[tama-toe]

Sunny this is what works for me, maybe it will help you. I wanted to make a menu for along time and didn't quite know where to start so after many months of putting it off, yet wanting to do it I made a master list.
Main master list includes all meals that we eat regularly such as spaghetti, meatloaf, chicken & dumplings etc. Master list is broke down into Beef, Chicken, Pork and other. Other includes breakfast for dinner, potato soup, brown beans. You could actually make more break downs of this if you eat alot of soup or salads. But we just don't eat enough to justify an additional column and I put it under the " other " column.
Then I have my side dish master list this include all veggies, boxed potaotes, packaged noodles n sauce, etc.
So I first take my Main master list and go from one column to the next filling in the days of the week with items from the master list. This helps me because I don't have to think;-) every two weeks about what it is we like to eat. Also by going from one column to another for each day I am sure that I won't fix too many nights in a row of chicken or beef.
After my Main dish has been decided I go to my Side dish list and fill in complimentary side dishes to go with the main dish that has already been decided for that night.

It took me a couple of days to think of all the main dishes that we eat, I also ask for help from dh and the dks to help me think of them all.
Oh I should say that I don't schedule a leftover night, it never fails that they either eat more than I thought they would, leaving me with not enough for leftover night. Or I have tons of leftovers and the leftover night is still several nights away. So what I do is schedule all my meals out and if there is enough leftovers for leftover night then that is what we have. I just shift or delete that night meal in lieu of leftover night

I absolutely love menu planning, because instead of asking myself every single day what we will eat later that night, I just have to put myself through the aggrivation twice a month. I also love looking at the menu and seeing what I need to lay out to thaw instead of standing infront of the freezer and staring at all the stuff. Decide to close the door and figure it out later, later repeat, standing infront of freezer staring at all the stuff again shuting the door and figure it out later, this happens until someone yells whats for dinner mom. I shrug my shoulders asking I don't know, what do you want? and either we don't have what they want or I have to hussle to defrost it.
Also the family knows exactly what we are having for dinner, this alone is a blessing because I don't have to answer the question a bizllion times "Whats for dinner?".
It also saves us a ton, because there have been nights that I have had roast or something a little more time consuming scheduled to make, yet something comes up and leaves me with not enough time to make the roast. By menu planning I know that I have used my menu to grocery shop and can pick an easier to prepare meal from another night and prepare the roast some other night. Point is I know I have the things on hand to make ithe easier meal and we are not as likely to throw up our hands and go out for a meal.
Sorry don't mean to ramble on and on, just if you can ever get your menu planning going it benefits you in so many ways.
Hope this helps.