Saturday, July 26, 2008

Daily Tip - Menu Planning

Disclaimer: I must first say that I am not a licensed professional. My tips and ideas should be implemented at your own risk. I cannot make you lose weight. I cannot make you eat healthier. I cannot make you exercise daily. What I can do is offer you motivation and perhaps a little bit of inspiration.

Menu Planning is MUST for me. Not only to aide in my weight loss ~ body transformation journey, but also because it gets pretty busy around the Cooper house and if I don't plan ahead, we would end up eating popcorn for supper. Now, I don't just plan for supper meals, I also plan for my lunch time meals because we both take our lunches to work. This is mainly to cut back on the cost of food, but also to help me have some control over what I put in my mouth. I basically have this HUGE list of meals that I know my family will eat. I have it written down and posted on my fridge. I normally do my grocery shopping on Sunday morning, so Saturday night I look through my cabinets and freezer and see what I have in stock that I could use for meals the next week. Then I cross reference that list with my huge list of meals on the fridge, and then write out on another list (can you tell I am a list maker????) what the daily meals will be. Then I can create my shopping list. I try and plan meals that will provide leftovers so I can take them the following day for my lunch, as the hubby does not usually eat leftovers. I also love to utilize my crock pot, so if can cook my meal or at least the meat portion of the meal in the crock pot, then when I get home from work, I can add a couple of vegetables and a starch and be ready to feed the family.

Now, if someone were really diligent, they could also track the coupons that are in the Sunday paper and plan their meals around the most savings they can find. However, I don't have the time to be that organized. I just usually buy the store label or generic brands when possible.

1 comments:

Shel said...

Julie, I could see myself being a list maker too! The wedding is 10 weeks away! I miss you too. We will have to try and get together soon! You are a sweet and great friend.