![]() ![]() It saves money by reducing impromptu visits to the grocery store, which often results in impulse spending.Ģ. Why Plan a Menu: 20 Benefits of Meal Planningġ. Here’s how to Use it! Dinner Theme Menu Planner It’s one that kids tend to love, and it can easily turn into a family fun night. Themed Dinner Menu Plan– this menu plan is entirely theme-based. Since you already know what you have on hand in your freezer, fridge, and pantry, you know what items you have to accompany the meals or to create main dishes. Scan through the sales ads of your favorite grocery stores, and jot down several meal ideas based on those specials.I’ve found that this is quite helpful when it comes to trying to figure out what to feed the family. I’ve always been this way with my family and my children are not picky eaters by any stretch of the imagination. For us, I have a 2 choice option on our menu, take it, or leave it. Generally, this list is considerably smaller. I feel it’s imperative to have an idea of what they won’t eat. I know that lots of menu planning articles like to focus on what you will eat or want to eat. Make a list of what your family absolutely WON’T eat.If you have a fully stocked pantry of basic items, congratulations, the battle is nearly won! This serves several purposes: first, you may be surprised at how much food you actually have on hand. (I’m not talking about a physical list, just a general overview so you know what you have available to use). Start by taking an inventory of what you have on hand in your pantry, fridge, and freezer.This type of menu works well for families with very picky eaters. These same meals are eaten over again (hence the “rotating” menu). Generally speaking, a rotating menu consists of 15-20 meals that are within the family’s budget. Rotating Menus– This is the least time-consuming method of menu planning, but also the most boring.It doesn't get any easier than that!We hope you found these suggestions on how to meal plan helpful. Hopefully, you'll get to a point where you can slightly modify or use the same meal plans over and over again as we did in our Healthy Weekly Dinner Plan. Save your weekly plans with the feedback. When the week is over, review the weekly dinner plan and do it again! Which dinners were a success this week and what changes should you make next time? Jot the answers down in the Notes section.For example, save them to a designated board on Pinterest.Gather any recipes that are needed and save them to one place.Tip: Having a consistent place to keep this list is helpful, particularly if you want other family members to add things to the list. It doesn't matter whether it's a paper list on the refrigerator or a Google doc on your phone.Browse our recipe index or check out our dinner boards on Pinterest where we pin recipes from all our favorite bloggers and recipe sites.Plan around a dinner theme, such as Meatless Monday, Tex-Mex Tuesday, Pizza Night, Soup and Sandwiches, etc.Are there dinners in the freezer that you made ahead of time?.What items do you have on hand and what's on sale.What's in season? Check out our Seasonal produce guide.Start with what works and then go from there. Favorite family dinners - It's never a good idea to make too many new recipes in a given week.Decide what to make and slot the items into the planner.Not sure what time to start dinner? Would a slow cooker dinner solve the problem?.Can you make extra protein, like chicken or beef, and make a different meal the next day? Cook once, eat twice!.Will you have extra time to double a recipe and freeze a dinner for later?.Will you need a dinner that takes less than 30 minutes to make?.Consider how much time you will have to make dinner based upon your notes from Step 2.Include soccer games, plans to eat out, late meetings or anything else that impacts the dinner hour.Review your calendar and jot down any events that are happening during the week in the Notes section.Print out a weekly dinner menu template to write everything down on.Here's how to create a meal plan for the week: So, set aside a time each week to make the magic happen. The more you do it, the easier it becomes, just like any habit. Weekly Dinner Menu Planner How to Meal PlanĬonsistency is the key to successful meal planning. ![]()
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