Do you want to keep your budget under control, eat healthy, flavorful meals without spending a lot of time in the kitchen, and have an emergency back up plan Just In Case? Meal planning is your best option. Not sure where to start or how to proceed? Keep reading!

Things to Consider

Budget Your meal plan will be affected by the budget you set.

Availability Consider the foods available in your area as well as the equipment you have on hand. It is a good idea to have your calendar handy. If yours is a busy household, your calendar will help you determine how much time you have at any particular time to create your meals. You might also consider a regular cooking day. This might be once a week, biweekly, or monthly.

Balance If you are health conscious or have food allergy issues, your menu should be nutritionally balanced. You can achieve this by limiting, or removing, the foods that create allergic reactions as well as maintaining nutritional balance.

Recipes Choose recipes you can prepare in the time you have available. While favorites are an easy starting point, consider adding a new recipe once or twice a month, if not more often. You might consider developing a list of your favorite meals and then collecting recipes for those favorites.

Backup In case of emergencies have a backup plan in place. Keep an Emergency Meal or two in your pantry along with your regular staples. Consider foods that do not require cooking should the power go out. Don’t forget to have bottled water on hand, too.

Routine Pick a specific time and date to sit down and review your pantry and create your meal plan. This might mean sitting down the day before you plan on shopping. Gather the store sales flyers or check online to see what specials are on offer.

New Foods The best way to keep your meals fresh and interesting is to introduce new foods and recipes. Your next Family Favorite could be just waiting for you to try it.

Tools While you might start out with pen and paper, there are many different tools to help you plan your menu, create your shopping list, and contain favorite recipes.

Check out USDA Make A Plan HERE for more information.