Meal Planning 101

Dinner time has become a very important time in our house.  Here are a few ideas on how to make dinner time easier for you and your family.

I am a big fan of meal planning.  It actually started way back before having children.  My husband and I used to do the grocery shopping together.  He would get so annoyed when I would just wander the aisles aimlessly or would have to run back and forth because I forgot things.  He started making a “rule” that I had to have a list of stuff we were going to buy before we even went.  The only way to make a good list was to plan what we were going to eat for the next two weeks (we shopped every other week).

I would search online and in magazines for different things to try.  Growing up, we seemed to eat the same five or six meals in rotation, so I like to make sure we are eating different things.  My other rule is that it cannot be anything too complicated.  If it involves more than 5 ingrediants or a lot of chopping, the recipe is out.

Here are some tips for planning your meals.

1.  Make sure to dedicate some time to planning.  You should only need 15-30 minutes tops.

2.  Have your calendar nearby as you plan.  Look at what activities you family has planned for the week.  Is there a night you do not need to plan a meal?  Are there certain nights you need to figure out something quick?  Take your schedule into consideration when planning.

3.  Pick at least one night for leftovers.  It gives you a night off from cooking and helps reduce waste.

4.  Try something new at least once a week.  It keeps things interesting and you might just find a new family favorite.

5.  You do not have to pick gourmet meals.  As I stated above, I do not do complicated.  I work full time outside the home and do not want meals with a lot of prep time.

Meal planning also has some great benefits.  Here are just a few:

1.  From your meal plan, you can create your grocery list.  This helps you to save money as you are buying off the list and not a bunch of extra things you do not need.

2.  You do not have to think about what is for dinner that night as you already have it planned.  Makes meal-time a no-brainer.

3.  You save time.  You go to the store ONCE a week (or every other week) instead of having to stop more often to get things for dinner.

4.  You can take the time to try new things.  Since you have a plan and have been to the store, you can put more thought into trying different things for meal time.

As you can probably tell, I am pretty passionate about meal planning.  I hope that some of my ideas help you get started.  If not, feel free to ask for help.

Happy Dining!!