Menu Planning

Saturday morning. Menu planning and grocery shopping. Oh the joy! I recently started planning a little differently and thought I would share. I made a menu template for meals. I fill in the meals and then at the bottom I have 2 columns for a shopping list. For me that is Publix and Costco. As I fill in the meals on the calendar I simply add the needed ingredients to the shopping list at the bottom. I never follow the calendar exactly, but at least I know I have that many breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks in the house! I can also plan meals based on what we have going on that week, planning in pizza nights and crock pot meals as needed. I think I am going to laminate the template and use a dry erase marker to save on paper. Being organized with meals certainly helps stay on budget, and balance having plenty of healthy meals with the "I just need something easy nights!" I never know when those nights will be, but this way I always plan for at least one!