Week of 8/31/15

Cooking weekly family dinners can be monotonous and stressful if you don’t plan ahead. I was a self-proclaimed former victim of this many moons ago.

If you have a busy schedule, as most moms do, meal planning can be an afterthought. But I can tell you from experience, going grocery shopping, while knowing what you will make that week, relieves a significant amount of stress, helps you save some money too and makes you feel good.

Not convinced?

10 REASONS YOU SHOULD MEAL PLAN

 

1. You can thaw out meat ahead of time or if you like to buy your meat daily, you’ll know what to get.

2. You can brine or marinate your meat ahead of time or prep any veggies that have to be cut.

3. You can focus on other things without having to rush around at the last minute throwing something together.

4. Increases your meal’s “WOW” factor and that makes for a happy family.

5. Saves you $$$$ by preventing you from getting OVERSHOPPING-ITIS: that disorder that happens when you don’t know what to shop for so you get EVERYTHING!

6. Since you already know what you’re making, you don’t have to run out to the store at the last minute for missing items.

7. Can make dinner early if you have to schedule meals around extra-curriculars like ballet class or varsity basketball games.

8. You have the time to choose healthier food items for your family’s meals.

9. Kids love knowing what’s for dinner ahead of time. You can post it on the fridge early in the week.

10. If you have picky eaters, meal planning makes it easier to plan their meals and makes dinner time fun and something to look forward to.

 

I thought it’d be a good idea to share what I will be making this week for my family, maybe to give you some ideas and spur some inspiration for your weekly family meals.

This week I decided to get a little creative and break up the days in theme-related meals. We’ll see how this week goes.