Makes Cooking Meals A Snap |
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Cooking meals which are decided on a day to day basis is not only tiresome but can take its toll on your pocket book as well. Frequent trips to the grocery store and buying smaller, pre-made food items can cost you time as well as more money in gas and in the checkout line. By sitting down and planning your meals for the week you can shop smarter, save time and alleviate the stress of deciding what's for dinner every day. Break out the Cookbooks No matter how busy your lifestyle is you can find the time to draw up a weekly meal plan. It only takes about 10 to 15 minutes and enlisting the help of your favorite cookbooks makes the task even easier. Make a chart with each day of the week on it and choose a suitable menu for each day, including any side dishes or desserts. With seven meals chosen you'll now create that week's grocery list so you can pick up the foods you'll need for your weekly meal plan, plus any extra staples you're running low on. To make meals as simple as possible during your busiest days of the week ensure you are cooking meals that require little prep time or that can be prepped the night before as a time saving measure. Stews that can be prepared the night before and refrigerated overnight are a great choice for nights your child has swimming class. Just take your crock pot's inner dish from the fridge to the base unit in the morning, turn it on low and your meal is ready when you are. Buying in Bulk: It's Good for the Budget Whenever possible buy food items you're likely to use frequently in bulk. Items such as meats, dried pastas, and spices are cheaper when purchased in larger quantities and, over the long run, can mean fewer trips to the grocery store once you build up a good reserve of food staples. While items that spoil quickly or don't freeze well often have to be purchased in smaller quantities you can still save money by purchasing them in larger sizes and plan on using them when cooking meals twice within the next two weekly meal plans. For example, larger bagged salads can be used once as a side salad and again as the base for a chicken Caesar salad latter on. Revisit Those Leftovers A great cost cutting measure when planning your meals is to choose dishes that will intentionally leave you with leftovers. While some may think buying a large roast for only two people is wasteful that leftover meat can be frozen and used again as stewing meat in a latter meal. Look for roasts or larger portions of meat when they come on sale and plan your weekly meals with the intent of revisiting these handy leftovers. Make a Double Batch Looking to save time as well as money? Plan to make meals that can be cooked or prepped ahead of time and frozen for later. Divide larger quantities of items such as chicken or pork chops into two meal portions. Make and add a marinade to both portions and freeze one for inclusion in another weekly meal plan. You'll have saved money by buying in bulk and have eliminated most of the prep time for that later meal. Cooking meals based on a weekly plan really does take the stress out of dinner time. With a little forethought you'll find yourself saving time, money and possibly your sanity all thanks to a weekly meal planner.
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