We ended in the last installment in this series with the Emergency Quick Clean page. I showed you a picture of mine, in my current planner. The page facing it is what we are going to look at now, so take a look below:

The page after the Emergency Quick Clean is a page with a little stick on page flag/tab. I also opted to decorate this page a bit, by using some washi tape and a journaling card.

I have this page set up like this, because if I turn that page, the next page is my menu plan for the week. This way, if I want to check what I'm supposed to cook for one of the meals for the day, I just need to open up my homemaking section, then grab that little blue tab, and it flips me right over to my menu for the week.

This cute little page works to divide the homemaking section into two parts. The first part of the homemaking section was completed in the last installment in this series. That section was mostly cleaning and schedule related. The second part of the homemaking section is largely food related.

Take a few minutes and create a cute, tabbed page, to divide between the cleaning, and cooking sections of your homemaking section.

The Weekly Menu

Which day of the week do you get your groceries? A lot of ladies get theirs on Fridays. Each day before your grocery day, sit down and write out your menu plan for the next several days. If you get groceries on Fridays, then sometime each Thursday, sit down and write down all the breakfasts, lunches, and suppers you plan to prepare for the up coming Friday through Thursday.

Take this time to plan meals that are healthy, but also ones that your family enjoys, and that are fairly cost-effective, as you want to be a good steward with your husband's hard-earned money.

Think about any days where you may have specific out of the home activities going on. Are those days when you need to have something slow cooking in the crock pot all day, so that you come home to a yummy smell, and a cooked supper waiting in the crock pot?

What about afternoon outings? Do you need to plan out packed lunches for those times?

Just write out each day of the week, and write your planned breakfasts, lunches, and suppers on it. I usually just use either Arc or Martha Stewart discbound filler paper for this. I fill one side of the page with the week's menu. When I am done with that side, then I take the paper out, flip it upside-down, and then put it back in, so that I can then fill up the other side of the paper, before I either file the menu, or throw it away.

Sometimes you may end up making a super-good menu. In these cases, keep those menu pages in the back, or Notes section of your planner, or somewhere in the back of your Homemaking section. Then, every once in a while, pull out that menu, and put it in your menu section to use again.

If you can't think of very many things to put on your menu plan, or you don't know how to make many things, grab a cookbook, or look at recipes online, and try some of those. In fact, it may be fun to have a whole week of all new recipes to try. Then, you can keep a list of the recipes you all like, to have again, in the future.

Meal Ideas

The next few pages should be meal ideas. Have a section for breakfast ideas, a section for lunch ideas, and a section for supper ideas. I like to keep Post-It arrow flags on these pages, to mark where I'm at on these lists, as I often reference them when making my weekly menu plan. This way, I can ensure that we aren't repeatedly having the same things too often.

Below are some sample meal ideas, to get you started:

Breakfast Ideas

Homemade granola

Smoothies

Grapefruit and peanut butter toast

Scrambled eggs

Oatmeal

Muffins

Cottage cheese and fruit

Pancakes

Fruit and homemade yogurt

Baked oatmeal

Store bought yogurt cups

Fruit and cheese

Cantaloupe halves

Banana bread

Egg casserole

Scrambled eggs with cream of mushroom soup in them (Campbelled eggs)

Cinnamon toast

Biscuits and gravy

Polenta

Eggs 'n Oats (Scrambled eggs with some oats, cinnamon, cayenne and paprika mixed in)

Lunch Ideas

Salad and fish

Homemade tomato soup

Legumes and cheese

Buttered pasta

Tuna sandwiches

Fruit and veggies with yogurt cream cheese dip

Homemade macaroni and cheese

Stir fry

Canned soup

Egg salad sandwiches

Chicken wraps

Quick black bean soup (made with canned black beans)

Salad and chicken

Avocado toast

Quick homemade veggie soup (made with canned or frozen chopped veggies)

Quick spaghetti (spaghetti sauce and noodles, no meat)

Breakfast burritos

Supper Ideas

Seasoned chicken breasts

Lentil stew

Omelettes

Pot roast

Cowboy beans

Beef stew

Salmon loaf (meatloaf made with salmon meat, instead of beef)

Black bean soup (slow cooked in crock pot all day)

Spaghetti (with meat)

Potato soup

Meat loaf

Chili

Parmesan salmon

Split peas and biscuits

Reminder: try a new recipe

Homemade pizza (consider doing this every Friday or Saturday night)

Hamburger stew

Lasagna

Zucchini casserole

White chicken chili

Chicken pot pie

Eggs 'n hash

Sides

After your meals ideas pages, you should have a page that lists ideas for side dishes. I suggest you do fruit sides with breakfast, fruit and vegetable sides with lunch, and vegetable sides with supper. Try to aim for at least 1 cup of fresh fruit a day, and at least 1.5 cups of fresh veggies each day.

Master Grocery List

The next page should be a master grocery list. Imagine you have absolutely no food whatsoever, and you need to completely stock your pantry, cabinets, fridge, and freezer, completely from start. This is where you will have a list of everything you'd put in the pantry, cabinets, fridge, and freezer. Divide your Master Grocery List into sections. For example: Dairy, Meat, Fruit, Vegetables, Baking, Dry Goods, Canned Goods, Frozen Foods, Condiments, Husband's Favorite Stuff, Other Items.

If you've never made a Master Grocery List before, then this may seem daunting. If you feel overwhelmed, then I suggest you do an internet search for 'master grocery list.' You will likely find several. Some will be blank forms you can fill out, while others will be other people's lists. Use these for ideas, or just print out someone else's Master Grocery List, if it's pretty close to how you and your family eat, alter it where needed, and use it.

Putting Together a Menu Plan and Grocery List

1) Look at your Meals Ideas and Sides pages, and use those to help you make a menu plan for the week

2) Whenever you run low or out of something around the house, write it down on some of the scratch paper at the front of your planner. When you are planning your meals and making your grocery list for the week, look at this list on your scratch paper, and transfer its contents to the grocery list you are making.

3) Look at your menu plan, and write down anything you need, that you already don't have on hand.

4) Look through your Master Grocery List. Read quickly over each item, and when you see something on that list that you are low or out of, add that item to your list.

5) Now, re-write your list in the order of the aisles in your store. Start by writing all your non-food items first, then all dry good foods, then all produce and meat, then dairy and eggs, and end with frozen items. Keep your completed grocery list as the first page in the scratch paper section in the front matter of your planner.

Recipes

That last part of your planner's homemaking section should be recipes. Decide if you want to take the time to type up all your recipes on a file on your computer and print them out for your planner, or if you just want to put in some filler paper, and hand-write your recipes in.

Write down recipes for things that you cook regularly, but don't have the recipe memorized. Any memorized recipes don't need written in your planner. Don't worry about alphabetizing your recipes, but do put them in an order of all breakfast recipes first, then lunch, then supper, then desserts, then treats, then specials, etc. Leave a few blank or lined pages of filler paper after your recipes, so that when you want to write in a new recipe, you can.

If you decide to type up your recipes in a file on your computer, then you can print them out in booklet form. This will already have them printed out on double sided half sheets of paper, properly collated. You will just need to print, fold over, as if making a book, then carefully cut off a sliver of the spine/fold. Then, just punch, and put in your planner.

Put a little tab or flag on the first page of your recipes, so that when you need to access your planner for a recipe, you can open the Homemaking section, then grab the little tab sticking out for your recipes, and turn right there.