I love Excel. I use it for EVERYTHING! So when I need to layout the menu plan for the West Coast Trail backpack trip, I turn to Excel.
I create column headings along the top that say:
- Sunday
- July 28
- Day 1
- Monday
- July 29
- Day 2 etc
Then down the side, I create row headings that say:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Snacks
- Supper
I make a grid with black lines, pretty it up and print it out. I will write in the proposed menu plan, change it around and make grocery and food packing lists from this menu plan.
For this particular trip, I add the days we will spend getting to the BC coast and returning home, as we will be camping and will need food. The menu plan for our West Coast Trail trip initially looks like …..
Menu Plan for our West Coast Trail trip
A few weeks later, and after much testing of recipes and dehydrating of food, the menu plan for the West Coast Trail portion of the trip looks like this…….
West Coast Trail meal plan
The pink highlight is food that I am keeping in the refrigerator for extended freshness as we are still two weeks out from starting the backpack.
West Coast Trail meal prep – refrigerated items
The yellow highlight is food that I have placed on our buffet in a real life spreadsheet. 3D Excel.
West Coast Trail meal prep