I used to love going through cookbooks/recipes, choosing new meals & making grocery lists. That was probably 15 years ago though...now I can't think of many worse ways to spend my time, haha.
2 years ago, I made a set of 'menus' that I just use on repeat.
Each one has 6-7 dinners on it, which usually lasts us over a week once we add in pizza night, leftovers, or any nights out that come up. That gives me a little flexibility with grocery shopping which I need, because sometimes I end up subbing on grocery day or sometimes I just really don't feel like going, haha.
I don't plan the meals for particular days, just depends what we have going on each day, what I'm in the mood to make/eat, or how long the produce is going to last.
On each set of recipes, I try to balance out the protein types (chicken, beef, pork, fish, meatless) and meal type (I would eat soup or pasta every single night
) and I include something super easy "from the freezer/pantry" (tuna helper, frozen nuggets & tots) for super busy nights PLUS one thing I know my kids looooooove, so when they're complaining about how awful it is that I make them eat vegetables, I can assure them that they'll have a chance to eat breakfast sausage slathered in cream cheese & covered in crescent rolls before too long
I have all of the recipes printed, laminated grouped by 'week' & hooked together on a ring, so I don't have to pull books or binders out or go down any internet rabbit holes while trying to find the one I'm using on a particular night.
I have a grocery list for each plan & I just print that out, cross off stuff I already have and/or add anything additional/out of the ordinary.
I started with 3 plans, and now we have 4. When there's something new I want to try, I decide when to try it and if we like it enough to add it to our rotation, we've just got to wait until there's enough new things we like to make a new plan. Then I just make an additional grocery list & recipe group and add it into the cycle.