Meal Planning with Allrecipes.com

One of the best ways to save money is by making sure that you put together weekly meal plans. But it's so easy to get caught up with life to not have the time to be able to do just that.  Sometimes we need the additional help to be able to not only do the work but come up with the ideas.  I can't tell you how many times I sat down to actually plan out my meals and I just couldn't think about what to cook.  We all go through that and so it is helpful to have different tools to assist us during those times.  One new tool that Allrecipes.com came up with is a meal planner. The meal planner allows you to pick and choose the recipes you want and then puts together a shopping list for you.  And with their incredible and extensive library of recipes it is so easy to be able to quickly put together even more then a weeks worth of meal plans.  I personally love to search for recipes using their ingredients search feature, especially when I am looking for inspiration so that I can make sure that I am properly utilizing all of the fresh ingredients that I buy.  Because there is nothing more wasteful then buying something for one meal and then allowing the rest of it go to waste because you didn't know what else to do with it.  Once you have select the your meals Allrecipes then puts together the grocery list you would need for those recipes and then you are done.  And the best thing about it is it isn't expensive, it is a feature that is only offered through their paid membership but their memberships start off at just $4 a month.  And right now they are offering special introductory rates at only $1 a month.  It is a great option to have, especially when you are struggling finding the time to put together menus and shopping lists.

Now the key to always remember about working with a scheduled weekly meal plan is that not everything works out perfectly.  I have had very few weeks where we have followed my meal plans 100% but it is important to not beat yourself up about it and just give up.  By creating a meal plan not only will you find that you significantly cut your spending and your waste but you will find that meal time is a little less stressful because you don't have to go through that struggle at the end of the day trying to figure out what on earth you are going to make.  Find the 20 minutes to sit yourself down once a week before you do your shopping and put together a plan, it doesn't even have to be an actual daily schedule, it could be as simple as you come up with 5 meal ideas and cater your shopping and cooking around those certain ingredients.  It isn't so much as making sure that you adhere to a strict schedule as is is making sure that you think ahead a time about your meal ideas so that you can make your life easier. 

The buying in bulk risk

We have all experienced it some time or another.  You walk in to your grocery store and they are having a great sale on meat and you think to yourself 'that is a great deal, I better stock up'.  What better way to save money then buying in bulk, right?  While it is true that buying your meat in bulk can be a huge relief to the budget, but it is best to be done with some forethought.  Because in the same way that it can be a money saving option it can quickly become a costly one. 

When you are buying meat in bulk there are two things to consider.  One, are you cooking for a large group of people, if so you may need to use up all of the meat you are purchasing.  And two, if you aren't going to be cooking up all of the meat at once how much you will use now and how much you should freeze.  A bit mistake I use to make was buying meat and when I got home I would put the entire package in the freezer.  But the problem is once you defrost the meat it really isn't the best idea to then refreeze it.  So you end up having to use up the entire amount.

I wasted so much food cooking it all up and feeding only two people.  So I came up with a method that for me has saved me money and I am pretty sure if do the same for you.

Southwest Turkey Chili

One of the biggest budget killers is eating out. We try not to do it but there are days that you just don't feel like cooking. Maybe you had a bad day or you are just exhausted, what ever the reason on those days it is really easy to convince yourself to go out. I know I am guilty of that and so today I am trying to find ways to plan for those days. The biggest thing is making sure that you have items in the house that are easy to throw together so they don't take much effort. I might have a meal plan for the week already but I don't know ahead of time how the day is going to be. And sometimes what was planned for would take way more effort that I can put into. So this afternoon I created a backup plan, Southwest Turkey Chili. You see the great thing about chili is that it freezes really well. This recipe is so easy and once it is done I simply let it cool and put portions in freezer bags and wallah, dinner for those dreaded lazy days.