2. Meal Planning

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Sept 10, 2013 by Robin Rodrigue
12 min read

It is important to remember that a meal must be planned before it can be Produced.

View the Calendar by the Day, Week, or Month
Enter Meal Planning Counts
Add a Menu to a Day
Add a Recipe to a Day
Remove a Menu from a Day
Remove a Recipe from a Day
Clone Menu Planned Counts
Export Calendar Menu to Microsoft Word
Automatic Ordering from Planned Menus
Changing Items to be Ordered
Add Item to Order
Order from Contract button
Review and Send Unsent Orders
Unsubmitted Orders
Submit Order

 

Meals can be planned by clicking the Menu Planning button on the quick launch.


Produced & Planned Fonts and Colors

  • BOLD text - Fully produced (every recipe under the meal is produced)
  • Italics text - Partially produced (at least one recipe, but not all, have been produced)
  • Normal text – None have been produced
  • Green background – the meal has been planned
  • Yellow background – the currently selected day
     

View the Calendar by the Day, Week or Month


Click the View menu selection at the top of the screen and click the desired view.

Enter Meal Planning Counts



Step 1 - Select theServing Type (Breakfast, Lunch, Or Snack).
 


Step 2 - Double click on a Serving Day and the Meal Planning form will appear where the Planned Counts can be entered.

The Swap buttons at the bottom of the screen are very confusing. It is much easier to add and remove recipes and menus, which will be explained below.

 

Step 3 - Make sure that theServing Dateand Serving Type (meal) are correct.
 


Step 4 - Click on the Menu to plan and the row will be highlighted in yellow.


Step 5 - In the Menu section at the top, enter the number of Meals you plan to serve for each Menu and each Serving Group.

Under Utilities >Warehouse Settings, if you have the box checked to Automatically Apply Menu Counts To The Recipe Counts When Planning all of the recipe counts are prefilled in the Recipe section at the bottom with the quantity entered in the Menu section at the top. If you have this setting unchecked, the recipe counts in the bottom section are not prefilled. This is a personal setting for each user.



Step 6 - You must click Ok to save the planned counts.

If you click the Cancel button or the X in the upper right corner, your changes will not be saved!

If the Recipe section at the bottom of the screen is empty, it means you have selected the (Add Menu) row in the top Menu section at the top. Simply select a Menu and the bottom will be populated with the recipes on the selected menu.

 

Step 7 - Once you click the Ok button after entering the planned counts, the Calendar view will be displayed. Notice the days that have planned counts will have a green background (e.g. 07/13/2011 and 07/14/2011). The currently selected day will have a yellow background (e.g. 07/28/2011). You must click Ok again on this screen to save the planned counts.


If you click the Cancel button or the X in the upper right corner, you will receive the following warning message:


Add a Menu to a Day


Step 1 - To add a menu, click on the blank row in the Menu section at the top and type over (Add Menu) with the Name of the new menu you wish to add.


For example, if you want to add the French Bread Pizza, you should only type the word Pizza and press the Enter key. Typing only a single word or a few characters will display a list of all the menus matching the characters typed and will allow you to choose which pizza menu you wish to add.

Fewer characters are often better than trying to get the spelling of the menu exactly the way it was put into the system.



Step 2  - Select the Menu that you wish to add and click the Ok button. The menu selected will be added to your list.

If the Recipe section at the bottom of the screen is empty, you have selected the (Add Menu) row in the top Menu section. Simply select a Menu and the bottom will be populated with the recipes on the selected menu.



Step 3 - Click Ok to save the changes.

Add a Recipe to a Day


Step 1 - Select the Menu in the top Menu Section. Scroll to the bottom of the Recipe section and click on the blank row in the Recipe section at the bottom and type over <New Recipe> with the Name of the new recipe you wish to add.
 




For example, if you want to add the "Fruit Cocktail", you should only type the word "Fruit" and press the Enter key. Typing only a single word or a few characters will display a list of all recipes matching the characters typed and will allow you to choose which fruit recipe you wish to add.

Fewer characters are often better than trying to get the spelling of the recipe exactly the way it was put into the system.



Step 2 - Select the Recipe that you wish to add and click the Ok button. The recipe selected will be added to the list.

If the Recipe section at the bottom of the screen is empty, you have selected the (Add Menu) row in the top Menu section. Simply select a Menu and the bottom will be populated with the recipes on the selected menu.



 
Step 3 - Click Ok to save the changes.

Remove a Menu from a Day


Step 1 - Right click on the menu that you wish to remove. The Remove button is displayed containing the Menu that will be removed.


 Step 2 - Left click"Remove Menu Name" box.

  • If the Planned Counts for this menu are all zeros, the menu will be removed from the list immediately.
  • If the Planned Counts were previously entered and saved for this menu, a red line will be drawn through the menu.




Step 3 - You may Undelete a menu that has the red line drawn through it by Right clicking again and selecting the Un-Delete button.
  

 

 

Step 4 - Click the Ok button to save your changes.



Step 5 - The Calendar Menu screen will be displayed. Click Ok again to permanently save your changes.

Once the changes have been saved on the Calendar Menu, you cannot Un-Delete menus. You must add a new menu as described in the Add a Menu to a Day section in this manual.

Remove a Recipe from a Day


Step 1 - Right click on the Recipe that you wish to Remove and a box will be displayed right below the recipe that was selected.


Step 2 - Left click on the box Remove Recipe Name.

  • If there the Planned Counts for this recipe are all zeros, the recipe will be removed immediately.
  • If the Planned Counts were previously entered and saved for this recipe, a red line will be drawn through the recipe.
     


Step 3 - You may Undelete a recipe that has the red line drawn through it by Right clicking again and selecting the Un-Delete recipe button. 
 

 

Step 4 - Click the Ok button to save your changes.


Step 5 - The Calendar Menu screen will be displayed. Click Ok again to permanently save your changes.

Once the changes have been saved on the Calendar Menu screen, you cannot un-delete recipes. You must add a new recipe as described in the Add a Recipe to a Day section in this manual.

Clone Menu Planned Counts


When a menu has planning counts, you can Clone (Copy) the planned counts to all future serve dates that contain the same menu.

 
Step 1 - Select the Menu from the calendar.
 


Step 2  - Click Clone Menu Planning Counts button. 

 

Step 3  - Select the Date Range (from and to) to clone the counts forward in the menu. 

 

Step 4 - If the new meal counts should overwrite previously planned meals, click the Overwrite Manual Planning box. 

 

Step 5 - Click Ok to copy the counts of this menu to subsequent days where this exact menu is listed on the calendar.

Export Calendar Menu to Microsoft Word


This report may be printed before Meal Planning has been completed and exported to Microsoft Word where pictures and graphics can be added.


Step 1 - Select Reports > Production > Meal Planning List and the following form will be displayed:


Step 2 - Click Ok. Once the report is displayed on the screen, click the Envelope Icon at the top left of the screen.
 


Step 3 - The following form will be displayed: 

  • Select Word for Windows document for the Format.
  • Select Disk File for the Destination.
     


Step 4 - Click the Ok button and the following form will be displayed:

  • Choose the Folder where you wish to save the file.
  • Type the name that you wish to give the file in the File Name box.
  • Click the Save button to save the file.
     

 

The above screen example may be different depending on your version of Windows. For more information or assistance with saving files and using Microsoft Word, please contact the Central Office.

 

Order Processing 
The Ordering Process will automatically generate an order based on meal planning counts, inventory QuantitiesOn-Hand, Perfect Substitutions, Par-Levels, And Satellite Orders. 

 

Step 1: Select the Order button from the Quick Launch and the following form will be displayed:
 


There are three options that allow you to customize how you want the order to be automatically pre-filled. You may leave all three options checked (default) to allow the program to automatically make a best-guess as to what you should order, or you may clear some of them as you see fit. If all three boxes are unchecked, then the order will start out blank, allowing you to enter the order manually. 

Most districts click the Ok button without changing any of the options.

    • In the space provided type the requested delivery date in the Bid Contract Date or select the Date from the calendar by clicking the More button to the right of the date. This date will be used to determine:
      • Which bid contracts to order from
      • Which price to use when receiving the item
      • What date the items will be delivered
         
    • Select the appropriate Options to automatically pre-fill the order.
      • Items Below Par Order Levels – Par levels are indicated by selecting Maintenance | Order Par Levels. When the Quantity-On-Hand falls below the minimum quantity, the item will automatically be listed on the order form and the quantity will be pre-filled with the maximum quantity. This is useful for ordering items that may not be included in Planned Menus.
      • Items Needed For Planned Meals – Planned meal counts are indicated by selecting theProduction button from the Quick Launch(See "Automatically Ordering From Planned Menus"below). When this option is checked, enter the Date through which you wish the program to look at planning counts.
      • Items Ordered To Be Filled From This Warehouse– This option is typically used by a Central Warehouse and Central Kitchens(satellites to other schools).
         
    • Select the Ok button to generate the order.

Automatic Ordering for Planned Menus

 

When using this option, the program determines which items to order and the quantities needed for planned menus. 
Quantities needed are determined by:

  • Menus on the calendar starting with the current date and ending with the date selected
  • Ingredients on the recipes containing planned serving counts
  • Scaling the recipes
  • Ingredients on pending orders
  • Ingredients on-hand

 


Scaling recipe example: Baked Chicken

1856 chicken thighs are needed (2 pieces each for 928 planned)


720 chicken thighs on-hand (7 cases with 96 in each case plus 48 pieces) 

Changing Items to be Ordered

 

 

Click the Ok button and the Order Items screen will be displayed. The screen allows you to add and remove items to be ordered, as well as to adjust the quantities to be ordered.

 

  • Click in the Comments space to type notes that you want printed on the order. 

  • In the Unit Quantity column, type the number of cases and press the Enter key. When loose quantities are needed, type the case quantity, then a forward slash( / ) and then the loose quantity. The program will automatically fill in the appropriate characters (ex: CS or PAN or BAG).

  • To add items to the list, scroll down to the bottom of the list, type any part of the Item Description name,or the catalog number, in the <ADD ITEM>row and then press the Enter key (See Add Items section for more information). Clicking the Add button will accomplish the same thing as typing the item on the <ADD ITEM> row.

  • Click the Print button to print a copy of the order.
     

This will NOT SAVE the order. You must click the Ok button to save the order. The order is not sent until the next step is completed and a final copy is printed. 

  • Click the Worksheet button to view a list of items, how many are on hand, how many have already beenordered, and the quantity to order for each item needed.

The worksheet will only be printed when the order was automatically pre-filled. 

  • To remove an item from the order list, select the item to remove and click the Remove button. 

  • Click the Ok button to save the changes.

 

 

Add Item to Order


When the Add button is clicked OR when an Item Description is typed on the line that has <ADD ITEM> in the item Description column, the following form will be displayed:

 

  1. Type the Catalog Number or part of the Item Description to change the search.
  2. Select the Item that you wish to add to the order list.
  3. Click the Ok button to select the item and return to the Order List.

 


Search hints:
If you know the Catalog Number, start typing and only items that contain those numbers will be listed. If you know the Item Description, start typing and only items that contain those numbers will be listed. 

Order from Contract button


This allows you to select a vendor and create an order specific to items awarded to a vendor from the Bid Process.

  • Select the Order button from the Quick Launch and on the following form, select the Order From Contract button.


 

  • The following screen will be displayed. Choose the desired Vendor, and all the items awarded to that vendor will be listed in the Order List. Change the Quantities, Add Items and Removed items as described above.

Review and Send Unsent Orders


This is typically done by someone in the Central Office. The order must be reviewed, before it can be submitted to the Vendor or Central Warehouse. 
To Send And Review Orders, select Actions >Send and Review Unsent Orders and the following screen will be displayed:

Unsubmitted Orders

 

The top section contains Unsubmitted Orders or all of the orders that have not been submitted to the vendor.
The bottom section contains all Items in the Order that is currently selected (highlighted)in the top section.

  1. Click the Edit button to Add, Change or Delete items on the list.
  2. Click the Close / Delete button to complete the order and remove all pending orders from the list.
  3. Check the Send/Print button next to each Order For Each Order That You Wish To Submit.
  4. Click The Select All button to mark all orders to be submitted.
  5. Click the Select None button to deselect all of the orders.

Submit Order

 

  1. Click the Submit Order button to send the orders. The Vendor Order report will appear and must be printed in order for the orders to actually be generated by the system.

    You will not be able to receive an order that has not been Submitted and Printed.

  2. Once the orders have been printed, they will be marked as Sent and can only be viewed from the Review and Re-send Submitted Orders screen.