Meal Planning Tips for a Busy Family

To say that family life is “busy” is an understatement. Between work/school schedules, extracurricular activities and other obligations, most working moms will jump at any opportunity they can take to press the “easy button”, especially when it comes to meal planning and food preparation. Here are 5 easy food planning tips to make sure your family is getting a balanced diet, even on a budget!

Determine your Family’s Needs So your family’s gotta eat- and eat often. Planning out your family’s meals ahead of time will ensure that they are getting the nutrients they need, not to mention it can also be more cost effective. How many times have you thrown out perfectly good food because you forgot it was there or did not have time to make it? Be realistic with the amount of time you can dedicate to cooking on a regular basis and make your plan accordingly. For some it might mean cooking 5 days a week and for others it might only be 2 or 3. No matter what your schedule is like, the more detailed you can be, the more effortless and effective your meal planning will become.

Create a System To begin, make a list of 2-5 meals that your family will enjoy enough to eat leftovers of the next day or the following. Be creative and use variety but also try to make things that will require the same type of ingredients, that way you don’t overspend. Maybe you want to try a new recipe once in a while that calls a couple of new ingredients but is mainly comprised of the foods you would normally buy. Keeping variety in your meal planning will keep you motivated to continue it. You can always go the extra mile and map out your family meal plan on an excel sheet, that way you can see how much food you are buying/consuming so that nothing goes to waste.

Pack Lunches If you get into the habit of “brown bagging it” rather than eating out all the time, you will not only save money, chances are that you will end up eating more nutritious foods and have some extra money left over for the snacks in between meals. Another perk to packing your own lunch is that you can eat the moment you are hungry instead of going out to “hunt” your lunch at the nearest sub shop. When “armed” with your lunch, it makes it easy to acquire a fast metabolism, thus helping you and your family to maintain a healthy weight. Don’t forget to involve your children in the process and make it fun for them by letting them pick out some of the items that go into their lunchbox. By getting your kids into the habit of bringing their food, it will educate them on food choices, enforce discipline in them and help them create healthy habits for life.

Clip Coupons Nowadays you don’t have to sit for hours with your Sunday paper and literally cut out the deals with a pair of scissors. There are plenty of websites that you can download and print out coupons for free or deeply discounted food items. Check out sites like www.couponmom.com.

Grocery Shop like a Pro In order to maximize your time, it is best to create a routine and do your shopping on the same day every week. Some people opt to go in the late evenings after dinnertime or on a Sunday afternoon when the store is not packed. Whatever time best suits your schedule makes sure you go in with a plan! Bring your pre-made list and try to limit any impulse buys. Also, make sure to never go to the store hungry because you will end up overspending and buying things you normally would never even look at. Also remember that the “whole foods” are located in the perimeter of the store in the dairy, meat and produce sections and that the aisles are lined with prepackaged, processed convenience foods. The more meals you can create with the whole foods, the better the overall quality meals your family can enjoy.