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| One of my little grocery shopping helpers. |
A great way to save money and gain some much needed sanity is
to have a Menu Plan. It’s been my
experience that when I don’t menu plan, preparing dinner is not as fun. I end up making more trips to the grocery store, and you know even when you go to the
grocery store with a list many times other things have a way of finding their
way in your cart that you were not planning on purchasing. And if you are like me I usually have a little
one with me who is asking for something that’s not on the list so if I can
avoid multiple unnecessary trips it not only saves me time and gas money but
also picking up unnecessary items.
There are times when I don’t want to menu plan and it seems
like work or I run out of ideas of what to cook. I find though once I sit down to make it
happen then it’s much easier then I made it out to be in my mind. Just commit to get started and plan the
upcoming week, don’t overwhelm yourself.
Don’t do it alone, get the family involved. Ask your husband and kids, what their
favorite dishes that you prepare are.
Ask your friends, what are there go to meals and of course there is
always Pinterest, where you kind find an unlimited amount of ideas for menu
planning. I also like to use www.allrecipes.com when I need an idea for
my menu. At All Recipes they have a
place where you can search for recipes based off the ingredients you already
have.
I like to menu plan for the entire month ahead of time, but
that doesn’t always happen so at the very least if I don’t have a master plan
for the month I plan ahead for the week.
This enables me to make a grocery list of what items I need to pick up from
the store. Then I am only making one
trip to the grocery store instead of running in for something I forgot. Pick the day that works best for you to menu
plan for the upcoming week, make your grocery list and then go shop for those
items. For some people the weekend works
great, you have the weekend off from work, you maybe have someone home to watch the
kids so you can go to the store alone.
For others, it might work better to menu plan Wednesday to Wednesday or
another day. Wednesday is when most grocery store sales start, pick whatever
works for you and your schedule.
Another advantage to menu planning is many times we have the
items to make a great meal already in our refrigerator and cupboards. You may just need to purchase the fresh
produce and meat to go with the pantry staples you already have. Part of my menu planning strategy is to look
through my cupboards and refrigerator/freezer to see what I already have to
work with. This also keeps me from
allowing food items to go bad. How many
times have you purchased some fresh produce or meat because it’s on sale, to
only let it go to waste, because you didn’t use it that week?
Most families I know have a handful of meals that they eat
quite often, meals that everyone in the family enjoys, this is great, these are
easy to plan for and meals you cook with great confidence. Keep these meals in a constant rotation in your
menu planning. Then leave room for new
recipes that you would like to try and things you like to have once in a
while.
A great thing to keep in mind when Menu Planning is your
leftovers. My husband is not a big
leftover fan; I love leftovers and will have them for lunch the next couple of
days. Even though my husband doesn’t
enjoy leftovers that much, I find if I can repurpose them into another similar
meal, they will be eaten and not go to waste.
For example if you have left over baked chicken, then chop that chicken
up and put it in a pasta dish or chicken tacos.
If you have left over steak, you can slice the steak, put it with bell
peppers and spices and turn it into fajitas.
Think of something you can change your leftovers into.
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| I love double ad Wednesdays at Sprouts! |
I also find in Menu Planning I eat healthier. When meals are planned out ahead of time and
preparation is made, then I don’t have that temptation to eat frozen food, and
junk food. It’s usually due to not planning
and preparing that I end up grabbing for whatever is quick to prepare which
sometimes means not the healthiest choices.
When you plan ahead meals can be both quick and healthy, with a little pre-planning.
With a family many times you have other weekly evening events
to attend. These are great times to make
something that takes less preparation or to put your crock pot to use. Tuesday evenings is our mid-week service at
church so I usually try to make something that is quick and easy like Tacos,
Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Stir Fry. These are quick to cook and easy
clean-up.
When I first started menu planning I used to print out
monthly calendars and use those for our meal planning. I now find that using the calendar I already
have in my kitchen, with family birthdates and school field trips posted works
much better. It’s my master calendar
that has any upcoming events, this way it’s is all in one place, and I can keep those
other dates in mind when menu planning.
I also like using my master calendar for everything because then I can
flip through the previous months to see what we cooked and ate in the months
past. When I was printing out additional
papers, then I either had to file those papers somewhere or I ended up throwing
them away.
Keep different types of meals in mind when Menu Planning: Mexican Food, Italian Food, Chinese Food,
American Food, most people have a favorite dish in each of these
categories. Also keep in mind variety:
Pork, Poultry, Fish, Beef, Vegetarian, etc. Go through your grocery store ads, find out what’s on sale for that
week and menu plan based on what is in season.
Not only will you eat fresh and seasonal food, but you will save money.
Well I hope I have encouraged and inspired you to menu
plan! Start with those meals you love to
cook and your family loves to eat, plan those out on specific days first. Then add in meals that take greater preparation
and clean up on the evenings you have more time to spend at home. And then there is always date night, one less
night to plan to cook ;-)
Thank you for reading if you’ve enjoyed the content you’ve
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