Planning Tips to Make Meals Simple

Money-saving Tip: As you plan your weekly menu, consult the supermarket circulars to see what food items are on sale. Who knows, this might be the week you can splurge on filet mignon because of a special at your local store!

Family-friendly Tip: Include the whole family in your menu planning. It can be as easy as asking, “What would you like to have for dinner this week?” Not only will asking the question help you come up with ideas, it will also help dinner be more of a true family meal. And if you have fussy eaters, they may be more willing to eat dinner when they help plan it.

Time-saving and Money-saving Tip: As you plan your dinner menu, prepare a shopping list. List all the ingredients you will need to buy for each dinner planned. Your list ensures that you will have everything you need when you need it. The list will save you time – you won’t have to go back to the store again and again to get a needed item you forgot. And the list will save you money – with a list, you are less likely to buy on items on impulse that you do not need. Plus when you go to the store less frequently, you are less tempted to overspend. The Marketing Science Institute reports that shoppers on a “quick trip” to the store usually spent 54 percent more than planned. ("Save Money on Food," February 26, 2008, Kiplinger.com) The fewer quick trips you make to the store, the more money you will save.

Another Time-saving Tip: If you are a regular customer of a supermarket, you can save time by organizing your list according to where the items are in the store. At the store I frequent, the produce department is at the door, so fruits and vegetables are first on my list. I know that canned tomato products are in the same aisle as dried pasta, so I list them together on my list. Dairy products and eggs are at the far-end of the store from the entrance, so those items are at the bottom of my list. Instead of zig-zagging around the store, back-tracking to get what I need, and forgetting something I need, I save time by organizing my list as the store is organized.

Yet Another Time-Saving Tip: When you plan your menu for the week, you can also plan for leftovers. I will be honest with you: I hate leftovers. Let me clarify that: I hate eating leftovers that have simply been heated up. But when you plan for leftovers, you can creatively make them into a totally different meal. If you have chicken salad on Sunday, you can roast extra chicken and have risotto with chicken and asparagus or chicken enchiladas later in the week. If you have tomato sauce in the freezer from when you made a big batch two weeks ago, you can have spaghetti and meatballs with your own homemade sauce in half an hour.