New Menu Plan

Six loaves of bread I made with my Bosch machine last week - love the aroma of bread filling the house!
The first time I'd made homemade bread in a number of months ...

Fall brings a renewed motivation for menu planning - something about the cooler weather, and the anticipation of upcoming holidays draws me to the kitchen. 

But menu planning is always a difficult task for me. Maybe partly because I have so many recipes, and it is hard to decide which ones to use. So this fall I have decided to try something different - a few days ago I pulled out my recipe collection, opened up my laptop, and created a chart covering the next three months. Why not go ahead and plan the main dishes all at once for the rest of the year, for three months all at one time? It took a few hours, but what a good feeling. Of course there will be many changes, but at least there's a plan in place.

At the beginning of each week I'll fill in my weekly menu chart (below), using the recipes for the week from the three-month menu plan (above), also adding any details that are needed. I'm hoping that this plan will be a lot less time-consuming than trying to make the menus out week-by-week (and sometimes not even getting it done).

I usually vary my plan from year to year, giving variety, and always trying to streamline the task of menu planning. How about you? What does your menu planning look like? 

Linked to Menu Plan Monday, One Project at a Time, Delightfully Inspiring Thursday