Easy Meal Planning

So it’s 4:00 and you’re standing in the middle of your kitchen turning round and round. You have no idea what’s for dinner. The kids are running around screaming because their hungry. You’re hungry, so you scream at the kids. AND you know that your husband will be through the doors within the next hour or two.

Or how about the fact that school has started back along with football and/or cheerleading practice, or dance class or karate class or maybe all of the above. Now you don’t have anything made so you run through the drive through at least 4 nights a week and the other days you’re almost too tired to cook.

Do these things sound familiar? I am a mom of four and both of these scenarios have happened often to me. So I’ve discovered that with a little planning on my part I have less stress and more home cooked meals and my budget doesn’t have to be stretched quite so far.

Step 1: This is actually two fold. If your kids are involved in a lot of activities then write down your schedule for the week. What nights will you be home? What nights will you be out the entire time? Now make a list of dinners that your family likes. You don’t need more than 5 or 6. Plan on having one night for leftovers. (Keep in mind you may just have a little left over from each meal. Put it all out buffet style. Everyone can choose a little of this and that)
Make sure that you have some simple meals for the nights you’ll be gone. Maybe make your own sub sandwiches. Or even regular sandwiches with chips, or chopped veggies and dip or chopped fruit. You can also use your crockpot for these nights. Then use leftovers from the crockpot to create another meal later in the week. Example: make a roast in the crockpot, save the leftover meat and shred it as thin as possible. Later in the week reheat the meat in some enchilada sauce and serve up enchiladas and rice and beans.

Step 2: Check your pantry to determine what ingredients you will need to purchase to make the meals you’ve chosen. If you notice you have all the ingredients for a meal you didn’t list then perhaps substitute that meal for the other instead of buying more food.

Step 3: Make sure to take your list with you to the grocery store and only buy what’s on the list.

Step 4: Put your list of meals on the refrigerator or another place where you will see it. The night before, check your schedule for the next day and choose a meal. Do any prep work needed. If meat needs to be thawed out then put it in the fridge to thaw. If you’re going to put the crockpot on first thing then you could even put everything in the crockpot and put the ceramic part in the fridge, then the next morning you just put it on to cook and go.

Step 5: Spend a few minutes creating a menu for next week. Maybe this time you could check your pantry and your schedule and then you could save on your budget even more.

Try this for one week and you’ll find a peace you didn’t realize existed and perhaps some extra money at the end of the week. No more “Mom, I’m starving. What’s for dinner?” and you without a clue. And no more spending up to $80+ a week in takeout because it’s just easier when you’re on the road.

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