We’re busy people and we all have busy lives. We have many challenges look at this. Some work in our homes, others live at home. We often wait until our hunger pangs kick in before remembering that we still have to decide what we’re making for dinner each night.

These tips will take the guesswork and worry out of planning family meals.
A block of time should be set aside each week so you can plan and prepare the menu for the next week. Look through your fridge, freezer and cupboards. Make a mental list of all the food that you have. You may already have some meal components, so you will have less food to buy.

Start by choosing the food you’d like to serve as dinner. Start by planning the menus according to the food that you already have. Then, buy any items that you do not have. You can easily make potato gratin by adding milk and cheese to the shopping list if your pantry contains potatoes, onions, flour and other ingredients. You’ll be amazed at how many meals can you plan with the food that you already own. Some websites even allow you to enter several random ingredients. It will then populate recipes with these ingredients. You can start creating new meals by using up as many of the items in your cabinets. If you have dependents, start moving on to lunch. Some families have older children who are happy with breakfast and lunch at school.

Make sure to include everything you need for your busy family, like snacks, juice, milk, and any extras. Try to go shopping once a week. This goes hand-in-hand with meal planning. It is more expensive to spend time and money going to the supermarket multiple times per day. The weekly menu is posted in a convenient place so that you can simply glance at it each day. If the meat has been frozen, take it out. You can then plan how much time you will be spending on prep and cooking later that night. It pays off to plan and be prepared for your week. I can assure you that you will save time, and even save money, if these are the things you do each week.