Well I've been bad the past couple months....I've been making several trips a WEEK to Target, buying too many delicious baked goods at Whole Foods and becoming too well-know at my local Chipolte...I promised Charles I would stick to a budget this month...ok, you can stop your laughing. I have accepted the challenge of keeping our groceries to $400 this month and the only way I can ever see that happening is by creating a meal plan and sticking to it.
One thing I've found that make meal plans a lot less stressful and a lot easier to make is to just throw meals on there...don't worry about what day you are putting the meal down for, just get it on there and then throughout the week cross meals off as you make them. Have a rough day at work and don't feel like throwing together that fancy meal you had planned? Pick one of the easier meals that you threw down on another day...it's mostly just to help you succeed with your "one trip to the grocery store a week" goal. Also don't get too ambitious (esp if you are on a budget)...kids, husbands...they both like certain meals and don't mind having them more than once a week =)
And don't judge...I'm bad and only have coffee for breakfast.
Meal planning is a good thing to do. I also find it helpful to do some 'bulk cooking' on a day when you have some extra time so you've got easy healthy food to reach for. I'll often grill a bunch of chicken breasts (that I can eat straight up, or chop up and toss into salad or stir fry) and a bunch of steel cut oats. Chile works well in bulk as well. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteYes, I have heard great things about doing all the cooking on one day and then assembling/reheating stuff the rest of the week...I have yet to take the plunge though =)
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