If you are like me and look for every great idea to trim your grocery budget, then you have already discovered the awesome grocery budget fat buster of menu planning.
Menu planning alone has not only helped reduce our costs, but is has also reduced food waste and given us far better meal options. When you know what is being prepared and you have all of the necessary ingredients, then it is not a crapshoot to try and pull a healthy, filling meal together.
Up until a few weeks ago, I was the menu planner. I checked our pantry and freezer stock to create a menu for the week as well as a grocery list.
Then it it hit me. I have THREE teenagers and at least 4 of our children can cook! Why am I the only one making these decisions and getting everything lined up for the week?
Enter in operation FAMILY Meal Planning.
After a little powwow, we came up with a new strategy, not only for meal planning but also for meal preparation.
No longer is it a toss up as to who is going to cook, what they are going to prepare, and on what night will they be doing so.
Here’s how we do it.
Our oldest three, Renee (16), Noah (14), and Emily Grace (13), and the team of Hannah (10) and Dad each take a night to fully plan and prepare dinner for the family. I take the three nights that they do not claim.
Each one of our chefs-in-training puts together all aspects of the meal and makes sure that we either have the ingredients or they are written on the grocery list.
When I head out to Costco with my list, I know that we will have exactly what need for the week’s breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners.
One of the great, yet unexpected, blessings of having our oldest children plan and prepare meals, they are getting inspired to try new dishes, new veggies, new spices, and new combinations. Their creative juices are flowing! {pun intended}
It does my momma heart good to see them researching new dinners to create. Thank, you Pinterest!
Other blessings we noticed:
- they are learning that planning ahead to ensure they have everything they need makes the job much easier and faster
- they are widening their culinary scope and experimenting with new flavors
- the new recipes are introducing new veggies and fruits
- they are learning timing and time management to get all parts of the meal ready and on the table at the same time.
- there has been finally come about a realization that they cannot “graze” in the pantry and fridge all of the time and still have what they need to prepare their meals.
- bonus, this has worked so well, that they have also taken over lunches.
I love that my older kids will not be dependent on a microwave or takeout to eat in those beginning adult years that are in the very near future. You never know, this may bring out a passion for cooking and a direction in life one of them never thought about.
Next, I need to get one of them interested in being a chocolatier. *wink*
In your home, do the parents do all of the cooking? Do you have teenagers who cook? If not, now is a great time to start something new and get them interested in preparing fantastic meals and stretching themselves as chefs!
When you were a teenager, what were some of your favorite things to cook?
Mine, steak bites with onion and peppers. Yum!
All for the glory of God,
~Rhen
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Yes, They Are All Mine 