Meal Planning

We saved $40,000 in less than a year and you can too!

•Almost half of that was Just by changing our food patterns.

•Shopping smarter at the store with coupons saved over $12,000
•Stopping the ‘going out to eat habit’ saved over $7,000
•Meal planning makes $ense financially!
 

WHY meal plan?

          1) Save Money!

     •It really doesn’t matter how many things you can get for free or cheap at the grocery store and drug stores. 

     •If you don’t have a plan for how you will use them to feed your family, then you can STILL be overspending on groceries each month!

     •You can shop from your stockpile to create meals for the entire family, for just a few bucks.

     •You are not making a lot of expensive stops at the store to pull a dinner together.

     •You are not giving up on cooking and going out to eat. Why spend $40 on dinner when you can get a weeks worth of groceries for that
 
2) Save Time

•No more frantic “what’s for dinner” nights!

•No more running to the neighbor or store for that one ingredient you are missing!

•No more drive thru dashes in last minute frustration because you are too tired to cook!

•No more thawing stuff out quickly in the microwave!

3) Eat Healthier !

     •Less pre-processed food!

     •Less Eating out!
     •Better Portion Sizes!
     •More time to make side dishes/salads, etc
     •PERFECT if you are part of a CSA farm or have a garden!

You could pay people to meal plan for you...

•E-mealz.com  - $65 a year!!

•DinnerSelect.com - $59.80 a year!

•Dinewhithoutwhine.com  -  $83 a year!
 But

They tell you what to buy!

•Items might not be on sale that week

•You might need a lot of items you don’t normally buy
•You are using THEIR recipes, not yours
•Recipes can be time consuming

It is EASY:
Find out what your family likes and try this low tech method of index cards!
On the front, write the name of the dishes...

 Then, add the ingredients to the front.

On the back, simply put the directions.

What does your family like?

Sort them and find a pattern!
•Italian?
•Mexican?
•Meatless?
•Breakfast?
•Beef?
•Chicken?
•Pork?
•Bacon?
•Soup, Stew or Chili?

You Just Found Your Theme Nights!

Like to try new recipes? Have a "mad science" or "mystery night". Let the family decide it if is a keeper or not.

Have a lot of leftovers?

Have a "Fridge Clean Out" Night, or Mustgo...

Now, take all of your cards and make a plan!

You will need:
7 breakfasts

7 lunches

7 dinners

Breakfast: The most important meal of the day!!

• Eat it or drink it?
• Cook it or have it cold?
• Toaster or Microwave?

Quick Ideas:

•Fruit *Bananas!

•Cold cereal
•Hot cereal
•Smoothies
•Waffles
•Pancakes
•Muffins
•Granola
•Crepes

•Egg bakes
•Breakfast burritos
•Protein shakes
•Breakfast scrambles
•Breakfast Cookies
•Breakfast Sandwiches

•Biscuits 

 

Freezer Breakfast Meals!

•Hot cereal – use the crock pot

•Waffles – flash freeze

•Pancakes – flash freeze

•Muffins – bake ahead!

•Crepes – layer with waxed paper/parchment

•Breakfast burritos – individually wrap

•Breakfast scrambles – mini kits!

Yes, Lunches Too!

•Just think about it, if you work outside the home and you buy lunch out almost every day.

•If you only spend $8.00 a day on lunch and a soda, get two weeks of vacation a year, that is 50 weeks at $40 a week...

•For a grand total of $2,000 a year!

Pack Your Own!

•If you were to bring your lunch from home, use up some leftovers and your own milk/juice.

•You could easily save $1,000 or more a year!

•We haven’t even added in breaks or afternoon chocolate pick-me-ups… jumping it up to $1,500-2,000 a year

•If you are married, DOUBLE that!

 

Sample Weekly Menu Format:

•Monday: Meatless Night

•Tuesday: Italian Night

•Wednesday: Try Something New!

•Thursday: Mexican Night

•Friday: Fridge Clean Out

•Saturday: Eat Out

•Sunday: Brunch!

Or, try this approach:

•Monday: Meatless Night

•Tuesday: Chicken Night

•Wednesday: Try Something New!

•Thursday: Beef Night

•Friday: Fridge Clean Out

•Saturday: Souper Night!

•Sunday: Pork Night

Here are some ideas on

Ground Beef

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast

Ham

Next, write down side dishes to go with those meals.

•Tacos? Corn and refried beans?

•Pasta w/meatballs & red sauce? Steamed broccoli and garlic bread?

•Turkey burgers? Green salad & veggie chips?

•Grilled chicken? Rice pilaf and mustard glazed carrots?

Now, get creative with leftovers!

 

Standard Dinner

•Meat

•Veggie

•Starch (rice or potato)

–Beef Roast with potatoes and peas

–Roast Chicken with carrots and wild rice

When you have leftovers….

•Dice/shred it

•Sauce it

•Serve over biscuits, popovers or toast!!•If you had Roast Beef with potatoes and peas…It just became Beef Stew over Biscuits•If you had Baked Chicken with Wild Rice and Carrots…It just became Chicken A La King over popovers•If you had leftovers here, you could thin it down, fluff with more veggies and call it SOUP or STEW!

Not enough from meal number one to make meal number two?

•Quiche

•Fried Rice

•Soup

•Wraps

•Pizza

Quiche --

•3 eggs

•2 cups of meat/veggies

•1 cup shredded cheese

•1 cup cream

•Add 1 pie shell

Fried Rice --

•2 Cups Leftover Rice

•1 Cup Leftover Meat

•1 Cup Leftover Veggies

Soups --

•Add broth and noodles (or rice)

•Add Cream

•Add Grated Cheese

Wrap It --

•Slice some fresh veggies and use shredded meat for a sandwich wrap

Go Mexican --

•Grate some cheese, add some salsa and shredded meat for a quick quesadilla!

•Add beans and you have Burritos or Enchiladas

Pizza --

•Why spend $15-25 to have them deliver?

•Premade crusts or from a mix…

•Add a little sauce, cheese  and toppings

Use Your Noodle! Make a Casserole --

•Meat

•Sauce

•Veggies

•Starch

•Support the dairy farmers: Top with cheese and bake  at 350 for 1 hour.

Be Flexible

•Life Happens: Things Come Up

–Illness

–Surprise Company

–Sporting Events

•Shift Nights Around

•Pop Things into the Next Week

 

Feel free to check out my recipe page for quick meal ideas!  It is HERE