Menu planning has been a great time and money saving strategy at our house. It simplifies our meal time. When I make a menu I plan our meals based on our schedule. I don’t have to think about what to make dozens of additional times that week. I just look at my menu.
Thursday we have Girl Scouts at our house. Dinner needs to be fast and easy so everyone can finish their home work, do their chores and get to bed. With that in mind I usually put something in the Crockpot in the morning, plan on breakfast for dinner that night or maybe soup and sandwiches. I can get dinner on the table 20 minutes after everyone leaves.
By looking ahead I can choose a slower day that doesn’t have a lot of activities for my husband to grill. Often we have our larger meal around 2 PM in the afternoon because it is a less busy time at our house.
I plan for meetings or events and mark on my calendar that I need to prepare to bring a dish.
I see what evenings my husband may be home late and I can make a kids meal. For us that means make our own pizzas or macaroni and cheese. You get the idea. I make notes on my menu for morning or evening tasks such as soak beans or start bread in the bread machine.
I have a place at the top of my menu that I put snack ideas that I have on hand such as apples with caramel, juice popsicles, popcorn, strawberries, crackers and cheese, etc. That allows me to use up what I have on hand.
Another thing that keeps my menu simple and inexpensive is that I make my menu with what I already have on hand in my cupboard, fridge and freezer. That allows me to grocery shop for only what is at its best price each week.
Joy from 5 J’s and Money Saving Mom put together 11 printable menus if you don't already use one. There are one week, two week, four week and monthly menus to choose from. Now you don’t even have to run out and buy something to be organized. Get your 11 menu plans here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment