Planning your meals ahead of time is really just a matter of deciding what you'll have for dinner a few days, a week or even a month in advance. It sounds difficult at first, but it's really not the hard to do.
Planning your meals ahead of time will help you save time, money and will also help your family eat healthier. This makes it well worth the effort.
Here are some ideas to help you get started with meal planning:
The first thing you should do is to write down all of your family's favorite dishes. This will be very handy when you just can't think of anything for dinner.
Next, you'll want to see what your grocery store has on sale for the week. Grab the weekly ads, or jump online to see what your store has on sale. Most stores mail out their sale ads weekly, and many post them online at their website. Some grocery stores even have interactive sale ads, allowing you to create shopping lists and print them out. Your goal is to review the sale ads for food to be used for the coming week.
One word of caution: you want to check and see what events and activities your family has scheduled for the week. You may need to cook extra on Monday night so that you'll have leftovers later in the week if you have a lot of activities planned. This is one of the benefits of meal planning. Since you're planning ahead of time, you'll have dinner ready no matter how busy your week is!
One of the greatest benefits of meal planning is that you waste less food. Your next step is to see what food you already have in your refrigerator and pantry. You'll want to use up any food that's old or close to expiration as soon as possible. You also want to make sure you only buy the food that you plan on eating in the next week. This will make sure that you don't waste any food, and it will also save you money since you know exactly what you have to buy (and nothing more).
At this point, you should have an idea of what you want to cook for the week based on the grocery store ads, what you already have on hand, and your family's activities for the week. Go ahead and write out the meals you plan on cooking for the week, and fill in your grocery list for the items you don't have in hand.
All you have left to do at this point is to do the grocery shopping, post your menu on the fridge for all to see, and create your meals each day. The rest of your week should go much more smoothly now that you don't have to worry about "what's for dinner" at the end of each day. See how easy meal planning can be?
Planning your meals ahead of time will help you save time, money and will also help your family eat healthier. This makes it well worth the effort.
Here are some ideas to help you get started with meal planning:
The first thing you should do is to write down all of your family's favorite dishes. This will be very handy when you just can't think of anything for dinner.
Next, you'll want to see what your grocery store has on sale for the week. Grab the weekly ads, or jump online to see what your store has on sale. Most stores mail out their sale ads weekly, and many post them online at their website. Some grocery stores even have interactive sale ads, allowing you to create shopping lists and print them out. Your goal is to review the sale ads for food to be used for the coming week.
One word of caution: you want to check and see what events and activities your family has scheduled for the week. You may need to cook extra on Monday night so that you'll have leftovers later in the week if you have a lot of activities planned. This is one of the benefits of meal planning. Since you're planning ahead of time, you'll have dinner ready no matter how busy your week is!
One of the greatest benefits of meal planning is that you waste less food. Your next step is to see what food you already have in your refrigerator and pantry. You'll want to use up any food that's old or close to expiration as soon as possible. You also want to make sure you only buy the food that you plan on eating in the next week. This will make sure that you don't waste any food, and it will also save you money since you know exactly what you have to buy (and nothing more).
At this point, you should have an idea of what you want to cook for the week based on the grocery store ads, what you already have on hand, and your family's activities for the week. Go ahead and write out the meals you plan on cooking for the week, and fill in your grocery list for the items you don't have in hand.
All you have left to do at this point is to do the grocery shopping, post your menu on the fridge for all to see, and create your meals each day. The rest of your week should go much more smoothly now that you don't have to worry about "what's for dinner" at the end of each day. See how easy meal planning can be?
About the Author:
Visit My Weekly Menu Planner to learn how to save money with meal planning and for menu planning forms, worksheets, and other tips.
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