Meal Planning

Do you struggle with meal planning? Is your meal plan commonly just finding something to put on the table 30 minutes before everyone gets home? A lot of people view meal planning as an overwhelming task and something that they don't have time to do. I am here to tell you that meal planning can be quick, easy and a painless part of your weekly routine. Meal planning can help take the guess work out of dinner and help you stick with your food budget. Here are a few tips to make your dinner tonight a success! 

https://www.pinterest.com/ajonnette/delicious-recipes/

https://www.pinterest.com/ajonnette/delicious-recipes/

  1. Pick out some delicious recipes. I love to find new foods to try to make at home. Pinterest has so many different options. I love all the pictures and being able to see what the food item to suppose to look like before making that dish. I will save my meal items to a board on Pinterest and then go through that board and print off the recipes that I want to try. 
  2. After printing off my recipes for the week, I take the time to put them in sheet protectors. You may ask "why go through that hassle?" because I plan on saving the recipes and using them in the future. I like to cook from a paper recipe. With the sheet protector on the recipe it gets the paper from getting wet or something spilled on it. Then when I am done using the recipe I put it in a three ring binder and that is what I use as my "cookbook" of recipes my family enjoys. 
  3. Once I have my recipe picked out and put in a sheet protector, I then make out my grocery list of items that I need to cook these meals. 
  4. Head off to the grocery to purchase the items that I don't have in my pantry. 
  5. Then I am ready to cook for the week. I have the recipe, food and I then just decide what meal to make on which evening based on how long the recipe takes to prepare (30 minutes, something may need to marinate overnight or have the items prepped if you have a busy evening). 

In 5 simple steps you have your meal planned and ready to go for the week! For some other helpful tips check out the CDC website and their Meal Planning Tips.