Meal Planning

For many years I have went grocery shopping blinded. What I mean by blinded is not really knowing what I was going to cook through-out the week. At one time we would eat nothing but boxed meals, this made shopping easy. Ground beef, tuna fish, hamburger helper, stuffing, mac and cheese, easy to make, cheap to make, we bought it.

It wasn’t until recently I learned a little trick about shopping. The key to a healthy dinner is planning out the dinners and having a clue.

So I grabbed a clue and I sat down and made out an actual menu. I always thought menus were for school and restaurants, I never thought I would have one in my kitchen.

You have no clue about menu planning? Yea know worries me either, but I pretended I did when I went and did mine out.

Grab a pen and piece of paper, and make a list of at least 20 different meals. Then take your menu and make a shopping list, this way you have more of a clue, and you’re not going to shop blinded.

It doesn’t matter if you eat the dinners in the order listed, I take an put the menu on the fridge so the family knows what meal options we have, and so they know not to touch the black olives because they’re for taco salad. Once you are at the store you can decide if you want the same thing more than once through out the month, and if so make sure you get double of the products you already have on the list.

I have learned having more of a menu plan makes not only shopping easier, but makes the food I do purchase last longer. Meal planning is the key to cooking outside the box, pun intended.