This guest post is in response to a question I had for Brenda, the meal planning expert. Brenda is a mom, freelance writer, and self-taught meal planner. Her blog, Meal Planning Magic, provides ideas on how to get organized in the kitchen, save a little money, eat healthier (and family-friendly) and have a little fun along the way. She shares free weekly sample meal plans, cookbook reviews, forms for keeping it all straight, ideas, and inspiration!
The message seems to be everywhere. If you want to save money, eat healthier, and feed your family right, you need to plan your meals before you head to the store. It seems so simple. Just grab your calendar, a few cookbooks or recipe box and your grocery list and you’re on your way, right?
Not so fast. There are a number of factors to consider when choosing the when, where, and how of meal planning. By answering these 6 questions, you’ll discover whether your meal planning efforts are flourishing or failing (and how to change things).
Jump Ahead
1. Is the extra work worth the cost-saving?
First ask yourself, is cost savings on a particular item worth it to drive out of the way to purchase it? Is walking an option or do you have to get in a car to go to a preferred store?
Do the math and you may find that making a special trip may not be so good for your budget. Sometimes simplifying the process can make a big difference.
2. Does it fit your lifestyle and preferences?
Coupon clippers and sale shoppers can save a lot of money on items they may normally purchase, however, others find that the whole process time-consuming and cumbersome. Still, some people like to buy what’s new or different no matter the price while others are impulse buyers willing to change their menu based on in-store samples.
Figure out how you like to shop and make that part of the process. All of this can work into your meal planning if you know and understand your style.
3. How close are the grocery stores?
Does a trip to the grocery store require a day’s outing to the next town or are your options just minutes away?
The key is to shop in a way that fits the options that surround you. If you live in a small town, being efficient when you shop is key because if you forget it, it may be a few weeks before you can go back to get it. But if you are walking distance to a store, last-minute visits may not be a big deal.
4. What’s my ability to store food?
Consider your storage space before you start stocking up on items. If you have ample pantry and freezer space, shopping at a wholesale club may be worth it to you. If the luxury of storage is not yours, more frequent trips to the store work better.
5. Do I really have to sacrifice health for the budget?
The decision is not so black and white, but often items that are less expensive are not always the healthiest. There is a perceived notion that healthier foods cost more.
For many, the bottom line is what drives their grocery shopping. While others may be willing to pay a little more for higher quality ingredients that are also produced locally and are sustainable.
The good news: these days more food producers are taking note of public demand and are providing healthy foods that are also budget-friendly.
6. Am I using my time wisely?
When it comes to food shopping, it may seem as though you’re running all over town going from the traditional grocery store to the farmer’s market to the organic grocery store to the wholesale club. It’s enough to make you feel like you’re running in circles!
It doesn’t have to be this way. Check your farmer’s market website for updates or get on their email list so you’ll know what types of items and vendors will be at the market each week. And then decide if you really need to go each week. Additionally, consider starting a co-op with some friends or neighbors where you take turns going to the market or store each week. This works especially well for wholesale clubs that may not be conveniently located.
Meal planning really can be an easy way to help you get good tasting, healthy food on the table for your family. It just takes a little thinking ahead to get you started and before you know it, you won’t remember any other way!
So tell me, what is the biggest barrier you face when it comes to meal planning?
I perfected family meal planning and show others how to do it in my book, The Family Dinner Solution.
I learned meal planning from my mother – down to organizing my grocery list in order of the aisles in the store (that saves tons of money too because you don’t go down aisles you don’t need to and find things to buy you don’t need).
My husband is not a leftover person. He’ll take them to work for lunch – sometimes. But he really doesn’t like eating the same dinner meal two nights in a row unless it is something really special – like an Asian dish (he’s Cambodian), seafood, or BBQ. I would really love to cook fewer meals during the week but cook bigger meals – so we could eat leftovers one or two nights a week. Any ideas of how to convince him that leftovers are a good thing?
I over plan. I try to go to the store once a week, so I buy veggies, meat, etc. for the week. & then, the chicken lasts for 3 meals instead of 2, ditto the salmon, so the beef gets pushed a week. (I have decided to try to buy my fish on the day that we will be eating it – hoping not to buy other stuff “while I’m here.”) The same thing happens with veggies – I’ve been sitting on carrots & a squash for a couple weeks now – & we eat fresh occasionally frozen veggies with every dinner… (Our snow peas with meatloaf were past their prime, but…)
@AKeo, I have a grocery list too that is customized for my favorite store. Makes shopping so much easier, especially when my kids were younger and I needed to get in and out fast! We always make the last few days of the week leftover nights–I guess my family is just used to it now. Maybe you could cook more basics and transform those into different meals each week. Say, a rotisserie chicken that can be used in soups, quesadillas, salads, etc. I have some book reviews on my blog that show you how to do that. Or make the larger portions, freeze them and bring them out on a different week when he might think they are “new!”
@Amy, yes, I can sometimes feel overly ambitious on what I want to cook in a week. But those are usually the weeks where I haven’t fully planned out our meals. When I really sit down with the calendar and figure out what my days are like and what I can realistically make that helps. And if it doesn’t get made one week, move it to the next week and look for a specific recipe that you can use those ingredients in…that should help!
Our biggest issue with meal planning is that my husband and I are vegetarians and our children are not. So we plan two different meals. I encourage them to try the vegetarian options that we make, but neither are interested. So in the effort to make them what I know they’ll eat along with something new, I end up fixing two different meals.
Fortunately, I do most of the cooking for my husband and I on the weekend and just focus on their meals during the week. But I admit, I’m running out of ideas for them and so meal planning is kinda boring and same old same old.
Goodfountain — are you a vegan?
Yes, but in diet only (not lifestyle) and not hard core. I may have some animal protein about once a month.
It’s tough with the kids because while I’d like to make them something new to try, if they don’t like it, it will just get tossed since we don’t eat any fish or animals. So I regularly put our vegan option on their plate, but seldom do they try it. They don’t like mixed-together dishes. Like today I’m making a vegan lasagna and I’ll put it on their plates, but I doubt they’ll try it.
My older daughter is in a no-carb phase – no rice, potatoes (incl. French fries) or pasta. Her dinners are chicken and vegetables and a slice of bread. We do pancakes sometimes, eggs, and I’m going to try fish again (she used to love salmon). My younger daughter would eat nothing but carbs. But I follow the division of responsibility at meal times and I’m trusting that it will pay off in the end. They may not eat a wide variety of stuff, but at least it’s pretty healthy.
Goodfountain-this is definitely a tricky one! What if you suggested they try one vegetarian meal a week? Meatless Mondays are a good start (or pick a day that works for you). If they know they only need to try it once a week they might be more willing. And in the meantime, you’ll hopefully be building up a nice variety of dishes that they WILL eat and you can start to include them more often. Also, include them in more of the preparation–over and over I have seen that this really works! They are more invested in trying it if they made it and know what the ingredients are. My family (even my kids from the time they were preschoolers) loves salads–you can get really creative with those! Vegan is a much harder thing…I will think more on this!
Thanks for the suggestions, Brenda! My 6 yr old wants to be a chef when she grows up, so she regularly helps out with meal prep. Esp breakfast. She’ll even help me prepare mine and hubby’s dinner, but she still won’t eat it. She’s a tough nut to crack 🙂 and that may be in part due to her autism. She is very resistant to trying new things. Take a long time for her to warm up. My younger daughter will try lots of things at least once (except food that is green).
What would be awesome, Maryann, is if you could do a post (or maybe you already have??) about how to encourage the most reluctant triers to try new food items. Or do you not think it’s wise to try to motivate them to take “just one bite” to see if they like it? I have been noodling this idea around for awhile but don’t want to get into a power struggle about forcing the trying one bite.
Goodfountain — I’m not sure if you saw it, but I posted when picky eating can be a problem which is especially common in children with autism http://www.maryannjacobsen.com/2010/05/picky-eating-part-1-how-to-tell-if-your-picky-eater-needs-help/ It doesn’t sound like your daughter is this extreme but something to think about on potential problems in picky eater.
As for the one bite rule, I go back and forth myself. There was a discussion on this over at Family Feeding Dynamics http://familyfeedingdynamics.blogspot.com/2010/09/love-this-reprint-of-ellyn-satters.html. Some kids do fine with this but others will really resist so it depends on the temperment of your child. I was thinking of posting about this…you just inspired me!