A way to save money with food!Because every family, special needs or busy paced, needs to save money, meal planning can be a way to answer a tight budget, a takeout addiction, or a general need to make healthy food choices. Meal planning has helped my family vastly, plus gotten my son with autism interested in cooking. It has answered our problems, in more than one way. How To StartNow I'm not sure what other online sources say where to begin, but what I did was simply go through my pantry, pulled stuff out of cabinets (long buried by other stuff), and analyzed what I had and what I could make simply with the things I had on hand. This took up a few meals of the week. Like, a tuna hotdish. Monday was marked with tuna hotdish and steamed veggies for the meal. Then from there, after I was sure I'd used up all the things I could in entire meals, then I started to form the rest of the weeks menu and a shopping list with the contents of my pantry in mind. A family cookbook is a good idea to keep on hand with favorite recipes. I made mine at CreateMyCookbook.com with tons of online and family recipes, complete with pictures and many choices in how the book is made. What I love about meal planning is the complete control over the pantry. Things don't build up and just sit. Knowing what's in there helped me plan meals to use those ingredients. PLUS, I had to get creative and perhaps a bit adventurous with our meals. Who doesn't love a bit of excitement? Tip: Keep track of what you use in your meals. This meal requires two cans of COM soup, while this one only needs one. Don't make the mistake of believing you have more than you do. That has sunken many of my plans because I didn't keep count. Frugal modeI'm not embarrassed to say that I like a good deal. Money aside, why does it mean you should spend money needlessly if you don't have to? Groceries are a necessity but also a dent in budgets. So if there is a month where a large expense comes due, or less hours on a paycheck, use simple recipes with few ingredients and large quantities. Example: vegetarian spaghetti: very filling, can be nutritious when added with onions, garlic, tomatoes, etc. Without meat means less money spent! +it's a quick, easy make. Also, making use of cabinets filled with cans or forgotten purchases or even lost freezer foods, can make a stab in the shopping list, so less money you have to spend! My family lives within the heart of a city with fast food widely available all around us so the temptation of just going to Taco Bell is much higher than building up the energy to hand make food. Meal planning saves us LOTS of money that we'd blow at restaurants after spending a good chunk of money on groceries. There is another reason why meal planning is frugal, too, which I'll get into later. Healthy twistNow that you are in charge of what meals will be prepared, there is a total grip on what is put in your body. I've used the new power to gain control over my family's health. New takes on classic vegetables helped introduce them to my son in a way he hadn't seen, and thus, was more willing to try. Broccoli Bacon Salad KILLED it. The sight of a green vegetable makes Hilo turn away instantly, but this creamy salad with bacon, onions, and broccoli made him think twice, and eventually put a small piece in his mouth for a taste! The Special Needs twist
from our own cookbook
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AuthorGabrielle Rae is a special needs, stay at home mommy of two boys. She enjoys reading and writing novels in her spare time. @onbothfrontsArchives
August 2018
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