Sunday, October 26, 2008

Sharing Menu Plans


One thing that really helps me in keeping my life simple is menu planning. I plan for a week at a time. I try to shop for a week at a time as well, but that doesn't always work. This week, I'm determined that it will ! I even got a can of fruit salad so that we can eat that at the end of the week when we run out of fresh fruit !

I have been planning menus for many years now. I can tell such a difference in the weeks that I do plan to the weeks that I don't. Our budget, nutrition and my sanity all suffer when I don't plan our menus !

Planning once a week means I am in the grocery store less. I love to grocery shop but I tend to spend more than I need to each time I go in. The fewer times I go in, the less I spend ! It's true !

Planning once a week means I am not stressed about what to eat each night. It means we eat out less because there is always something yummy on the menu ... I am the one planning it, after all !

Planning once a week means I can plan ahead for days that I know are going to be busy. Those days usually have a meal in the crock pot cooking away and ready when we all get home !

Planning once a week means I am able to plan nutritious meals for my family. I don't get stuck in a rut of cooking the same old un-healthy fall back meals night after night !! It also means that I don't need to feel guilty cooking homemade pizza most Friday nights for our family 'pizza and a movie' tradition because I know we've eaten healthy all week long !

Planning once a week means I can plan inexpensive meals as necessary to help keep the budget under control.

In January, I started posting my weekly menu plans to my cooking blog ~ The Beans Blog. You can pop over and check out what we're eating this week by clicking HERE. Keeping my menus online has been very helpful as I can go back and look at what we've had previously. I participate in Menu Plan Monday as well. A great resource for planning menus. Bloggers world wide link in each Monday at a website called "I'm an Organizing Junkie". There are over 300 posts each week. I probably visit 10 or 12 each week just to see what's cooking ! I have found some great blogs that way ! And some great meal ideas.

Planning menu's takes a little bit of time each week, but the peace of mind, the savings in both money, sanity and time make it well worth the effort !

"You do not like it. So you say. Try it ! Try it ! And you may. Try it and you may, I say."
~ Sam I Am, Green Eggs and Ham ... Loosely Quoted !!

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