What's For Dinner?

Did you ever have this experience??

You're wondering what in the world to make for dinner so flip through a cookbook, find a recipe that sounds good, write down everything you need, go to the store to buy it all and then gasp when you see how much you actually are spending to make it! Does that sound at all familiar or am I the only crazy one who does such things?

Pre-planning meals can be a huge help to make sure this doesn't happen. I know there are some fancy menu planners online but I just use a generic calendar and keep track of what I'm making for the week. I'm only just getting better at this, by the way. I have struggled with pre-planning for a long time. Then at the end of the month, I can look back and see what I've made and try not to repeat everything the following month, since my husband likes variety!

I'm a working mother so it definately is beneficial to me to preplan what I'm making. If I get home from work without a clue what's for dinner it ends up being toasted cheese sandwiches! Sometimes I have to do some prep work the night before so that I'm not trying to do all of it after a long day at work and 2 little kids tugging at me. I like to spend my time in the evening with my family so it can be a hard balance to find. It might mean going to bed a little later so I can stay up and pre-make the meatloaf or the stuffing for peppers or chop vegetables for soup. Eating healthy does require a lot of time to prepare meals, so I try to make as many simple meals as possible that don't require a lot of ingredients. Regardless, making fresh food takes time! But the benefit of eating whole food compared to processed food is worth the effort.