Planning Pros

So you see my weekly menu in my previous post and may wonder why does she do that or how do I come up with my menus?

My menus come from meals we may have eaten before that got rave reviews. Meals must be pretty quick to make such as a whole chicken. You season the chicken, throw it in a Reynolds oven bag and let the oven do the rest. Lately I have been making lean and green meals, those not heavily carb laden. I try to make a list of those recipes we really enjoyed and then go off that. Those recipes may have come from various websites, cookbooks, foodie tv shows, or even something I made up in my head. Tonights taco salad came from the fact we like tacos. I didn't want the shell so I turned them into a salad. I browned the meat with black beans and onion, added cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Chopped up tomatoes and lettuce, shredded some cheese; put all ingredients on the table and let each person assemble their own. I also made guacamole as a side. A full meal was created in no time plus I made 2 lbs of ground beef so I froze the rest for a later meal.

Next the weekly menu. Planning is key in so many aspects:

A) It keeps me from eating out 90% of the time. I control what goes into my meal. Hello much healthier.

B) I spend less at the grocery store. After I make my menu I make my grocery list and tend not to deviate from the list while at the store. (Remember not to go on an empty stomach or bring your kids)

C) Weekday madness no more. I always know what is going to be made and if something needs to get defrosted I can take it out of the freezer that morning or day before depending on thaw time.

D) I sometimes bring coupons so I can go through my coupons real quick and grab those which may be needed.

E) It keeps me on my healthy eating plan. No unnecessary evils tempting me.

If I don't get to a meal on the plan I save it for the next week.

Give it a shot and let me know how it goes.