My Menu Planning Central Review

Thankfully about that time a friend of mine taught me how to do meal planning. It's amazing how much difference just knowing what you will be cooking for the next week can make in your grocery budget!

If you're not familiar with meal planning, basically all it means is that you plan what you will cook or eat for dinner for the next week or next month. You can do meal planning for breakfast and lunch too, but even just doing meal planning for dinner can make a huge difference, not only in your budget but how well you eat.

Here's how I do meal planning:

1. I go through our book of favorite recipes (this is a book that I have put together over the years with the recipes that my family likes the most). If I'm feeling adventurous, I'll go online to look for new recipes too, but our "favorite recipes" book is always the first place I go to when I'm getting ready to plan menus for the next week.

2. Write out a plan for the week. What will you be cooking each night? Will you have a leftover night or a dine-out night? At this stage, I also look at the calendar to see what events or appointments we have going on this week. This will make a difference in what I'll cook each night.

3. Prepare a grocery list for the meals you will be cooking.

It's really pretty easy! If the main reason you are doing meal planning is to save money, you should also grab your favorite grocery store's weekly sales ads and use this when planning your meals for the week.

I can't even begin to tell you how much time, money and energy this has saved me. I no longer stress out about what to cook for dinner (because I already know what I'm going to cook), I've cut my trips to the grocery store down from 5 times a week to only one or two times a week, and we no longer throw food away because we didn't get around to eating it.

If you need help getting started with menu planning, there is a great service called Menu Planning Central, where you can get four different types of menus for the entire month, including recipes and - my favorite - grocery lists!

Menu Planning Central offers four different menu options so you're sure to find many menu options and recipes no matter what your family likes or no matter what your health needs are. The four menu types are:

Family Friendly Menu: Includes four weekly menus designed with the whole family in mind. You'll receive seven dinner recipes (including side dishes), and you'll also receive two brunch recipes and two dessert recipes. Also includes a categorized grocery list to make your shopping as easy as possible.

Healthy Menu: If you are watching your weight, the healthy menu plan includes four weeks worth of healthy dinner ideas along with recipes and weekly grocery lists.

Vegetarian Menu: Whether you follow a vegetarian diet or you are just looking for some vegetarian dishes to include in your meal planning, this menu plan includes four weeks of vegetarian recipes you are sure to love.

Frugal Menu: For those of us who are on a budget (that's me!), the frugal menu pack includes low cost meal ideas along with recipes and grocery lists for four weeks.

When you sign up for Menu Planning Central, you get all four meal options, for a total of 16 weekly menus including recipes and shopping lists.

I don't know about you, but the hardest part about cooking dinner for me has always been the grocery shopping. Menu Planning Central makes the shopping piece much, much easier by providing categorized shopping lists for each menu plan. Now you can go to the store and buy only what you need for the week. Not only does this save you money (because you don't buy food you won't eat), but it's also a huge time saver because you only have to go to the store once a week.

Even with four different menu options, you may still want to create your own menus from time to time. Maybe someone in your family has a food allergy, or you can't get your kids to eat certain veggies (imagine that!).

No matter what the reason with Meal Planning Central you can create your own meal plans using recipes available in MPC or your own recipes. Which means you can create meal plans that you know your family will not only eat, but they will love!

One of the bonuses included with your Meal Planning Central membership is 13 weeks worth of delicious and fast lunch and breakfast recipes your kids will love. No more whining from the kids that they have to eat the same thing for lunch every day :)

I don't know about you, but my family gets bored with the same dishes week after week, even if it's their favorite dishes. Meal Planning Central not only provides you the tools to save time and money with meal planning, but they also provide 16 fresh menu plans each month, so you never get bored of eating the same old thing week after week.

Just to recap, here are all the tools you get with Meal Planning Central:

- Four different types of menus for the entire month: Family Friendly, Healthy Menu, Vegetarian, and Frugal
- Recipes for all dishes included in the menu plans - 16 new recipes each month!
- Categorized grocery shopping lists to make shopping a breeze
- Software to customize your own meal plans
- Kid Approved Meals, including menu plans, recipes and grocery lists
- The Smart Mom Library (includes a library of ebooks on living a healthier life, time management, and money saving tips
- Includes a 14-day money back guarantee, no questions asked!

This awesome meal planning membership is only available through Meal Planning Central. The cost is $19.97 per month; this is a small investment compared to the time and money you will save when you learn how to do meal planning!

Yes, Meal Planning Central offers a 14-day no questions asked guarantee. Simply email MPC within 14 days if you you're not satisfied for any reason, and they will refund your payment with no questions asked. Once you see all the recipes, meal plans and grocery lists you'll never want to give up your Meal Planning Central membership!