This year, I’m determined to get back into menu planning. Growing up, Amayi (mother in my native language), had all of our meals planned. I haven't been very organized lately, and it's come at a cost. So, I’ve taken Amayi’s plan and am repurposing it. I’ve also developed a few tricks and tips to help me accomplish my goal. I'm doing my brain, tummy, and wallet a favor and getting back on track.
I want to make it easy for myself to eat healthy meals and save money on food. I have a tendency to forget about eating when I don't schedule or plan for it. When I don't have a plan for meals, I'm more likely to buy junk food or eat out. Food is expensive as is and I don't need to add to my bills by getting sick from unhealthy food or spending unnecessarily. I'm not a fan of spending money if I can avoid it.
Et voici: Each week, I'll compile a list of recipes to use for the following 7 days then create a shopping list. I pin recipes like crazy so I'm never short of menu plan inspiration. On Saturdays, I'll go grocery shopping in the morning. Sunday afternoons will be reserved for food prep: washing and chopping veggies, cooking grains and beans, and packing things in containers. During the week, all that'll be left for me to do is cook and assemble my meals for each day.
To keep myself organized, I’ll be relying on two resources. The first is this
Weekly Menu Plan that I created to streamline scheduling and grocery shopping. The second is
Yumprint, a site and extension that lets you clip and organize recipes into a cookbook of sorts that you can access from any device with an internet connection.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll post some of my completed weekly menu plans to track my progress and hold myself accountable.
