Grocery Solutions

Well I had a request to talk about grocery budget and meal planning.  Well I have a few thoughts but I would love to hear some from all of you so that we can all become grocery gurus.  One good idea is to plan your menu before you go to the store and only buy what is on your list.  This will help you lessen your impulse buys and stick to a budget.  When planning your menu plan for about 4-5 meals for a 7 day period.  I have found that you usually have a couple nights a week that you don't eat at home, whether you eat out or are at someone else's house.  Also plan for a leftover night atleast once a week.  Try not to buy more than you can use in a week.  This will cut down on wasting food.  Another tip is to always buy a frozen pizza just in case you have a crazy night with no time to plan or cook dinner.  Also have a night once a month where you eat only things from your pantry to help clean it out.  Now about meal planning.  I am learning that the trick is to keep it simple.  Try to find recipes that call for no more than 5 ingredients and that they are ingredients you would normally buy on a regular basis.  For example one of our favorite meals is tilapia, roasted broccoli, and rice.  I dip the fish in milk, then in a bread crumb, parm, salt and pep mixture and pan fry (10 minutes) while the broccoli, sprinkled with secret seasoning, is roasting in the oven (15 minutes).  Then I pop one of those 90 second rice bags in the microwave.  Dinner on the table in 30 minutes and it is healthy.  Those kind of meals are great.  Another idea is keep a list of your favorite meals to refer to each week so you don't have to reinvent the wheel.  I hope all this helps.  As a side note, use the websites on your weekly grocery flyers to get exclusive offers and coupons.  You can also contact the companies that make products you love and ask them for coupons.  I would still love to hear how all of you do it.  Thanks.