Save Time and Money with Meal planning

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If you’re anything like how I used to be, six o’clock rolls around and you have absolutely nothing planned, you’re beat and all of a sudden MacDonalds doesn’t seem like the worst idea you ever had. (It is, by the way).

This is exactly when having a meal plan is by far my best suggestion for healthy eating especially if you’re on a budget; specifically if you plan in a way that utilizes methods to lower your overall food costs. It can appear a bit complicated initially, but once you get used to it, a prudent meal strategy can be made in under half an hour.

The Hubster and I have actually planned menus for the last two years, basing off a master list of around 30 regular, easy to prepare family favorites. Every Friday night the kids do their Pizza and a movie and Mr Rainbow and I get a nice glass of wine and plan the menus for a week to two weeks at a time.

For a short time, to supplement being able to buy in bulk we actually offered a bespoke meal service to my colleagues.  People would be able to order ready made meals from a menu, on a weekly basis and have them delivered to our place of work.  This was never a profit making enterprise but it did enable us to utilize economies of scale when purchasing food.  BONUS!

Take inventory.

Before we start any meal planning session we look at what we have already in the pantry, freezers and stores. Is there anything that needs to be used up quite quickly? What staples do I have in my pantry that I can make meals from without having to purchase a lot of extra bits for? If I have some remaining random vegetables in the fridge and some rice in the kitchen, I know somewhere in the week will be a great night for a feature veggie curry over rice.

We try to see if we can purchase somethings in bulk and double up on recipes – (when one item can be used for two meals or turned into another meal). With the leftover chicken, I might us them in quesadillas later on in the week or i might make a Roast chicken and then use leftovers for a butter Chicken curry. I may even use a large bag of mixed vegetables for numerous meals.. and then we make our shopping list.

This method works for me and has actually allowed me to stay within a family grocery budget with little to no effort. Mr Rainbow is a retired Executive Chef and so, as a family, we are incredibly Food Centric. It is essential to me that meals we cook are family-friendly, as healthy as our children will allow an within budget.  No more seared scallops on a bed of lightly sauteed asparagus spears with fresh pea puree…. kidding – we do eat like that sometimes.  I grow the asparagus and peas and Cheffie still has friends in the industry 🙂

Use the weekly flyers.

I do look at the grocery ads each week to see what is on sale, and I try to buy things we will use. If a product was listed as “on sale”, I would try to use that product in my weekly meal plan if I could and may even buy extra for future weeks. I Do NOT buy things on sale that we do not eat… like Avocados. I don’t care how healthy they are, we don’t like them.

Theme nights work great in my house too and they keep the menu interesting. You can try experimenting with Chinese food, Mexican night, Italiano, Indian, Crockpot night/soup/casserole night, breakfast for dinner, everything on a stick (kebabs, caprese skewers, fruit skewers, Satay) and so on

I rarely utilize coupons, since I have actually learned that I’ll just forget them at the register OR the only coupons available are for stuff we would never consider purchasing!

The week is much less stressful when you have a week of healthy, easy meals prepared in advance, instead of rushing around attempting to figure it out at the last minute.

 

We do typically eat the same things every week but that can get a little repetitive and so, in these times I will turn to Pinterest for something new and exciting. I usually have my teenage daughter whip up a large batch of muffins over the weekend too, and we alternate eggs and toast and muffins all week for easy breakfasts.  Lunches are really simple as well. They are generally leftovers for me and a sandwich or salad and fruit for the kids. I will keep vegetables, fruit, hummus, cheese, granola bars and yogurts on hand as backups.

I am also a huge advocate of large batch cooking and freezing portions. I work part-time, and on those nights when I can pop a lasagna into the oven and make up a green salad or defrost a curry and put some rice in the rice cooker, I think that’s pretty fantastic.

The family thinks so too!

What are your favorite time saving, money saving meals?

Don’t forget – the meal planner and grocery list printables are in the freebie vault.

 

XO

Anna