As we know, you can’t catch a fish from a pond without difficulty. The same rule applies when creating a menu. You'll have to pore over this simple task for an hour.

There is some good news:

• The time spent on creating a menu will be returned to you with interest within a week.
• This will save you a lot of nerves. After all, you won’t have to rush to the store on the way home, you won’t have to strain your already tired brain with the question “What should I cook today?”
• At the end of the month, you'll probably be surprised to find that you've spent less money on food.
• Your home-cooked food will become more varied and, most likely, tastier.
• It will be easier to eat a truly balanced diet, rather than torturing your body with endless food from cans or eating borscht cooked on Monday all week.

I admit that there will be even more advantages. It all depends on the current state of things.

I’ll make a reservation right away: This article will talk about creating a dinner menu when (I hope) your whole family gathers around the table. , as a rule, everyone is different. Some people don’t even have time to have breakfast at home, and the vast majority have lunch outside.

To create a complete menu for the week, choose 1 hour of free time. For example, on Sunday, or even better on Saturday (to have time to buy all the groceries on Sunday). In the future, you will spend much less time on this activity.

Do not throw away the menus you have compiled, but carefully put them in a folder. Then they can be alternated again.

After a couple of months, you can safely return to the previous menu options.

To create a menu you will need:

• A4 sheet of paper.
• A pen or, better yet, a pencil.
• Your favorite cookbooks (I, for example, love) or culinary magazines, a selection of clippings with recipes and the like.
• Your family's plan for the coming week (if you don't remember it).

Use a tablet or computer to search for recipes. You'll only waste time.

Firstly, even very interesting articles are difficult to read online without being distracted by reminders, pop-ups, etc. And I’m generally silent about searching for recipes...

Secondly, recipes from the Internet are difficult to find later in your already impressive list of bookmarks.

Thirdly, you will get confused by the variety of recipes and in the end, as we often do, when the choice is too large, you will not choose anything at all.

If you have a favorite blogger whose recipes you like, and you have long wanted to try them, then I advise you to save them the old-fashioned way - print them on paper. You will not be distracted by the Internet once again, and also, if the recipes turned out to be successful, you will be able to put them in the folder of your favorite dishes. For example, I also have one. There I collect copies of recipes that I tried at a party, and there, on the spot, I received a photocopy.

If you liked a recipe from a culinary magazine, carefully cut it out and file it in a folder, and throw away the magazine or give it away. This way you will avoid piles of unnecessary paper around the house and will be able to easily find the recipe when you need it.

How to take into account the circumstances of your life in your menu

I recommend doing at least one day a week, two chicken, two fish, one meat and leaving one day free (more on that below for why free). It’s even better to increase the number of vegetarian and fish days by reducing chicken and meat days.

If you know in advance that you have a restaurant on Fridays, then remember this and create a menu for only six days.

If your children go to clubs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, then I recommend taking this into account. On such days, it is better to leave time for the children, saving it on cooking. So feel free to plan your Monday and Wednesday meals in large portions that will last you two days.

On days when you arrive late (for example, you have courses or training), plan the lightest meals: salads, vegetarian hot dishes, fish.

One of the important conditions for success: do not choose complex dishes for weekdays and Sundays that take a lot of time and effort. If you wish, include something more complex on the menu for Friday or Saturday (or when you have free days on your schedule).

Even if you love to cook, like me, you will still get tired of hanging around in the kitchen endlessly, especially after a long day at work. And why? There are a huge number of very tasty and healthy recipes in the world that are easy to follow.

Personally, I have a rule: a maximum of 30-45 minutes to prepare a full dinner. Exceptions are dishes that are cooked in the oven. There you cleaned everything, cut it, put it in the oven and went about your business. I select recipes (if they are not my invention) precisely according to these criteria - tasty, simple and fast. That is why give preference to dishes that are cooked in the oven.

Leave one day a week... empty. Even if you don’t have to go to a restaurant or visit, you will definitely be at home. My experience confirms: no matter how you plan, there will always be food left over. Therefore, in my family we have introduced a “leftovers day”, which we spend on Sunday (or the last day before the next purchase of products for the new menu). On such a day, I use my imagination or look through cookbooks, replacing the missing ingredients with similar ones. Sometimes the results are simply masterpieces, the recipes of which I post on my blog along with the weekly menu for the whole family.

Before you sit down at the table and start making a list, I advise you to look in the refrigerator. What do you have lying around that needs urgent consumption? These products should form the basis of your menu.

For example, if you have a head of cabbage lying there, then include Cole Slaw salad or cabbage soup in the menu (or both, if there is a lot of cabbage). If there is chicken there, then come up with dishes with it.

If a mouse hangs itself in the refrigerator, then congratulations! It will be much easier for you to create a menu, and you will be able to fit whatever your heart desires (from food) into it.

Let's go to the menu itself

Write a plan on a piece of paper. For example:

• Monday: .
• Tuesday: vegetarian (for two days).
• Wednesday: leftovers.
• Thursday: cabbage soup with meat.
• Friday: restaurant.
• Saturday: chicken.
• Sunday: “fantasy from leftovers.”

Browse through your collection of recipes. If you are looking for chicken dishes, use the index at the back of the cookbook. Very often you come across excellent options when you realize that in 1-2 recipes you can use all the products left over from this week, simply by buying, for example, rice and parsley with garlic. Such recipes are ideal for thrifty housewives and owners.

Immediately start writing down the dishes you like next to the days of the week on your sheet. Indicate the name of the dish, the title of the book and the page number with the recipe. If in the process you come across a better option, then correct what you wrote. I advise you not to get carried away here. Once you have a plan for all the days on a piece of paper, call it a day. Bookmark your favorite recipes and use them for next week when the time comes.

Usually you just have to start. Over time, you will get everything done much faster.

Dishes from the weekly menu can be varied at your discretion and adjusted to your changing plans. So, if you don’t want fish on Monday, freeze it and cook chicken. And on Saturday then eat fish.

It is better to remove the food from the freezer the evening of the previous day and put it in the refrigerator, well packed. This way they can not lose their beneficial properties. Please note that they defrost much faster than meat and chicken. You can get them in the morning before going to work.

And one more thing: it is not at all necessary to make a list on a weekend and start planning on Monday.

For example, I shop on Tuesday, when there are not so many people in the stores. That's why my planning also starts on Tuesday - with fresh food.

As you can see, there are many options for creating a menu for the week. This activity gives you freedom of action, and the menu can and should be adjusted to suit your needs and the needs of your family.

Good health to you!

Healthy saving of money is a useful skill. In modern conditions, food prices are high and expenses often exceed all imaginable standards. Today we have compiled a budget menu for you for the week, following the principles of inexpensive and healthy nutrition. It represents a ready-made option, with the number of products purchased and their approximate cost.

Required Products

Name	Quantity	price, rub.
Potato	1.5 kg.	37,5
Beet	400 gr.	10
Carrot	600 gr.	15
Bulb onions	650 gr.	18,5
Pickled cucumbers	1 jar	83
Sauerkraut	1 package	41
Beans	400 gr.	34
Boiled sausage	200 gr.	35
Chicken egg	5 pieces.	23
Canned green peas	2 cans	48
Mayonnaise	1 package	28
Pork	300 gr.	50
Greenery	70 gr.	52
Butter	1 pack	48
Beef	1 kg.	319
Cabbage	700 gr.	10
Tomatoes	200 gr.	30
Sour cream	100 gr.	25
Garlic	3 pcs.	28
Puff pastry	700 gr.	20
Chicken fillet	350 gr.	31,5
Rice	200 gr.	13
Bulgarian pepper	150 gr.	7,5
Canned corn	1 jar	45
Buckwheat	1 glass	11
Zucchini	200 gr.	5
Sausages	350 gr.	42
Pasta	250 gr.	17
Unaccounted products		~200
Total		1327

Dishes for the week

We know firsthand that preparing half a liter of borscht for one person is not an option, so in the menu we will limit ourselves to listing the dishes, their composition and the amount that will last you for 1 week with a consumption of 2000 kcal per day, which is the average for a person.

Second courses

1. Pasta with sausages and seasonings

Sausages 350 g, dried basil 1 g, pasta 250 g, vegetable oil 2 tbsp. l., garlic 1 tooth, onion 1 pc., tomato paste 1.5 tbsp. l. and black pepper

2. Buckwheat with vegetables

buckwheat – 1 cup, granulated sugar – 0.5 tsp, onions – 1 pc., zucchini – 200 g., vegetable oil – 40 ml, carrots – 1 pc., salt – 3 g., tomato sauce – 1 tbsp. l.

3. Rice with vegetables

Rice 200 grams, vegetable oil - 10 g, onion - 1 piece, bell pepper - 1 piece, canned peas - 1 jar, carrots 1 piece, canned corn - 1 jar

4. Dumplings with minced chicken and herbs

Unleavened dough - 700 grams, red pepper - 2 grams, greens - 30 grams, potatoes - 70 grams, flour - 30 grams, onions - 100 grams, salt - 2 grams, black pepper - 2 grams, chicken fillet - 350 grams ,

Soups

1. Borscht with beef

Beef 500 g, sugar - 5 grams, carrots - 1 pc, white cabbage - 200 grams, onions - 1 pc, beets - 2 pcs, tomato paste - 2 tbsp, vinegar - 1 tbsp, greens - 10 gr.

2. Cabbage soup from fresh cabbage

Meat - 500 g, garlic - 2 pcs., cabbage - 500 g., onions - 1 pc., tomatoes - 2 pcs., vegetable oil - 2 tbsp. spoons, potatoes - 2 pcs., greens - 20 grams, bay leaves - 2 pcs., sour cream - 100 g., carrots - 1 pc., pepper - 3 grams.

3. Potato soup

Pork - 300 g, black peppercorns - 4 pcs., onions - 100 g., coriander - 1/4 tsp, allspice - 3 pcs., bay leaf - 3 pcs., potatoes - 550 g. , paprika - 1/4 tsp, herbs - 10 grams, butter - 20 g, vegetable oil - 1 tbsp.

Salads

1. Olivier classic

Potatoes - 4 pcs., pickled cucumbers - 3 pcs., boiled sausage - 200 g, chicken eggs - 5 pcs., carrots - 2 pcs., canned green peas - 1 jar, mayonnaise - 2 tbsp. l;

2. Vinaigrette with beans

Potatoes - 2 pcs., salt - 2 grams, beets - 1 pcs., carrots - 2 pcs., onions - 1 pcs., pickled cucumbers - 2 pcs., sauerkraut - 100 g., beans - 400 g., sunflower oil - 2 tbsp.

Budget menu for a week for a family

The menu is designed for a family of 2 people. If you need to calculate a menu for 3 people, simply multiply the number of products by 1.5. It should be understood that it is difficult to include any delicacies in a budget menu: fruits, sweets, and so on, so we will form only the body of the diet, with a calorie content of 1900 kcal for men and 1500 for women. The consumption of all other products will be at your discretion.

Monday

Breakfast

• pasta with beef stew - 400 grams;

Dinner

• bow pasta - 500 grams;
• borscht from fresh cabbage and potatoes - 500 g;

Dinner

• rice with chicken - 500 grams.

Total: 3356 kcal.

Tuesday

Breakfast

• cottage cheese 1.8% - 200 grams;
• Rice milk porridge - 600 gr.

Dinner

• lean cabbage soup - 500 grams;
• Olivier salad with chicken - 500 gr.

Dinner

• Bigus with pork – 600 g.

Total: 3467 kcal.

Wednesday

Breakfast

• fried eggs - 500 gr.

Dinner

• potato soup with mushrooms - 500 grams;
• vegetable salad with mayonnaise - 500 gr.

Dinner

• fried potatoes - 500 grams;
• chicken cutlets with mushrooms - 300 g.

Total: 3460 kcal.

Thursday

Breakfast

• omelette with ham - 500 gr.

Dinner

• ear - 600 grams;
• Navy pasta - 300 g.

Dinner

• stewed potatoes with beef - 500 gr.

Total: 3495 kcal.

Friday

Breakfast

• buckwheat with mushrooms and onions - 400 gr.

Dinner

• mushroom soup with noodles - 600 grams;
• pasta with sausages and spices - 400 g.

Dinner

• stewed cabbage with potatoes - 400 gr.

Total: 3366 kcal.

Saturday

Breakfast

As you can see, there are no special things, but some people will ask where sour cream sauces are on the budget menu, and you will only have to eat empty pasta one day. Let’s answer very simply - the cost of such a diet is 2576 rubles! For one person it is only 1288 rubles per week.

The question is - why so little? The whole catch is that you most likely came to this page not to lose weight (which is what our site is actually about), which means you really have no idea how you can eat quality food and, most importantly, inexpensively. Most of the money goes to “goodies”: sweets, alcohol, lemonade, chocolates and other semi-finished products. Eating natural products is several times cheaper and this diet can be made into a restaurant diet, adding a couple of thousand to the costs.

At the same time, we suggest you take a look at the remaining sections of the site, where good dietary diets are collected, which are even cheaper than those presented.

Planning a menu for a week for a family with recipes is not easy; in addition to the correct purchase of food, 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. On a piece of paper you need to write down an approximate menu of 4 - 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 prepare. 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, you can write them down on a large sheet, 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 compose it in this way - within a week it is necessary that there are 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 – Peppers stuffed with vegetables, baked in the oven, 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:

1. First of all, let's put the rice to cook and boil it until almost done.
2. While the rice is cooking, fry the chopped onions and mushrooms, add chopped celery stalks to the mix.
3. Wash the pepper, cut it in half without cutting off the stem, and remove the seeds.
4. Discard the almost finished rice and add it to the vegetables. Season with spices and salt.
5. 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:

1. Peel the vegetables and cut them into small pieces. The pumpkin for this recipe can be frozen.
2. Place the vegetables in a saucepan, add water and add a little salt.
3. A few minutes before the vegetables are ready, heat the milk with a piece of butter.
4. 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 – cottage cheese 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:

1. Cut the chicken into portions and place on a greased baking sheet. Add garlic, cut into several pieces, and onions.
2. Peel the potatoes and carrots, cut into small pieces and add to the chicken.
3. Salt and season with spices, add herbs.
4. 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:

1. Cut the boiled vegetables into pea-sized cubes, focusing on the grains from the can of canned product.
2. Pickled cucumbers and sauerkraut are also finely chopped. The smaller the cubes, the tastier the dish, and the salad looks more appetizing.
3. Season boiled vegetables and pickles with peas with a dressing of mustard, oil and citrus juice.
4. 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 - curdled milk.

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:

1. Chop the cabbage - you can use a food processor, a grater, or simply chop the vegetable into thin and long strips.
2. Mix mustard with chopped herbs and mayonnaise, season the sauce with salt and freshly ground pepper.
3. Chop the onion and scald. The straw should be thin and long.
4. 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 cooking 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.

Today, the economic situation in most of society has its own characteristic features:

• the possibility of buying a home, mainly with a mortgage (which many people use);
• the great needs of each person and the ability to satisfy them due to the diverse supply of the market, but since not many earn enough, the credit system has spread.

Therefore, most people may experience financial difficulties. Then it becomes necessary to tighten the belt. In such cases, one of the lifelines is an economical menu. It will help you save money and at the same time eat tasty, satisfying and even healthy.

Let's look at one menu as an example, and then talk about general recommendations for economical nutrition.

Below is a menu for the week indicating the serving size and its calorie content per person.

Day of the week	Eating	Dish	Portion volume	Calorie content
Monday	Breakfast	Milk rice porridge	150 gr	225
	Lunch	Glass of tea	200 ml	60
			150 gr	300
	Dinner	Sauerkraut borscht	300 gr	250
	Afternoon snack	Cottage cheese with sugar and sour cream	200 gr	200
	Dinner	Vegetable stew	200 gr	300
		Pork sauce	100 gr	355
		A glass of kefir	250 gr	75

Tuesday	Breakfast	Oatmeal	150 gr	205
	Lunch	A glass of kefir	250 ml	75
		Cookies “warm milk” 4 pcs	80 gr	95
	Dinner	Sauerkraut borscht	250 gr	390
	Afternoon snack	Baked apple	180 gr	80
	Dinner	Rice	150 gr	226
		Vegetable salad	200 gr	300
	Second dinner (2-3 hours before bedtime)	Vegetable salad (cucumber, tomato, pepper)	130 gr	195

Wednesday	Breakfast	Milk buckwheat porridge	150 gr	300
	Lunch	Glass of tea	200 ml	60
		3 sandwiches (bread, butter, cheese)	150 gr	300
	Dinner	Cabbage soup with fresh cabbage	300 gr	250
	Afternoon snack	Banana	200 gr	200
	Dinner	Mashed potatoes	150 gr	195
		Cutlet	100 gr	200
	Second dinner (2-3 hours before bedtime)	Glass of fermented baked milk	200 gr	160

Thursday	Breakfast	Milk soup with rice	250 gr	400
	Lunch	Glass of fermented baked milk	250 ml	160
		Cookies 4 pcs	80 gr	95
	Dinner	Cabbage soup with fresh cabbage	250 gr	220
	Afternoon snack	Pear	130 gr	50
	Dinner	Pasta with cheese	150 gr	300
		2 pickled cucumbers	200 gr	60
	Second dinner (2-3 hours before bedtime)	2 fresh carrots	100 g5	80

Friday	Breakfast	Fried eggs	130 gr	260
	Lunch	Millet porridge	150 ml	250
		Cookies 4 pcs	80 gr	95
	Dinner	Chicken noodle soup	250 gr	617
	Afternoon snack	Cranberry juice and apple jam bun	250 gr; 100 gr	150; 200
	Dinner	Buckwheat	150 gr	255
		Beef liver goulash	80 gr	160
	Second dinner (2-3 hours before bedtime)	Beetroot salad with prunes	200 gr	140

Saturday	Breakfast	Cottage cheese casserole	150 gr	200
	Lunch	Glass of tea	200 ml	60
		3 sprat sandwiches	100 gr	300
	Dinner	Chicken noodle soup	250 gr	617
	Afternoon snack	Fruit salad (apple, pear, tangerine, yogurt)	200 gr	300
	Dinner	French potato	250 gr	650
			80 gr	160
	Second dinner (2-3 hours before bedtime)	A glass of kefir	250 gr	75

Sunday	Breakfast	Fried egg with tomatoes	150 gr	280
	Lunch	Semolina	150 ml	300
			100 gr	300
	Dinner	Rassolnik	250 gr	615
	Afternoon snack	Milkshake with berries	250 gr	200
	Dinner	Pilaf	150 gr	4000
	Second dinner (2-3 hours before bedtime)	Apple	180 gr	80

Weekly grocery list

1. Pork (1 kg) 350 rubles
2. Minced beef (1 kg) 280 rubles
3. Chicken soup set (200 gr.) 60 rubles
4. Beef liver (400 gr.) 75 rubles
5. Rice (1 package) 60 rubles
6. Oatmeal (1 package) 35 rubles
7. Buckwheat (1 package) 70 rubles
8. Millet (1 package) 48 rubles
9. Semolina (1 package) 30 rubles
10. Pasta (1 package) 53 rubles
11. Vermicelli (1 package) 30 rubles
12. Eggs (10 pcs.) 60 rubles
13. Sprats (1 package) 90 rubles
14. Potatoes (2 kg) 40 rubles
15. Cucumbers (2 fresh \ 3 salted) 70 rubles
16. Bell pepper (1 pc.) 30 rubles
17. Fresh tomatoes (3 medium pieces) 140 rubles
18. Beets (2 medium) 10 rubles
19. Carrots (4 medium) 20 rubles
20. Apples (2 pcs.) 50 rubles
21. Bananas (2 pcs.) 20 rubles
22. Pears (2 pcs.) 30 rubles
23. Cookies (2 packs) 60 rubles
24. Bread (2 rolls) 60 rubles
25. Milk (1 package) 120 rubles
26. Cottage cheese (1 package) 170 rubles
27. Sour cream (1 jar) 80 rubles
28. Low-fat kefir (1 bottle) 70 rubles
29. Ryazhenka (1 package) 70 rubles
30. Butter (1 package) 120 rubles

The total cost of products on this list is 2401 rubles. It is designed to prepare food according to the above menu for a family of two adults.

And in you can see a list of products for only 1000 rubles for a whole week, also for a family of 4 people

Before you go to the store, you need to make a clear list of products needed to prepare dishes from the menu. There is no need to buy anything extra.

It is worth buying products in places where prices are really lower. It is most profitable to go to the market (you can bargain) or a wholesale center. Promotions in stores are a great help. You must always keep an eye on them.

You need to go to the store for shopping purposefully, and not when you have to. And in order to avoid wasting money, you must be well-fed at this time.

Most people's main dishes are meat dishes, which are expensive. To save money, you can buy offal - liver, hearts, stomachs. In addition to their low price, when prepared well, they have a wonderful taste.

It is necessary to completely exclude fast food, hamburgers, sushi, and carbonated drinks from your diet. It is very expensive and unhealthy. You should also avoid going to cafes and restaurants (only on very special occasions can you afford such a luxury).

One piece of meat can be used to prepare two dishes. For example, boil a whole chicken or a bone with meat (it’s better to cook for a long time over low heat - this way the meat will be soft and very tasty). Use the broth to make soup. And clean the meat from the bones. Add some of it to the soup, the rest can be stewed with vegetables or made into goulash.

In order not to cause indignation among household members during the week, it is necessary to cook their favorite dishes or food with their preferred ingredient at least once. For example, make stew with potatoes for your husband on Monday, and bake fish with rice as a side dish for your son on Thursday.

For picky families, you can cook for several days at once. If you cook a large pot of soup, it can last for three days. This will save a lot of money on groceries and time for the housewife.

Many people love to buy juice in cardboard boxes and bottles, which is a very big waste of money. In addition, they contain many preservatives and dyes, which is why they are harmful to health. It will be useful and less expensive to cook compotes and fruit drinks yourself.

It should be taken into account that for breakfast you need to eat easily digestible dishes, for example, porridge. The highest calorie meal is lunch. Dinner should be between breakfast and lunch in terms of calories. It is advisable to eat more often, but in small portions. Therefore, the menu includes snacks - second breakfasts and dinners.

Eating tasty and healthy doesn’t mean it’s expensive! Eat healthy and be happy!

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Brief content of the post:
1. Why create a menu for the week?
2. We make a list of dishes that we know how to cook
3. Choosing a convenient form for the menu
4. Creating a menu taking into account resources and capabilities
5. How to make a grocery list for the week?

1. Why do we need a menu for the week?

One of the most important and necessary habits that has greatly simplified and made my 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?”

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 a 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, creating 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.

Third, planning a menu for the week saves money. Primarily due to the fact that it is possible to plan the rational use of 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.

Fourth, 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 the fact that 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 to 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.

And finally, planning a menu for the week 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 an 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 please my loved ones with delicious and healthy dishes every day.

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 only knows how to cook 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 yourself for the better. Creating a menu isn't everything. The most important thing is to follow this menu. If you create the perfect menu, but it just hangs on the refrigerator door with no practical use, then you just wasted your time creating 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 galloping 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 food options for the menu.

For example:

Breakfast	Soups	Second courses	Side dishes	Salads and snacks	Dessert
Fried eggs	Cabbage soup	Stuffed cabbage rolls	Mashed potatoes	The vinaigrette	Shortbread cookies
Buckwheat porridge	Solyanka	Meatballs	Boiled pasta	Fresh cabbage salad	Apple pie
Semolina porridge	Borsch	Fried chicken legs	Boiled cauliflower	Tomato salad with cheese	Syrniki
Oatmeal porridge Hercules	Rassolnik	Karasiv sour cream	boiled rice	Salad with carrots and garlic	Dumplings with cherries
Sandwiches with butter (cheese, sausage)	Chicken noodle soup	Ratatouille	Braised cabbage	Cucumber and sour cream salad	Cinnamon rolls

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 made 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 a convenient form for the menu.

I will talk about the three main options for this form, show examples and provide ready-made templates for downloading. 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 choosing an option that was convenient for me and experimenting with 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. You can create a menu for the week electronic 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 - 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” are ready-made dishes that 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 #2. It turned out that it was much more convenient to use printed on paper menu. I made a universal template for the menu for the week, 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 down the 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 the A4 sheet into 5x9 rectangles (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. 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 on 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 time. 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 spend more time cooking and include complex dishes in the menu (for example, made from yeast dough or meat dishes that require 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. A good housewife 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, you can entrust your family with the light work of an “assistant chef”: peeling potatoes, shredding cabbage, washing 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 these financial capabilities, 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.
Third, this 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 still have 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!

Materials from the site http://menunedeli.ru were used