Who’s got time to meal plan, anyway?
Few of us, however, I believe that we are all much more aware of eating healthy. As wives and moms, we truly want to provide the best possible meals for our families while keeping an eye on our grocery budget. We intended to do that “meal plan” thing, but then life got in the way! So we jump in the car and make that quick run to the grocery store because we’re out of macaroni and butter, only to come home after spending $100 and we probably forgot the macaroni.
The idea of food storage and having what I need in my pantry is always on my mind. I’ll go in spurts where I’m like a squirrel gathering nuts before the winter. Then I’ll relax and use my stockpile happily knowing that we’re eating much more cheaply than if I just made a quick run to the grocery store and bought ingredients for tonight’s supper.
How do I figure out what should be in my pantry?
So how do I have what I need in my pantry for supper tonight and who has time to cook supper anyway?
Great questions! Meal Planning is the answer. I know, I know – if you had time to meal plan you’d probably have time to cook and There’s NO Time To Cook Much Less To Meal Plan!!!
Here’s the deal…none of us have time to sit down and dream up thematic meals with cutesie names for each dish on those cutesie Free Printable forms. But consider this, our moms didn’t come up with Meatloaf Mondays or Taco Tuesdays because they were looking for cutesie menu names on cutesie forms (which I do believe are awesomely cute!). Nope…they were meal planning long before “meal planning” was a thing.
Your mission…
So, here’s my proposal. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to fill in the Weekly Meal Planner Form with two weeks of meals; but I want you to take two weeks to do it. WHAT??!! Yep, I want you to write down your supper/dinner for Sunday on Sunday, supper for Monday on Monday and so on and so forth for two weeks. Write them down as you make them. And if you happen to have soccer or baseball practice on a given night and need to run through the drive through…write that down, too. After two weeks, you will have a good idea of how often you eat out and when you cook, what your family loves. The ingredients needed to make these favorite meals are the ingredients you need to have in your pantry.
Saving Money
Take a good hard look at your family’s eating out nights and how much money is spent. This money is also part of your grocery budget. A family of four will easily spend $35 for burgers and fries at a fast food restaurant when you could probably do burgers and fries at home for $10…for the entire family! Now that “meal plan” thing is looking almost profitable.
The key to saving money…aside from not eating out as much…is to learn how to only buy what is on sale at the grocery store and to use coupons and or couponing apps to help you save money.
Ibotta is an app that you can use on your computer while you’re planning your next shopping trip or on your phone if you’re shopping on the fly. https://ibotta.com/r/kmnffyb
I recently took an amazing couponing class with The Extreme Couponing Queen, Jen Morris. Her website at www.livelifeonless.com offers information on couponing, including an awesome coupon database. Go check her out.
If you’d like to save money on fresh meats, Zaycon Fresh is a fantastic resource. This is group buying on steroids! I’ve purchased the ground beef, ground turkey, and boneless, skinless chicken and am super pleased with the quality. I’ll get a case or two of the chicken at a time and freeze some, can some and freeze-dry some. Check out the website and see the pickup locations in your area. https://www.zayconfresh.com/refer/ZF426168
Don’t Stress Over It!
Don’t stress out over this whole meal plan thing. Print as many of the Weekly Meal Planner forms as you’d like. Hole punch them and put them in a binder if you’d like. It’s not a fancy form, but it is practical. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be showing you the meals I make, how I make them and I’ll be adding links to some YouTube videos for a more step-by-step tutorial.