Thrifty Green Menu Planning
Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 9:48AM Courtney 
Last time I posted for thrifty green thursday it was on how to shop for organic foods on a budget. This week I am going to focus on the menu planning aspect to really help keep the budget low. Menu Planning is a great way to keep your budget in tact so that you are not just buying items and throwing them out when you don't use or eat them in time. I know when I would menu plan my meals, B and I would just purchased what looked good or what we thought we would eat for dinner. In the moment we didn't think about what was going on that day and how restricting our time might be to actually prepare a meal. The amount of food we ended up not consuming probably out weighted what we actually ate. Menu planning has really help our budget , made us eat healthier and stopped us from buying so many snack foods since they are not on the list.
So here are some tips on how to plan a better menu:
- Try to find an ingredients that you can use several times during the week. Since most of our meals, if not all, are vegetarian we look for something that is in season. Plan several meals around this item, this will help cut down the cost and make sure you use all that you buy. I keep recipes that look great in my Google reader and when I am planning my menu I search for the main ingredients and get lots of good dinner idea.
-Try to plan your meals using the least amount of ingredients. You can find lots of great dishes without tons of ingredients keeping your cost low.
-I try to incorporate some sort of rice or salad as a side dish. When it comes to rice I look for it in bigger bulk sizes. I love saving up my coupons for these items and getting them on sale. I also really love Whole Foods Organic 365 Brand.
-Check your pantry before you menu plan. See what is getting older and needs to be used up. Google something in your pantry and your main ingredient and see if you can find a recipe that you like!
Check out the Green Baby Guide for lots of green ideas that keep you on a nice budget!
Reader Comments (5)
great idea about using an ingredient multiple times!
Great tips! I wholeheartedly agree!
Since reading your last post I have been striving for better meal planning and been surprised at the results! We now cook a huge meal on Sunday that lasts us through mid-week and do just one more to hold us through the weekend. Since we both work, it's a huge relief not to have to face dinner preparation each night and to be able to play with our son instead. Thanks for joining us for Thrifty Green Thursday!
I do a kind of half-hearted version of menu planning. Every other week we get an organic veggie delivery. I see what they've sent me and then write down several meals that use up the produce. I start with leafy greens first, since they are the first to wilt. By the second week I am eating up the heartier veggies such as broccoli, cabbage, and winter squash.
Before I got this delivery, I'd go to the store and not buy anything because everything seemed too expensive. Or one thing would be on sale, so I'd buy that and make one thing. This was not efficient! Some people don't like getting a box of random veggies, but I have found it really allows me to eat better and plan more interesting meals.
Thanks for your TGT tip!
[...] Go Organic- You want to eat what is natural and as traditional as you can get. The food we eat today is over processed and genetically modified everywhere you look. Check out Organic.org it gives lots of information on why you should buy organic and is full of lots of helpful resources. I firmly believe that this is universal when it comes to eating healthy and natural these days. I hear all the time that this is so hard for many to do with the cost but I feel like it is achievable through planning your menu, get tips here! [...]