Do you plan what you are going to make for dinner ahead of time?!


Question: Do you plan what you are going to make for dinner ahead of time!?
By this I mean weekly!. I remember a show once saying that it helped you become more organized!. The meals would be planned ahead of time!. For example!. If you are having spaghetti and meatballs one day then the day after next you can used left over meatballs to make a sub sandwich!.
Have any of you tried this!? Is it too much planning!?
I often just decide what I am going to make the day of or a day ahead!.
I may try it this way though!. I would assume that it helps with grocery shopping too!Www@FoodAQ@Com


Answers:
We started to do this but then found on the day we didnt feel like eating what we'd planned, and it caused more problems than it solved!. I prefer to be more of a free spirit and keep lots of staples at hand to make whatever I want!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Woman's Day magazine has a monthly menu plan in their magazine!. You might be able to find it on their website!. Quite a few of the meals provide leftovers for another meal in the week!. You can even download a grocery list for the recipes!!.!.!.!.!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

I plan for 2 meat dishes, 2 fish dinners per week and that dictates what I will have with them!.
The other 3 meals are what I get when I do my shopping!. Sausages, chicken pork etc!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

I have my menu planned a year at a time!. And now that the menu for the year is done- I never have to plan another meal again!. I'll tweak it and will add in a new recipe I want to try, but for the most part I stick to what is planned!. Here's why:

I shop for groceries a month at a time- saves gas, saves on impulse purchases, I can purchase in bulk, I can get 90% of everything I'm going to need for the month prepped ahead of time which saves time because I don't have to get it all out, do the prep, clean it all up- so I'm saving water too!.

My time is valuable to me- instead of spending sometimes an hour or more on dinner- including figuring out what we want, do I have what I need to make that, getting it all out, getting it prepped, cooked, served, cleaned up- I spend 20 minutes from start to served and clean up is little more than a pot or skillet!.

If we don't want what is on the menu one night I'll swap it with another night!. I know that no matter what I have enough food in the house for 31 dinners for 5, 10 breakfasts for 5, 20 breakfasts for 3, 10 lunches for 5!. Why is this important to me!? Several years ago my father had to have emergency quadruple bypass surgery and he lives 4 states away!. I hopped in the car and left- leaving my husband and 3 kids to fend for themselves!. Several friends stepped in to help and were concerned about "what do I feed them!?"!. It was all taken care of though because they just had to follow the calendar!. All the meals were prepped and frozen in "kits"!. All that needed to be done was pull one out and assemble it!. Anything that was needed for the meal that was fresh, canned, or a dry good was written on an index card and tucked into the kit so they knew what else was needed!. The end result was that I set up menu plans, shopping trips, and prep sessions with 3 of my friends and they now do the same thing I do!. It's wonderful to have an extra hour or more added to your day!.

And- if you normally spend an hour doing a weekly meal plan, going through sales papers, cutting cupons, then 2 hours grocery shopping, then an hour each night prepping, cooking, cleaning up- you are spending 10 hours a week thinking about food- got anything better to do with 10 hours a week!?!? I know I sure do!. And over the course of a month that's 40 hours a month!.!.!. what could you do with an extra "work week" a month of free time!?!? (that's 480 hours a year)

Over the kids Winter break I redo my yearly menu plan!. Now that it's done I just recycle it year after year- trust me- no one remembers what we ate last September 23rd!. The shopping list is done with the menu plan so I don't have to think about that either!. Before I head out to the store I check through the cabinets and mark off anything we have that I won't need to buy more of!. It takes me 2 hours to get the shopping done for the month!. I get home and spend about 2 hours getting it all packaged, prepped and in the freezer!. The pork roasts get stuck in the crock pot and cooked overnight and then the following day I package it for freezing!. All total I spend about 3 hours doing all my prep for the month!. At dinner I spend 20-30 minutes from start to clean up!. So I spend about 12 hours a month total dealing with dinner!.

So- is it worth it to plan ahead!? Absolutely! If your time, kids, money, gas, etc!. are important to you- it's well worth the effort to plan ahead!.

I'm not sure if you can contact me directly if you want more information, but if you can figure out how to do that from my profile here, go for it!. I'm always happy to help people out with this!.

LKRadebaughWww@FoodAQ@Com





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