
of the time, that's what I'm looking for.
I love to try new things so this is the springboard
to start the planning.
I ask everyone for 4 dinner ideas, 1 treat
and 1 breakfast that they are totally craving!
I'm not one of those who tries something new
EVERY DAY! We have our favs, our go to guys,
and I like to keep them as the building blocks to
a good menu.
This way everyone knows that there will be something
on the menu that they not only like, but that they are
dreaming about-
maybe at your house, you don't dream in food,
but here- it's all about the palette baby!

My menu planning also revolves around the weather,
the season and what is happening at our house that month,
Birthdays, Diets, Sports, activities at school and vacations
(in September we have one birthday, 4 weekly after school activites,
one vacation & mr. treasure is trying to lose weight, plus it is 
still a hot month in sunny so-cal)
all are part of the equation.
The final thing I try to keep balanced is the amount of
meat, pasta and bread that makes its way onto the list-
I'm not against any of these,
it just so happens that if I'm not careful,
they show their heads more often than I like
and I really want a healthy balance in what we eat.

I usually end up with list that looks a lot like this:
September Menu Plan
Stir fry *
Shrimp Tacos *
Summer Spaghetti *
Crunchy Cabbage Salad *
Chicken & Sundried Tomato Panini *
Roasted chicken w/ balsamic peppers & potatoes *
Lime Grilled Chicken & Orange Scented Green Beans *
Shrimp with Creamy Orange Chipotle
Tri-Tip with Caramelized Red Onions & BBQ sauce
     w/ Quinoa & Pepper Pilaf
(we have a Birthday Dinner)
Asiago Pork Chops w/ Parmesan Shmashed Potatoes
(about this point, I realize I have a lot of meat so I try to recover)
Caramelized Pepper Quesadillias *
Field of Greens Salad *
Roasted Asparagus & Green Salad *
Grilled Rainbow & Homemade Wheat Bread
Asparagus Salad *
Fiesta Salad *
Pesto Pasta *
Maple Butternut Squash & Apple Fall Salad *
Roasted Vegetable Pasta *
Carrot Cake Pancakes *
Fish Primavera and Brown Rice Bake
Taco Pockets, Corn Bread & Guac *
Brown Sugar Salmon & Wild Rice Pilaf *
California BLT Pockets *
(the starred (*) items are meals that can go together 
in about 30 minutes & that my kids can do if needed)
Breakfasts:
Overnight Honey Almond Multigrain Cereal
Pumpkin Muffins
Blueberry Casserole
Crepes
Cranberry-Orange English Scones

Desserts:
Molten Lava Cake
(remember there is a birthday)
Apple Spice Cake
Chocolate Peppermint Parfaits
Mango Lime Smoothies
Lemon Berry Angel Food Cakes
Orange Bread Pudding

Sorry it got lengthy, I decided to just go ahead
and finish it up- now you know what we will be
eating in September.
I only do a few breakfasts ideas because we have our
run of the mill, eat during the school week routine,
so these are the weekend breakfasts.
I plan our desserts for two reasons-
A) if I don't have something to look forward to,
I will dessert myself to death on a daily basis &
B) if I have a plan, I won't buy 10 gallons of ice
cream, make a ton of cookies and buy all the
ingredients for every thing I see-
oh wait- they are kind of the same reason-
Well anyway, it is out of self preservation for me!
I gotta have my dessert plan!

So that is the footprint for the month.
From those, I make a working menu for the week,

and it includes breakfast, lunch & dinner
It looks like this:

I get the grocery ads for the week,
and analyze it for any great sales-
if there are any, I modify my weekly menu accordingly
(if I have asparagus on the menu, but it is $5.99/ pound,
that gets skipped, and likewise, if Salmon is on sale,
I pull out all that I love about Salmon recipes)

I go shopping on the 1st of the month,
and I buy all the pantry basics for this list plus
all the sale items that I know I use on a frequent basis.
This is a big shopping day, because I usually end up
at all the stores-
and it usually takes up about 1/2 of my monthly budget!

Than each week, I look at the ads,
make changes if needed,
and do a quick stock up of what we need,
usually only the produce, milk, & eggs.

Starting in September, I am going to try
something to save a bit of money. I am only
going to buy the sale items that we are ACTUALLY
using that month, not the others that we use regularly,
but won't need that month. My plan is to try that
through the end of the year, and than go back to
stocking up. I'll let you know how it works.