Family Meal Plan

Family meal planning is an essential concept in every home that eases the daily chore of meal planning and cooking. Certain foods are preferred by all the members of the family. Prepare in increased quantities and store them in the refrigerator, to facilitate availability. Planning is a wonderful method of serving good and nutritious meals. It requires less mental preparation on an every day basis.

Meal planning is preferred to be done on a weekly basis. Plan a meal pattern for a week, based on the season, availability of foods and preferences of individuals.

Family meal planner is a time saver. List down the likes of the family members, to make the planning easy. Put the grocery list. Shop for the entire week if possible. This saves time on daily shopping. Planning ahead helps in saving a lot of time and energy. A calendar is helpful in listing the meals of the day, so that it is easy to start with, on the day of preparation. Small pin up slips on refrigerators, also prove effective in helping with the day’s menu. Help from the family members is also possible, in case of your absence, as the menu is on the calendar.

Freezer plays a vital role in a weekly menu planning. Freezer bags prove useful. Store them flat to save space. Cooking about five main meals on a Sunday morning is helpful. Apart from one, the others are refrigerated. This brings a lot of variety in the diet. Prepare a salad with many colored vegetables. This makes the diet more appealing and appetizing. Prepare meals that are easy to prepare and uses minimal ingredients. This is effective in terms of daily cooking and not bulking. Dehydrated soup powders prove beneficial in fast preparation.

The art of converting leftover meals into something appetizing is helpful and prevents wastage. It also provides variety to the diet. Pizza bases are useful in making instant pizzas. Change the topping every time, making it nutritious. For instance, left over pastas can form the salad with other vegetables, the next day. This saves a lot of time. Freezer bags come handy at all times. Keep them ready and label them with dates and the name of the recipe. Frustration levels are much under control, due to family meal planning.

Meal planning in an effective manner allows a better and joyful meal time. It also helps in preventing impulse purchase. Commodities that are required are only purchased. Eating out once a while with the family is a good idea.

Submitted on January 16, 2014