At our ladies’ retreat a couple weeks ago we offered several different workshops from which the ladies could choose. The one I taught was on multi-tasking. Aside from being reminded that the reason we want to use our time wisely is because our minutes are a gift from God, one important tip I gave the ladies is that of planning a weekly menu. I was surprised to learn that the habit of creating a menu of what they eat each week was a new idea for most. I challenged the ladies to sit down at the beginning of the week and write out a simple menu plan. Why? Because planning out your meals will do four things:
- It will save you money. It reduces trips to the grocery store and impulsive spending. Using leftovers efficiently cuts food waste, while planned buying in bulk makes it easy to stockpile freezer meals at reduced prices.
- A menu plan saves time. No dash to the neighbors for a missing ingredient, no frantic searches through the freezer for something, anything to thaw for dinner.
- A menu plan improves nutrition. Without the daily dash to the supermarket, there’s time to prepare side dishes and salads to complement the main dish, increasing the family’s consumption of fruits and vegetables.
- A menu also provides better variety. You’ll have time to look through recipes and cookbooks and try new foods rather than getting stuck in the same old grind.
To get started you can use a calendar, or just a piece of paper with the days of the week written at the top. Write down the main course, side dish and/or salad, and dessert you plan on fixing for each day. Look through the sale papers for the local stores and see what’s on sale and plan accordingly. If you see that hamburger and chicken breasts are on sale, this would be the week to make dishes using those meats.
Having your menu for supper planned allows you time to begin working on the meal earlier in the day, rather than waiting until everyone is starved. You can thaw the meat early in the day, or make the salad the night before.
Once you get into the habit of planning out the supper menu you can move on to planning breakfast foods, lunches and snacks. This simple step will save you time and money and it takes less time than you’d imagine.
Do you regularly plan a menu? How has it helped you and your family? What is on your menu for this week?
RefreshHer 
Yes Yes Yes! 🙂 In fact last week I didn't take the time and we went out to eat much more than we should have! Great times of getting out and about but not so great on the wallet.
This week will be a crazy one with leaving town so I planned a few easy meals to eat and prepare fast. Crock Pot BBQ Sandwiches, Chili, & Sloppy Joes and then eat whatever is left before our trip so it doesn't go bad while we are gone.
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