Menu Planning Tips For The Busy Mom

September 14, 2009 by Monica
Filed under Family Food

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Dinner is the last meal of the day and a time when families can get together and discuss their day. But it could also become a hectic meal for busy moms who are just getting off of work or who are just tired at the end of the day.

Here are some menu planning tips to help make dinner meals easy and even fun:

1. Schedule your meals. This is one of the most important planning tips for meals. Knowing what you are going to eat throughout the week means less chance that you will stop off at the closest fast food joint for a convenient, but unhealthy meal. Decide on the last day of the previous week what the menu will be for the following week. Create your shopping list from the list of ingredients. This way you won’t buy what you don’t need.

2. Look for bargains. Clip coupons, read advertising circulars and the like to decide where the best grocery to shop is for your menu items. If one ingredient is a common denominator in many meals, consider buying in bulk to save money. Plan your meals with seasonal food, which is cheaper and healthier.

3. Search online. After a while your family will get tired of the same menu every Thursday. You can get into a menu rut sometimes. Use the Internet to search for new and exciting recipes. Learn to put a twist on old recipes for a new taste.

4. Have a leftover night. After preparing meals for five or six days, there is bound to be some food left over. Get used to mix and match to create tasteful dishes. It saves mom from having to throw away any food.

5. Do preparation work in advance. Enlist your kids to help chop (give them the kitchen shears instead) vegetables, dice cooked meat and mix together dry ingredients. The night of the meal, all that is needed is to add the wet ingredients and bake.

Meal time doesn’t have to be all on mom. The entire family can help with dinner so it is a relaxing meal for everyone.

photo credit: BruceTurner