Planning your family’s meals in advance will help you
save time and money, as well as making it easier to ensure your family
eats healthy and balanced meals. It’s too easy to reach for the phone
and order a pizza when everyone’s just come home from soccer practice
and your fridge is empty. Family meal planning will make sure that
doesn't happen!
There is, of course, another huge bonus to planning
your family's meals: the more you do it, the easier it gets! Save each
week's menu plans, especially when you feel they have worked well, and
you will soon be able to start using previous weeks as reference or even
repeating successful weeks in their entirety.
Make yourself a family meal planning file. Keep your
previous week's plans in it as well as blank paper for shopping lists,
recipes you want to try and any coupons you might have cut out and
saved. Establish a certain time and day to plan your meals and it will
soon become a breeze.
Tips to Make Family Meal Planning Easy:
First, look through your pantry and cupboards and make a mental note of
what you have. The see if there are any foods you can use to plan your
family’s meals around. For example if you have pasta or rice then create
a couple of meals including those staples.
Then sit down and plan your week’s menu. Write down each dinner and
remember to make allowances for days you don’t have a lot of time or get
home late. If you know ahead of time that Tuesdays are stressful, then
plan something simple to make for that day or even make double on Monday
and save the leftovers for Tuesday. You can vary the meal by changing
one or two things around.
Once you have your menu write a shopping list while checking your
pantry, cupboards and fridge again to make sure you’re not buying
something you already have. Then add items you’ll need for breakfast,
lunch and snacks. You may not necessarily plan these meals but just make
sure you include enough of the foods you usually need on your list.
Although going to the supermarket once a week is a good way to save time
and avoid overspending, it may not always be possible for all items. If
you buy a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables you may want to include
only half a week’s worth of items on your list and make a second quick
trip during the week for the rest. Just stick to the produce aisle to
avoid temptations!
When planning your list you can make sure that you balance your meals
both nutritionally and in terms of cost. If you plan an expensive meal
one night, balance it with a pasta dish or perhaps a vegetarian meal the
next.
When you’re buying your vegetables plan your meals around them to avoid
wasting food. If you need carrots for one meal and plan to buy a big
bag, then try to include carrots in several dinners, use them for snacks
or make a carrot cake towards the end of the week. If you plan well you
will avoid ending up with a fridge full of soggy veggies!
Think ahead and use your freezer. If you’re making something that
freezes well like spaghetti sauce, a stew or casserole make double and
freeze the second portion for those days where you just don’t have any
time to cook.
Finally, don’t forget to stick your menu on your fridge or other
prominent place and plan ahead every day. Make a note on your plan if
you need to take something out of the freezer, or if you can prepare
part of the meal in advance (perhaps preparing enough vegetables for two
days at once, saving on time and cleaning up too).
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