The benefits of planning a weekly menu

I thought I’d share how I go about planning the menu and grocery list for the week. But first, I’d like to give you some of the benefits of planning a weekly menu:

·         After a long day at work or play, all you have to do is look and see what you’re having for dinner. With the recipe already pulled and the ingredients in the pantry, cooking the evening meal is a snap. No decisions to be made. Just follow the pre-planned instructions.

·         You and your family enjoy a well-balanced meal at least three to five times a week and have family time in spite of busy schedules.

·         You will have more free time because you will reduce your trips to the store and increase the efficiency of meal preparation.

·         Your overall grocery bill will be less per month because un-necessary impulse spending will be reduced when the number of trips to the store is decreased.

So here’s my method for meal planning. I do this every week, the same way. Even my planning method is consistent. Consistency in my methods is what simplifies my life and makes me efficient in my daily activities. If some of this is too simplistic, I apologize, but lest I lose someone by skipping a step, I thought I had better start from the beginning.

I open my ‘brain’ up with both front and back sides of the book lying open. On the front of the right page, I list the days of the weeks. The back of the left page will be used for my grocery list. I check the calendar to see if there are any special events to be considered when planning the menu. Wednesday night Bobby and I have French class, so a “to-go” type meal will be needed so we can eat in the car as we head across town to class. Now I start filling in my plan for dinner each night, looking up the recipe as I go. I write the location of the recipe (book and page) with the menu. I note the ingredients and add any needed items to my grocery list. Dividing up the grocery list into sections helps make shopping more time efficient. I have produce, meat, canned, dairy, frozen, and personal columns.

That’s it. Impressive, right? Well, not all that impressive, but it does keep food on the table and that makes my family happy and decreases my stress level.

I’ll share an actual menu plan, complete with recipes next time. Hopefully you’ll find, like I have, that a little of planning once a week can save you tons of time in the long run.