A meal plan is a budgeting and time-saving tool for household meals. It involves listing meals that can be prepared, considering the monthly grocery budget, planning grocery shopping, and organizing food storage. Checking the plan daily helps with meal preparation.
A meal plan is a regular, organized arrangement for budgeting, spending, cooking, and serving meals in a family or household. Many people find that having a designated meal plan helps them stick to their monthly grocery budget and saves time preparing home meals. Designing a meal plan depends on several factors.
The first step in making a meal plan is for the person or people doing the cooking to write down all the meals that can be prepared. Depending on the creativity or motivation of the cook, this can be a long or short list. When the list is complete, keep it handy, so new recipes and meal ideas can be added as the need arises.
The next step is to consider your monthly grocery budget. Divide your monthly total into weekly increments and plan meals for your meal plan around this amount. The best way to stick to your grocery budget is to go to the store with just enough cash; leave your debit and credit cards at home. This will prevent impulse buying that doesn’t fit into your meal plan.
Next, plan your grocery shopping for your meal plan. If you go once a week, check your meal plan list and decide which meals the family will eat during the indicated week. So do some kitchen inventory and make a grocery list to include everything you’ll need for each day. Make sure you include all meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and meals that will be packed and taken to school or work. The meal plan will include every bite of food eaten by the family during that week, including any invited guests or special occasions. Also consider keeping an ongoing grocery list on the refrigerator door, so regular household items can be added to the list as they are consumed.
After you’re done shopping for your meal plan, store food in the cupboard and refrigerator or freezer in the order you’ll be preparing meals for the week. While meals can be swapped throughout the week depending on family preferences, organizing will make food preparation easier. Finally, the family cook or cooks might consider checking the weekly meal plan every night before bed; in this way the meat can be thawed in the refrigerator or other foods prepared in advance. Your family will be surprised at the time and money you save with a meal plan.
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