Meal planning is a great way to help your family live within your monthly grocery budget. For those of you who haven’t started creating weekly menu plans, take the plunge! You can do it. Come up with a system that works for you. You don’t have to plan on Mondays. Do it on your payday or grocery shopping day. You don’t have to do a full week. Start with two or three days at a time. Keep at it for a few weeks until you see the benefits for yourself!
For those needing some inspiration, here’s a list of what’s for dinner at my house this week:
Monday — Halloween party! Lots of kid friendly food — sandwiches, cheese & crackers, olives, pickles, pizza sticks and, of course, candy!
Tuesday — Turkey Lasagna and salad
Wednesday — Honey Mustard Chicken from the The Ultimate Guide to Freezer Friendly Meals eBook with oven roasted potatoes and broccoli
Thursday — Our weekly dinner club (it’s not my week!)
Friday — Turkey Empanadas (old Weight Watcher’s recipe I found in a magazine) with rice and beans
Saturday — Chicken Taquitos (these don’t really need a side dish)
Sunday — Dijon Chicken from The Ultimate Guide to Freezer Friendly Meals eBook with steamed broccoli
Leave a comment! Do you use menu plans? What are the benefits for your family/budget? What are your favorite recipe sites?
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I sometimes meal plan but since I always have lots of fruits and veggies on hand (both fresh and frozen) as well as my freezer full of chicken and beef it’s fun to plan the night before what we are going to have. I also love the crockpot! On nights I use my crockpot it almost feels like going out because I planned the meal that morning and don’t have to worry about fixing dinner that evening. One of my favorite recipe sites is Skinnytaste.com. I have not tried a recipe yet on that site that doesn’t taste good. Everything is easy and healthy and she takes pictures of everything. I have a hard time eating out and spending money on a meal since I can cook something that tastes good and is healthier and cheaper. Date night with my hubby is usually sushi (which I really can’t fix at home economically, other than cucumber rolls) and we go to a place that has $1 to $3.50 plates.
I meal plan every week and have for the last few years! I am no longer working full time and we really don’t go out much. Meal planning saves so much in not only money, but also in food! Rarely do I have to throw out spoiled food:) The only down side is by Friday our fridge is pretty empty!
I try to shop for a minimum of 3-4 dinners a week, so I have everything needed for that dinner. That way there is no running to the store and pay full price for an item (I could get with coupons on another day). I also plan around some sales (IE) Freds had fish on sale…. If I do not plan we end up eating something ‘fast’ beacuse I spent over a half hour trying to figure something out, and then I have crank kids, and then I make a frozen pizza……you get the picture. Planning also makes my life easier I get home from work I know what we are having and what is needed to get the job done in time.
My favorite recipie site is google, I start with an idea of what I might want and go form there. I have had success with allrecipe.com
I love menu planning! I do it for every day of the week -and since I cook from scratch this is the main way I save money since I only use coupons casually (not that many coupons for food I use). For my husband and I, I can stick to a $50-60 grocery budget per week, but that is for 42 meals (3 meals a day for 2 people) and daily snacks. If I go a little over I try not to feel bad because at least we won’t be spending $40 to eat out once! I would definately say everyone should try meal planning!
I love menu planning too:)It keeps us eating healthy and it makes me feel like a good mommy and wife:)
Do you buy empanada disks? if so where do you find them I haven’t been able to locate them since I moved to oregon.
I just use the wonton wrappers. They work pretty well.