The first thing I do when planning menus is to make a list of the foods I like to eat. 

Here are a few things on my menu, just to give you a few ideas.

Let's start with... 

Breakfast foods:

• eggs (poached, fried, hard boiled, scrambled)
• egg salad
• deviled eggs
• waffles
• toast
• cheese toast
• cottage cheese
• omelets
• fruit
• canadian bacon
• quiche
• egg muffins
• steak (leftover)
• bagels
• roast beef
• pancakes
• turkey bacon
• chicken or turkey sausage
• sweet potatoes
• bacon egg and cheese
• baked apples

Once I have my list, I'll compose a menu, mixing and matching items, one for each day of the week. You can compose as many menu as you like. You could write a few for each season of the year and repeat them. 

I often look through cookbooks to get ideas and write any new recipes I want to try on the back of my menu sheet for easy reference.  

Planning ahead saves time and keeps you prepared with a successful eating plan.

yes, we can...we have many more meal to go!

The next step in putting together menus is one of my favorite things to do.  Cookbook time!  Recipe retrieval!

This step also triggers your memory of those food items you may have forgotten.  

Collect your favorite cookbooks or recipes or look for new ones.  Looking through cookbooks especially one with photos will remind you of food items you may not have considered.  

Some of the food items lend themselves to seasons, making it easier to mix and match items for each menu.   

Consider when pulling your menus together your time each day.  Consider placing meals that take longer prep on days when more time is allowed or that can be planned or prepare ahead.  Also consider slow cookers as an option or enlisting help from family members. 

Start filling in your menus for each day of the week.  Don't worry, these aren't fixed in stone.  Menus can be adjusted, substituted or shuffled as needed.  

Several years ago, during my homeschooling days, I made seasonal menus for everyday of the year.  I have found that menu planning has many more benefits as well as keeping organized. Making menus ahead takes the guess work out of "what to eat" and helps preparing grocery list a breeze.  During those days, I needed to be organized because of time issues and the aroma of food cooking gave my husband hope that dinner would be served sometime during the evening.

As a weight loss surgery patient it helps me have a better plan of attack when hunger strikes and keeps me reaching for healthier choices when time gets tight.  Having a grocery list helps keep unwanted items out of my cart and better food choices in the cupboard.  

I start creating menus by making a list of every (now bariatric-friendly) food items my family likes to eat in categories of breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Next, I create a blank menu guide and print it off the computer. New recipes I want to try are recorded on the back of the menu sheets or paper clipped on for easy access. You can also make a side bar for listing grocery items.

After making a list of foods for each category, your ready for the next step...

Ok, I hear ya - you're probably thinking....when planning menus I can eat, what do I do for the rest of the family?

At the Holloman home, usually breakfast is on your own.  My husband usually is on the go and grabs a bowl of cereal, which he loves. Sometimes he gets lucky and I'll cook an egg, and if I'm feeling really industrious, maybe I'll add in a turkey sausage patty! Since lunch is usually solo as well, that means dinner is really the only meal that is centered around the family...the two of us together, and occasionally a guest or two.  

However, I understand the dilemma, that still leaves dinner and the rest of the family.  In the beginning of the consideration of gastric bypass surgery, I had a  heart to heart talk with my husband.  He was supportive and we made the decision that the meals would be focused on what I could eat and he would adapt.  Now he is a very picky eater, but he has been a real trooper, hasn't complained once!  He still says I have a very wonderful gift, cooking, I just don't exercise that gift enough...ok, I do love to go out...I do like to cook, too, but I didn't say I like the clean up...

Eating healthy, that is the target, not a bad idea for us both, he has even shed a few pounds as well.  

So my dinner meal usually consist of fish, or chicken, and an occasional ground meat, such as turkey or beef.  I usually add one veggie we both like, or I fix two; one he likes and one I prefer.  If the one I fix for him is a starch, I'm done, sometimes I'll add a potato for him, that his favorite.  Baked or roasted are his favorites. When I roast them, I usually add all the veggies in the pan together.  Simplicity, that's the key.  

My therory is to keep it very simple and streamline.  Roasting veggies in the oven is a great way to add a variety to the mix without using too many pots and pans.  That makes clean up simple and easy.

The way I figure, this is a way of life, and we have to eat everyday, three times as least.  I encourage you take some time to consider how to make mealtime, simple, creative and pleasant for the whole family.  Planning menu's ahead and gathering recipes both new and old can be a time saver both at meal time and in the grocery store. I'm consistantly on the lookout for new, simple recipes that are healthy and bariatric friendly. So get out those menu pages and let those creative juices flow.  You'll be glad you did... 

More on menus to come...stay tuned...yes, you can...we have many more miles to go.

It's sometimes hard to get out of the menu planning rut, but here are some suggestions that might help.

Continue to write down the foods that you like that are within the limits of your food phase plan. 

Next, print a menu guide and start placing each food item from your list on to your menu sheet.  Your menus will start to develop in no time at all. 

Keep your menu sheets in an on-going menu file for future meals and collect menus for each season.  

Write new menus on the back of your menu sheets for easy access.

Keep on the lookout for new items you can add to your food list. I recently found these new Arnold multigrain sandwich thins, they are great toasted for a new sandwich twist. Although I don't eat a lot of bread, sometimes it's great for something new.  

Before long  you will have a great collection of menus to choose from.  

For new inspiration and motivation, pull out a stack of your favorite cookbooks and invite a few friends over for a "menu" sharing/planning session get-together.  

Menus don't have to be a hassle, turn your menu madness into menu gladness...yes, you can...you have many more miles to go!