Benefits of Menu Planning

So, you’re wondering what exactly is menu or meal planning, right?  Well, menu planning is writing down what your family is going to eat for the week, developing a grocery shopping list with the necessary items for the menu, grocery shopping once per week, and preparing the meals you have chosen. Sounds simple enough right?  Well, if you think this sounds complicated, it isn’t and I’m going to help you make it easy.

There are so many benefits of menu planning.  Let’s list some of them:

1) Menu planning helps you save time.

If you already know what you are going to fix for dinner, and you have everything you need for that meal, getting the food on the table becomes so easy. You won’t waste time wondering what you’ll have for dinner.  You don’t have to stop at the store on your way

home to pick up something to cook.  You don’t have to go through the drive-thru or stop for take out on the way home from work.  And if you are stuck at the office, and your family knows what’s on the menu for the night – they can start preparing dinner without you.  Better yet, if you are using a slow-cooker, you will come home to your main entrée already prepared and waiting for you!

Most all of us are on tight schedules. Even it you’re not, I’m sure there are other things you’d rather be doing with your time than agonizing over what you’re going to feed your family for dinner.  Menu planning has the potential to save you quite a bit or time each week. Just think about how much time it takes you to run to the grocery store each time.  Probably 10 minutes to drive there and back and at least 30 minutes in the store. That is close to an hour and you still haven’t cooked anything yet. And if you are doing this two, three, or even four times a week, that adds up to a lot of time that you could be doing something else.

Another time waster is searching through your cabinets, the freezer, the refrigerator, cookbooks and magazines to try to figure out what you can make with what you have on hand.  That takes some time!  Probably at least 15 minutes by the time you have found the necessary ingredients and have started preparing your meal.

Then there’s dining out.  If you have young children, first you have to get them ready to go. That can sometimes take a while.  And if you have a teenaged girl, you could wait a really long time while she gets ready.  Believe me, I’m speaking from experience!  Okay, once you’re out the door, finally, you have to drive to the restaurant.  Then you sit and look at the menu and wait to order.  You wait for the food to be prepared and delivered to you table.  Then you wait for your bill.  Then you have to drive back home.  On average, an dinner out takes about 80 minutes.  That takes a lot of time out of your evening schedule.  If you feel like you are always short on time, menu planning can potentially give you several extra hours each week just by incorporating the simple methods into your lifestyle.

2) Menu planning helps you save money and make less trips to the grocery store.

I don’t know about you, but the grocery store is not exactly my favorite place to “shop”!  I try to go to the grocery store as little as possible.  It just seems that those trips always add up to more money spent than I planned on when there are “last minute” trips.  How many times do you run to the grocery store to buy something to cook for dinner?  Well, I do know that when I have to make those trips, it takes me at least 45 minutes every time I do that and end up costing me more than I intended on spending.  Menu planning allows you to get all your shopping done once a week, and make sure you have what you need to prepare every single meal for the week.

Have you ever looked back at the end of the month and added up your grocery bill s and dining out receipts for the month?  You should try it…it can be a very “eye-opening” experience.  Here’s what you do, take a plain envelope and save all your receipts when you make trips to the grocery store and eat out at restaurants.  At the end of the month, total all those saved receipts up and you will be totally amazed at how much money you are actually wasting and could be saving!  The average American family of four spends $1000 per month on groceries. However, menu planning most certainly can help you spend less than that.  I think you might also be surprised how much those quick “run in and run out” trips to the grocery store add up as extra items seem to “jump” into your shopping cart. Unless you are incredibly disciplined, I am willing to bet that most of us come out with at least a few more items than we go in for each time. By shopping once a week, you most certainly are going to save money.

3) Menu Planning helps you to serve more nutritious meals to your family.

We all have the best intentions to prepare a wholesome, healthy meal for our families.  However, then some little glitch happens…we get home late, (or some other unforeseen circumstance presents itself) everyone is hungry and there is nothing in the fridge. Before

you know it we are heading out the door for takeout, heading through the drive-thru or call for pizza delivery. If you plan your meals and have what you need at home you are much more likely to actually cook all those healthy dishes for your family.  You will know what is going into your entrees and be able to prepare them accordingly.

6) Menu planning allows you to spend more time as a family.

When you were growing up, did your family have dinner around the dinner table each evening? If not, you at least probably knew a family who did. It used to be the norm for families to gather together each evening to share a meal and talk with each other.
Today it is more probable to find dad coming home from work late, kids shuffling from one activity to the next, moms often working outside of the home etc. We’re busy these days. However, that doesn’t mean we should push aside the idea of a family meal. It is

so important, now more than ever; and if you make it a priority and put your new menu planning skills into action, it can be done. You can recreate the experience for your family and spend the quality time around the dinner table that your family deserves.

As you can see, there are many benefits to menu planning.  Who wouldn’t want to save time and money all while preparing more nutritious meals and spending more time with our families?   Next time, I’ll show you how to start the menu planning process.  Get ready!

  Yvette Mason is a stay-at-home mom, “domestic engineer”, and Meal Planning Consultant with Homemade Gourmet®. She enjoys helping bring families back to the dinner table with the products, ideas and services that make today’s home-cooking easy for people with busy lifestyles. Yvette was born, raised and has lived in the Eastern Panhandle her entire life. When not busy with her home business, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends by enjoying all that this beautiful area has to offer. Visit Yvette’s website for more tips on enjoying mealtime with your family