This is something new for me, making a weekly menu for the family. Normally, I don’t plan out for our weekly or even daily dishes. I just wake up in the morning, open the fridge and see what I can cook from there. Usually, I end up just frying some eggs or meat since I don’t have the complete ingredients to cook a decent dish. Sometimes, I give up easily and ask my Hubby to buy food from the shop making the lack of ingredients as an excuse of my negligence ( or maybe laziness to cook!?).
Anyways, it was just recently that I’ve discovered the real advantages of planning out the meals. First, it’ll save time and costs. If a weekly menu is prepared so, I would be able to know what I need from the grocery and get them in one shot, therefore saving time and frequent trips to the grocery. Costs, because home cooked food is cheaper than outside meal. If I’m not prepared with what to cook, there’s always a tendency to eat out or buy food from outside. Another advantage for planning out meals is that it’s healthier. With a lot of thought put in planning meals, I can see a broader picture of the family’s food intake and therefore I would tend to want to make it more balanced and healthy.
I’ve tried menu planning for 2 weeks now and I love it. I love the variety of food I’m serving the family, I love the sense of ‘preparedness’ every morning and I love trying out different recipes.