Meal Planning2: It's Smart

Meal Planning: It's Smart

A few months ago, I had talked about "meal planning."

Why? You should all by now ;) But here it is again

1. It saves time and energy

(5:30pm-"ugh, what will I make today?!")

2. You spend less eating out

(5:30pm. "ugh, I dont' know what to make. "LET'S EAT OUT!")

3. It's healthier

(5:30pm- "ugh, I don't know what to make-"here, here's some PB and J Sandwiches and chips or cereal!")

4. It's Cheaper

(5:30pm--"shoot, I don't have *** ingredient-gotta run to the store!"--and you spend $40 easily everytime you're out...that's my WHOLE WEEK'S grocery bill!!)

5. Dinner's on the table faster

because you've already thought out in advance the preparation in advance-you can get ready for dinner throughout the day instead of;

(5:30pm "dang it, pork chops for dinner=the pork's frozen still!")

6. You get a variety of meals because you put aside time to think and plan ahead-I actually get to go through cook books and study menus and things I want to try, instead of resorting to the same things we always eat, just because it'd be "faster" to make

Anyway, I'm sure there are a lot more benefits to meal planning, but there were a few of my reasons of why I do it.

But I had already talked about that before: so today, I wanted to put up my menu plan. Also, not only do I plan for ONE week now, I do TWO weeks. It's that much better. :)

Breakfast:

Crepes

German Apple Pancakes

Pancakes and hash browns

Toast with eggs

Fruit with Yogurt

Waffles and fruit

Breakfast Casserole

Eggs and sausages+toast

Coffee cake with banana smoothie

Strawberry bread

Strawberry Strudel

Cheese, Egg and ham sandwich

Lunch:

Japanese noodles

Rice and Chicken drum sticks (baked)

Fried rice with soup

Tuna Sandwich

Turkey sandwich on whole grain bread

Japanese meal

Grilled Cheese

Corn dog and carrots

Pizza toast

Left overs

chicken salad on Croissant

Pork fried Kimchee (Korean)

Dinner:

Chimichangas

Curry over rice

BBQ Pork cubes

Meat Loaf

Hamburger helper

Hamburgers

Tonkatsu (Pork breaded in panko)

Crock pot burritos

Hawaiian Hay stacks

Sloppy Joes

Mushroom tomato sauce Spaghetti

Sides:

Potato Salad

Mashed Potatoes

honey Carrots

Mexican sides

Alfredo Pasta

Green salad

Artichokes

Broccoli

Soups

mac&cheese

Homemade Rolls

This is just an example.

and there will be repeats sometimes, but it gives me a quick list to run through and see what options I have. This way, I don't have to look 10 times in the fridge/pantry to figure out what I will be making that day. I can even plan ahead and cook things together- for example, when I make mashed potatoes, I can boil more potatoes to make a side of potato salad for another meal. I also make a column for "Ronny's lunches," since I like to pack him things to take to work, rather than have him spend money to eat out every day!!

(think about eating out: $5/day=$1200/year, $10/day=$2400)

I've had weeks where I've done without planning our meals ahead of time.

WHAT A CHAOTIC WEEK THAT WAS.

It's just smart to plan. It takes a little bit of time in the beginning, but you save way more time in the long run this way. Try it!