A dietitian-approved menu planning program is the most effective way to meet the nutritional needs of your group home residents. But it’s also a very effective way to assist your food service and kitchen staff prepare quality menus that fit in your budget.

With a meal planning program, you’ll help your food service staff improve their organization strategies, allowing them to save time, reduce food waste and lower food costs.

A Menu Planning Program Facilitates Ordering

Dieticians and kitchen staff must coordinate food order deliveries based on weekly group home menus. This involves calculating the exact food quantities necessary for every meal, which is no simple task, even using spreadsheets. Food orders must also be carefully planned to fit within the facility’s food budget.

Organization and planning aren’t everyone’s strong point, however, and mistakes can be costly. Run out of chicken or milk, for example, and your residents’ meals will suffer. But overbuying is just as detrimental. Buying more fruit or vegetables than your facility can use leads to expensive food waste.

With an automated meal planning program, you take the guesswork out of food orders. Kitchen staff members simply print out a list of the exact quantities required for the dietitian-approved recipes that have been chosen for the week. A comprehensive planning program also provides a total cost per serving for each meal, which helps bring costs in under budget.

A Menu Planning Program Provides Preparation Reminders

Prepping for the day’s meals can also pose a challenge for food service staff. For instance, some meats may need to sit in a marinade a day ahead of time, while others can go straight from the freezer to the oven. Baked goods must also be carefully planned in advance. If some recipes – salad dressings, for example – will be used multiple times during the week, making them in bulk saves both time and cost.

Meal planning software takes the guesswork out of food prep. Kitchen staff can print prep and pull lists for a snapshot of the day’s and week’s menus. The lists will inform staff of what items to pull and when to pull them. The prep lists also indicate which food items require advance preparation – no more guesswork.

Menu Planning Software Makes Managing Special Diets Easier

Many group home residents have health issues or doctor’s orders that require them to eat special diets. Dietary restrictions can make menu planning even more difficult for your kitchen staff. Special meals may be missed, or order items may be overlooked.

That isn’t the case, however, if your facility implements a computerized menu planning system. A meal planning program displays diet extensions for every meal. Your staff will have a clear snapshot that ensures understanding and implementing dietary changes in the menu. Without the guesswork, your residents will enjoy flavorful, fresh meals that comply with their doctor’s orders.

Grove Menus offers meal planning solutions that help organize your group home kitchen and allow it to run more smoothly. Contact us today for more information or to schedule a free demonstration of our dietitian-approved menu planning program.