Save Time, Money and Your Sanity While Preparing Meals your Family will Eat

By Mary Moss

Let’s face it, meal planning and preparation for your family can be labor-intensive and frustrating.

In my childhood home, family dinner wasn’t a special occasion -- it was an expectation. To this day I haven’t figured out how my mother fixed delicious and nutritious meals for us every night, often including friends and relatives. Because of those memories of good food and family togetherness, I spent a lot of years wearing myself out trying to live up to the standard my mom set.

Along the way I’ve discovered some ways to save time, money and my sanity. Most young children only eat a few select foods anyway, so why knock yourself out thinking up new menu ideas that your family may, or may not eat? Here are a few tips to get a meal on the table quickly while saving money and your sanity!

• Write down what you have for dinner each night for the next two weeks
  You’re sure to notice a pattern. Also note what gets consumed and what doesn't. Use your new discovery to prepare a master grocery shopping list.

• Use your new master list each time you shop
  By doing this, you won’t forget any ingredients, or get home only to find out you needed something you didn’t buy. You also won’t need to go to the store every day to pick up something for dinner. You can stock up on items from your list when they’re on sale and take advantage of coupons, because you already know what you plan to buy.

• Use an on-line source for coupons
  Save time and money by using an online service that allows you to print the coupons on your computer printer. Coolsavings.com is a great site that offers coupons for groceries and also retail merchandise.

Save your creativity and energy for entertaining or special occasions! By using these 3 simple tips, you’ll save time because you already have your grocery list and know what you’ll prepare each night. You'll also save money by only preparing meals your family enjoys, so nothing will be thrown out. Best of all you’ll save your sanity, because you won't be trying to force feed your children something they don't want to eat. You’ll also have time, money and a few extra minutes every day to do something you actually enjoy!

Over time, we all grow tired of our standard fare and look for a little more variety. If you'd like to add to your standard menu, do so gradually. There's a wonderful list of easy recipes for families at Time Trimmers. You’ll find fast, easy-to-prepare meals using foods from your children’s “approved list” plus yummy breakfast and lunch box ideas, too!

To read up on the importance of family meals, including how to entice your children and even your teens into helping with meal preparation be sure to visit KidsHealth.com. This site has some really great suggestions.