How to Plan a Months' Worth of Meals for Your Family
Monthly meal plans save you time and money on grocery shopping. With a monthly meal plan, you are able to shop for sales, purchase in bulk and know just what you are eating each day of the week ahead of time. Meal plans prevent excess spending at the grocery store and the chances of unplanned eating out, since you have already determined your month's meals. Though you can plan all three meals of the day for the month using this method, the most common meal plan applies to dinners only, according to Mommy's Kitchen. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Make time at the end of the month to make the next month's meal plan. Have your family members give input about meals they want to eat as well as meals they want to avoid. Make a list of rotating meals --- easy-to-make and fail-safe meals that your family enjoys. For example, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, and tacos are common rotating meals. Browse through recipe books or websites for new recipes that you can serve in between your rotating meals.
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Create a list of 25 to 30 meals, depending on how many free days you want to leave open for dining out, leftovers or dinner parties.
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Write down a grocery list for each meal using your 25 to 30 recipes. Make sure to include every ingredient, including those that you have on hand. Total the measurements of each ingredient you need and write the amount on a separate list with the ingredient name. For example, say you are serving spaghetti for three nights of the month. For each meal, you require 1 lb. of noodles. Therefore, you need 3 lbs. total for the month; add this amount to your grocery list.
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Search your current pantry and inventory of your home for ingredients you have on hand. Decrease the amount you need from the store based on what you already have.
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Create a final grocery list with each item and how much of it you need. Place a star next to items you can purchase ahead of time and that do not have fast expiration dates. Dry items, such as canned beans, are items that do not expire quickly. You can only purchase milk items, on the other hand, up to a week before the recipe due date.
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Look online and in weekly circulars for sales on items from your grocery list. Print coupons online or cut them out from weekly mailers and newspapers. Place a "C" by items on your list that you can use a coupon for and an "S" by items that are on sale.
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On the first of the month, go grocery shopping for items that do not perish quickly. On the first day of the week, shop for the items that have fast expiration dates such as dairy, fruit or vegetables.
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References
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