The WAHM Shack Blog

by The Menu Mom

Planning meals ahead of time is a great idea, since there are many benefits that come along with it. Meal planning affects many different aspects of life, including your time as well as your financial situation. No matter what situation one may be in, planning your meals ahead of time is always a good idea. Meal planning makes it possible for almost any size family to eat healthy meals everyday of the week on a budget. It also gives you more time together as a family while spending less money.

Saves Time

Planning your meals ahead of time will save you a lot of time. When you visit your grocery store, take a list with you that shows everything you need for your weekly meals. This way there will be no return visits to the grocery store for something you forgot, and you won’t waste any time deciding what you are going to have for dinner that night. Forgetting a key ingredient or having to fight in long lines at the grocery store can be very frustrating, but meal planning can completely eliminate that.

Saves Money

Who doesn’t like to save money? And if you can reduce the amount you spend on grocery bills, you can save it up for something really fun – like a special night out or a family vacation. Meal planning saves anyone a significant amount of money, since meal planning is much cheaper than eating fast food. Also, since you will be bringing a shopping list with you to the grocery store, there will be no more impulse buys and wasted food. We’ve all fallen victim to foods that we suddenly have a craving for when we are shopping only to get home and realize that we need other ingredients to turn it into a meal. And having a shopping list will make it easier for you to clip coupons, since you know what you will be purchasing each week. This means even more savings to you and your family.

Meal planning allows you to create a calendar of what you will have for dinner each night. If you create a menu one month at a time, you can ensure that you aren’t having chicken nuggets five nights a week. Have an overall calendar of meals will allow you to shop for foods when they are on sale and buy in bulk whenever possible.

Health

Planning out what you are going to cook for dinner will make it possible to ensure you are cooking a healthy meal every day of the week. While eating out is convenient in our ever busy world, eating fast food or at restaurants is not nearly as healthy as cooking it at home. This is largely due to the fact that you don’t have control over what goes in those meals. By preparing your own meals, you can choose healthy options, like baked chicken, and add any of your favorites for a side like a fresh green salad or steamed vegetables. Most boxed or frozen dinners contain a great amount of fat and sodium, but cooking the meal from scratch can eliminate them. You control the flavor and the fat. You can take steps to reduce the amount of fat by adding seasoning and spices to perk up the flavor.

Prevent Obesity

The rise of fast food chains in the world means that more people are becoming overweight and obese. Obesity can bring on many health issues, including heart or breathing problems. It is important to prevent a child from becoming overweight and teach them the importance of balanced meals. Cooking homemade healthy meals can do this. When you plan out what you are going to make, you can be certain that it will be healthy for the entire family. It allows you to have a better handle on the nutritional content of your meals. You can also tailor it to each family member’s needs. If there is someone who needs to watch their fat consumption, you can cook grill or broil instead of fry. If there is someone that is trying to get more servings of vegetables in their diet, you can help by offering two veggies for side dishes.

Spending More Time With Your Family

Because planning out your meals gives you more time during the day, you can spend it doing something that really matters. Spending time with family should be the first thing on anyone’s priority list, and being able to spend more time with them is a wonderful perk to meal planning. You can use this time to either play with your children outside, or maybe talk with your spouse about their day at work. With the time saved with meal planning, the family can enjoy a walk together after dinner, play yard games such as croquet or bocce ball, or compete in a board game night. No matter how you use the time, it is special and necessary to keep a family running. And when you kids are grown up and look back on their childhood, those will be the times they remember most fondly. Just think about all the home cooked meals that you look back on warmly. No one cooks it like mom does.

Teaching Essential Skills

By including children in the meal planning process, they can learn many skills that will carry with them into adulthood. They can help to plan the meals, and learn about the different nutrition groups. Learning how to assemble a balanced meal is a great skill to have. Measuring different ingredients in the meals teaches children about fractions. Younger kids can just play with the different kitchen utensils, which allows them to explore and learn about the huge world they have yet to explore and learn about. Spouses can get in on the fun, making it possible to bond with one another by cooking a meal for each other. Meals where each person can individually tailor food to their liking, such as making your own pizzas or a taco bar, allow a great opportunity for the whole family to cook and learn together.

Reduces Stress

Our world is hectic. We are being pulled in several different directions each day. Because we live in a fast paced world, it is important to do everything possible to reduce your stress load. We have enough stress with our every day lives without mealtime stressing us out. Planning meals can reduce your stress since you won’t have to worry about everything that goes into making a meal for your family. As long as you bring your list to the store and buy everything on the list, you will be all set. You can choose to either visit the store each week or twice a month, rather than a million times like before. The increased time you have will allow you to relax more often, and even feel great when interacting with your children. If you are enrolled in a food delivery service, having a handy list makes online shopping a breeze. Have it with you when you log in to order food and you won’t have to worry about a thing.

As you can see, there are many benefits to meal planning. From the ever crucial facts of saving money and eating healthier, to reducing stress and spending more time with your family. Meal planning only takes a little extra effort. And once you get the hang of it, it’ll become second nature and make you life so much easier. You’ll be wondering why you hadn’t started meal planning earlier. And will all the time and money you save you can spend on something that really matters – your family!

For more great meal ideas and a FREE Menu Planning Report, CLICK HERE. Watch for a great meal planning offer after you sign up and let me – The Menu Mom – help you take care of dinner tonight!

Article Source: The WAHM Shack Article Directory

THIS ARTICLE is Free for reprint only if it remains in its entirety, the Author’s Resource Box AND our Article Source Credit Url are included, and ALL links remain intact.

By: Crystal Miller

My husband said to me the other day, “I wish there were 26 hours in our day, then I could get everything accomplished!” I had to laugh because I myself had those thoughts; if we just had more time we could accomplish much more or at the very least we could actually get enough sleep! ~smile~.

Well since we have no chance to increase the hours in our day we have to evaluate the time we have and how well we are using it. We need to ask ourselves, are we being the best steward possible of our time? Are we valuing our hours as a vital resource and using them as wisely as possible?

With the 24 hours that we do have in a day we know that many of those hours are already claimed. We need to sleep, eat, shower, relax, spend time with family and husband etc. After these hours are subtracted what we have left is what we have to work with each day.

To make the most out of each day begin to view your time differently. More time won’t suddenly appear but being conscious of how our time is used during the day will help us to streamline and make better decision. I will share a few of my time management tips that I use and maybe it will help you in your goal towards better time management!

Become more efficient with your time. Take time to examine how you do things and your methods and see if they can be altered to be time friendly. Can you do more than one thing at one time? Can you combine trips and have only one or two days out of the house a week to run errands? Cook a double portion of a meal and freeze one for another day, wipe down your bathroom sink and counters at the same time in the morning that you are getting yourself dressed.

Train your children to help you. In the long run this will be one of the biggest time management helps to you. By the time my children are 10 to 12 years old they are completely responsible for their own rooms, their laundry, their sheets and they have regularly assigned chores to do each day. Keep everyone on a routine and hold them accountable for their daily jobs. Do your chores at the same time as they are working to help increase moral and make sure everyone is staying focused. Don’t forget to turn on some music while you work! It does add to the enjoyment of what you are doing.

Be aware of things that rob your time. Over commitment to outside responsibilities is a biggie! Keep a list of some of the more important goals you have and refer to this when you are asked to participate in something. It may be a simple reminder to you of your priorities and it will allow you to see if a commitment made will be in keeping with these goals.

The telephone is another time robber. I don’t have a message machine. The reason I don’t have one is basically I don’t have enough time to spend calling people back. If someone needs me they will have to spend the time calling me and catching me at home. Plus there is always email! Obviously that method won’t work for everyone but it works well for me. Unplugging the phone is another way to not allow time on the phone to take up too much of your day.

Yet another time robber is too many activities for your children. I once had a key chain that referred to mom as the “taxi driver”. After awhile I got rid of this key chain. ~smile~ I did not want to be a taxi driver for my children.

I decided it was more important to help them learn to be content with more time at home.

Routines are my best time management tool. A routine helps keep your day on track. If you want to learn to manage your time effectively then a routine is a critical key to being able to follow through with your daily tasks. There is a

difference between a strict schedule and a routine. A routine is a set daily habit of accomplishing your household tasks. Plan your daily routines to work for you. Don’t compare how someone else manages their day. Work to find what will accommodate your life.

Have a minimum amount that must get done daily and train your children to know what this expectation is. My children know that before anyone goes to bed the dishes are to be done, the floors are swept, vacuumed and washed (that may be more than most people would do but living in the country with a houseful of kids means that our floors require a lot of attention), the bathroom is wiped down and in order, laundry is going each day, the clutter is picked up.

One last thought on managing your time is to be reasonable about how much can be accomplished in your life. Keep your priorities in order and remember that neither you nor I are super-moms! We are just women with a heart for our mission in life to love and care for our families. Don’t take on more than you can handle, don’t expect more from yourself than is reasonable. Work on those priorities that have the greatest importance in your life. There may be another time and season for other things you may desire to do or accomplish.

Obviously time management is a proactive work! The day will go by no matter what. The question to ask ourselves is; did we use the time as well as we should have? Is there room for improvement in the way we use our time? Are my expectations on myself to high for my season in life? Keep your priorities straight and make changes to your routine to help you use your time as wisely as possible.

Crystal Miller (crystal@thefamilyhomestead.com) is a mother of 8 children and enjoys her God given role as wife, homemaker and mother! She has a homemaking and country living web site called The Family Homestead thefamilyhomestead.com and has a free monthly newsletter called Homestead Happenings. You will find sign up information on her website.

Article Source: The WAHM Shack Article Directory

THIS ARTICLE is Free for reprint only if it remains in its entirety, the Author’s Resource Box AND our Article Source Credit Url are included, and ALL links remain intact.