Meal planning is one of the best ways to save time and money when it comes to making dinner for your family.
I see a lot of people get into meal planning, only to give up after a few short weeks because it's just not working out.
Mistake #1 - Not Considering Your Family's Input This mistake is very easy to make when you first get into meal planning.
You are all wrapped up into getting this figured out and are so busy planning your meals that you forget to involve your family.
Remember, they have to eat these meals too.
What to do instead: Come up with some preliminary ideas based on what's on sale that week, then sit down with the family and take requests.
Skip the expensive ones, but do include some frugal favorites like spaghetti and meats sauce for example.
Mistake #2 - Not Being Flexible Let's face it, stuff happens.
A last minute meeting may make you or your spouse late from work and dinner has to be put together in a flash.
Or maybe your family just isn't in the mood for tacos that night.
Or maybe some friends are asking you to come over for dinner that night.
That's ok, remember your meal plan is not set in stone.
There is always some wiggle room.
What to do instead: Keep your meal plan in mind, but feel free to switch days around and substitute side dishes with something else you have on hand.
Just try not to let it result in food that goes bad before you get a chance to cook it.
If your family complains about a particular meal and you haven't started cooking it yet, you can switch it around but be sure to explain that the family will have this dish later in the week.
You may also want to make a point not to prepare that particular meal again.
Just don't allow food to go to waste unless absolutely unavoidable.
Mistake #3 - Taking On Too Much At A Time Don't try to do too much at once when you are first starting out with meal planning.
You may be tempted to plan out an entire month of meals or every single meal and snack for a week.
Start small and get used to the process so you don't overwhelm yourself and throw in the towel before you see how meal planning can simplify your life.
What to do instead: Focus on just dinners for one week at a time.
Write up your meal plan with main dishes and sides.
Pull out the recipes for those dishes and make up a shopping list based on those ingredients.
Then just add what you usually buy for breakfast, lunch and snacks and head to the store.
I see a lot of people get into meal planning, only to give up after a few short weeks because it's just not working out.
Mistake #1 - Not Considering Your Family's Input This mistake is very easy to make when you first get into meal planning.
You are all wrapped up into getting this figured out and are so busy planning your meals that you forget to involve your family.
Remember, they have to eat these meals too.
What to do instead: Come up with some preliminary ideas based on what's on sale that week, then sit down with the family and take requests.
Skip the expensive ones, but do include some frugal favorites like spaghetti and meats sauce for example.
Mistake #2 - Not Being Flexible Let's face it, stuff happens.
A last minute meeting may make you or your spouse late from work and dinner has to be put together in a flash.
Or maybe your family just isn't in the mood for tacos that night.
Or maybe some friends are asking you to come over for dinner that night.
That's ok, remember your meal plan is not set in stone.
There is always some wiggle room.
What to do instead: Keep your meal plan in mind, but feel free to switch days around and substitute side dishes with something else you have on hand.
Just try not to let it result in food that goes bad before you get a chance to cook it.
If your family complains about a particular meal and you haven't started cooking it yet, you can switch it around but be sure to explain that the family will have this dish later in the week.
You may also want to make a point not to prepare that particular meal again.
Just don't allow food to go to waste unless absolutely unavoidable.
Mistake #3 - Taking On Too Much At A Time Don't try to do too much at once when you are first starting out with meal planning.
You may be tempted to plan out an entire month of meals or every single meal and snack for a week.
Start small and get used to the process so you don't overwhelm yourself and throw in the towel before you see how meal planning can simplify your life.
What to do instead: Focus on just dinners for one week at a time.
Write up your meal plan with main dishes and sides.
Pull out the recipes for those dishes and make up a shopping list based on those ingredients.
Then just add what you usually buy for breakfast, lunch and snacks and head to the store.
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