Write the week's fixed commitments down before choosing the dinners. An evening when everyone comes home together needs a different plan from one with late work, activities or people eating separately.
Ask each person for a few meals they would like. Keep that list for future weeks instead of starting from an empty page every time.
Check the kitchen before the shopping list
Look at what is already in the fridge, freezer and cupboards. Put the products you intend to use beside a day on the plan, following their storage directions and dates. Then write the shopping list for the missing ingredients.
For frozen products, note the filling as well as the name. Home Cafe's vareniki include both sweet and savoury options. A note that says “potato vareniki” is more useful at dinner time than one that says “something from the freezer”.
Give busy evenings a smaller plan
Choose meals you know how to prepare for the days with little time. Keep a prepared-food option for an evening when you would rather arrange an order.
A combination from Home Cafe could be chicken cutlet with buckwheat, or separate choices from pelmeni and vareniki for people who want different fillings. Check the cafe's order timing before fixing it in your calendar.
Keep the next plan shorter
At the end of the week, keep the meals people want again. Note anything that took more cooking time than expected or left you with the wrong quantity. Those notes tell you more about your household than a generic weekly menu.
When you need to put together one mixed order, use the family ordering guide. It covers dishes, sides and quantities without turning a single meal into another week of planning.
