What's for Dinner?

Menu planning may seem like a daunting task, but once you get into a routine it's pretty easy. I plan my dinners a month at a time since I do my main grocery shopping once a month. Then I just run to the store on Sunday afternoon for the perishables to get us through the week. Some people like to shop weekly so in that case I recommend planning your meals one week at a time.

I started out by using a sheet of notebook paper and numbering down the page with the number of days in the month. You can also find blank calendar pages to print out. Then I consult my calendar for any days that we know we'll be eating out or need a crockpot meal due to a sports game or activity. I then designate certain days of the week as a certain type of meal. For example: Monday/Chicken, Tuesday/Beef, Wednesday/Soup, Friday/Pizza, etc. I then go through and for each Monday write in a Chicken dish and then on a separate sheet I list all the ingredients I need for that dish that I need to purchase.

This does take a bit of time, but then you no longer have to wonder what's for dinner and you know you always have the ingredients on hand. It saves you money on gas by eliminated last minute rush trips to the grocery store and also saves you money by cutting back on your impulse buying when you make those last minute trips to the store. You can also plan your meals around what is on sale to help save even more!

Now for the ultra easy way! There are companies that will do all the work for you. You pay a monthly fee and they send you your menus AND your shopping list. You can't get much easier than that! Check out:
Dine Without Whine - A Weekly Menu Plan & Grocery List Delivered To Your E-mail Box