Menu planning helps our family to save a lot of money. I usually grocery shop bi-monthly, so every two weeks, I plan out our menu and grocery list. For about a year now, I have been planning out our dinners, but I haven't been very diligent at planning breakfast , lunch, and snacks. As a result, I find myself gazing into the refrigerator or pantry at random intervals throughout the day, wondering what to fix. Having a dinner plan has made my life so much easier, that I am going to try to be more diligent in planning out all of our meals. (I am not going to necessarily plan what breakfast to have on which day, but simply having a variety of choice to glean from, will be much better than having no plan.) I am going to keep the menu plan on a clipboard, so I can readily see what is available to fix.
Also, since I am expecting, I am trying to follow the Brewer diet. Keeping track of what I am eating helps to ensure that I am consuming the proper amount of protein, to help prevent a number of possible complications.
Breakfast:
Oatmeal, apple slices
Pumpkin Muffins
Eggs, English muffins
Smoothies (Banana-Strawberry-Apple-Celery)
Cereal, Orange Juice
Lunch:
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Loaded Baked Potatoes (toppings- cheddar, butter, sour cream, crumpled turkey bacon)
Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Pizza Rolls
Leftovers
PB and J, carrots and hummus
Snack Trays (on a cafeteria style tray- apple slices, cheese and crackers, applesauce, yogurt)
Snacks:
Cheese Slices with Crackers
Applesauce
Carrots and Hummus
Apple slices dipped in yogurt
Yogurt with granola
PB on celery
Salad
Popcorn
Apple Slices with Sharp Cheddar
Banana Pops
Dinner:
Monday- Chili and Cornbread
Tuesday- Breakfast- Grits and Sausage Casserole
Wednesday-out-sister-in-law cooking
Thursday- Stuffed Shells (make 2- One for this week, freeze the other for next week)
Friday- Homemade Pepperoni Pizza
Saturday- Burritos
What are you making this week? Have you found that menu planning helps you to save money? For more menu plans, visit Org Junkie.
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Saving Money through Menu Planning
Posted by Christine at 10:49 AM
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2 Comments:
Great ideas!
I LOVE to menu plan too!
With Much Love~ Miss Jen
Menu planning totally helps us save money! Sometimes when I buy everything on my list for my menu I think oh boy that's a lot of food (and a lot of money). But when I don't have a plan we tend to eat out more and that adds up more and more! I've found for me lately that rather than assigning a certain dish to a certain day I simply write down what I want to make for the next two weeks, buy the ingredients and I still have a bit of lee-way to what to make (some days if I don't want to cook we'll just eat the leftovers or something).
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