Scrambling around the supermarket…run out of ideas of what to cook?
“Mum! What’s for dinner? YIKES!
The answer is simple: A Menu Plan
Menu planning does not have to be complicated! Planning meals ahead requires a small investment of time, but saves you a lot of stress in the long run. I will usually plan my menu for the week.
Why should Mothers Menu Plan?
Save yourself some time:
No running to the neighbours for a missing ingredient or frantically rummaging through the fridge or freezer for something to cook. You will already be organised when kids come home from school or you get an unexpected visitor close to dinner time.
Save yourself some Money
I have found myself saving a significant amount of money by menu planning. There are countless trips saved to the supermarkets as well as unnecessary items bought through impulse spending. I will also stock up my freezer as well as use any leftovers for another meal.
Healthy meals can be considered
I have more time to sit down and flick through recipe books and browse healthy recipes for my family. I do prefer my children to have a nutritious, balanced diets and by not rushing around, I realised I can organise my time to create simple and healthy and delicious side salads to compliment my dishes.
Some SIMPLE Tips
The simplest way is to just commit to Menu planning and give it a go! It may be slightly challenging initially but once you have the hang of it, you will save yourself so much time, money and trouble!
How to Menu plan?
Get a pen and paper and rough out a simple menu plan.
I usually like to plan and shop for 7 dinner meals. I try to choose meals where ingredients can be repeated (EG: Use cucumbers in a dish and any leftovers in Dinner dish 3 as well.
I take note of when the weekly sales are for the supermakerts (they tend to be on the same days which is convenient).
The next step is important – check to see how much and what ingredients remains in your fridge. Can any of it be used (remember to plan to use ingredients with a shorter shelf life first).
When shopping, stay focused and try not to buy unecessary ingredients which were not on your list. Also, be flexible, just in case they do not have a particular ingredient of your choice (or you can also buy something similar if it is cheaper!)
One thing I found difficult personally was bulk buying! When an item was cheap I was buy multiple packets without being too concerned of the expiry date (you may end up wasting the food if it passes it expiry date).
You can pin up your Menu plan on the wall or the fridge to refer to it during the week.
Happy planning!
Originally posted 2013-10-27 23:18:03.