Do you know what you’re having for dinner? I didn't until I started experimenting with a weekly menu planner. I’ve recently discovered that menu planning not only makes our family meals easier and less stressful but our meals are also more nutritious and much more cost effective. The basics of menu planning is creating guidelines for what your family is going to eat for the week and developing a related shopping list. With menu planning you only need to shop once a week thereby saving both time and money on additional grocery runs. Just think about it, how many times have you gone into a grocery store with the express intent of picking up one or two items and ended up walking out with several? I’d need more than two hands to count the many times I fell prey to impulse buys. The more we shop, the more we typically spend and the more time we waste. When you know what you’re having for dinner and have everything handy, getting a meal on the table is simple and straightforward. With a menu plan in place, your spouse or kids can even get dinner started on those nights when you’re running late. Just think about the money you’d save by planning ahead, shopping once a week and not buying take-out. A typical family of four can easily spend $40 on takeout. Bringing home takeout once a week could add up to $160 or more each month. I’m sure you could find a better way to spend the money that would be saved by planning your meals in advance. Maybe you could plan an extra family outing each month like bowling or a trip to the theatre? Or save it up and use your ‘found money’ for an annual vacation. Key meal planning steps: *Sit down with your family and brainstorm favorite meals. Pull out some cookbooks for inspiration. You may also want to post a list on the fridge door for a week and everyone can add to it as they think of menu ideas. *Consult your family calendar re: regular activities and then using a blank sheet of paper write in pencil the days of the week and assign a meal and related side dishes to each. The reason for the calendar is so you plan an appropriate meal for each night. If Monday night is soccer night and you have to work late on Wednesdays you’ll want to make sure any meals planned for those nights are quick and easy. *Your weekly menu planner can feature foods that are on sale which allows you to not only to eat nutritiously but save a ton of money in the process. If turkey is on sale, brainstorm all the recipes you can make with it e.g. roast turkey Sunday night followed by hot turkey sandwiches, turkey tetrazzini, turkey fried rice etc. *Don’t restrict menu planning just to dinner brainstorm and pencil in ideas for breakfast and lunch too. Some of our favorite family breakfast ideas include egg burritos, western sandwiches, leftover pancakes and French toast, homemade muffins and eggs and ham baked in muffin cups. The lunch recipes that top our favorites list include sandwich wraps, pasta salads, meat and cheese kabobs, cold homemade pizza, and subs (with tomatoes and sauce packed separately). *Keep your menu plan in a notebook or on a calendar. Or use your computer to create your plan and then post it on the fridge. Plan a month’s worth of meals and then rotate the order in which they are scheduled. Once you have a list of menu ideas divided into categories like chicken, steak, roast beef, fish etc. you can easily put together a weekly meal plan that maximizes the best grocery buys that week. The whole process of viewing the flyers, planning your meals, and writing out your grocery list should only take an hour each week. *Add in new recipes from time to time. Look to cooking shows, magazines and new cookbooks for fresh ideas. *When making your grocery list, be sure to include everything required for each meal. If you list items by department e.g. produce, dairy, deli etc. you’ll be able to get your shopping done much faster. If you get in the habit of checking your food supplies before you head to the store you’ll also save money not buying something you already have. *Taking a few minutes to organize your food when you first bring it home makes meal preparation much more efficient. Group like foods together and keep regularly used items front and centre as well as conveniently located. Consider a lunch cupboard or shelf for non-perishables. *Wash and chop veggies in advance so they’re ready to use. *Prepare meal kits (a plastic bin containing pre-measured ingredients) the night before if someone else will be starting dinner. Hopefully I’ve convinced you to take the pizza delivery guy off speed dial and give menu planning a try. Here's the Family Dinner Video that inspired my weekly menu planner experimentation. Enjoy! |