Wednesday, January 16, 2008

A Real Menu- stains and all


MONTHLY MENU
Yeppers! This is one of my REAL menus. You can click on the picture to enlarge it so you can read it. If you will notice, I made specific plans for 21 days. The remaining days of the month are leftovers, whatever I found on sale, etc. But the 21 are what I set out to shop for.

Sometimes I don't head out with a set menu like this. Sometimes I set out to find the meats that are on sale; buy them up, go home, plan the menu, and finish the shopping the next day after the menu and sale items have been worked.

Also notice at the bottom that I leave space for treats, snacks, and desserts. When I just had toddlers and babies, this was not as important since a snack for them can be a cracker or dry cereal. But now that I have some bigger kids (and several more kids :-)-- this is an essential part of the menu. I have one teenager and one pre-teen; this age group always seems to be hungry!

Shopping once a month pays off in big ways! It saves time. It allows me to plan so there's not days that I am panicking through the kitchen wondering what to fix. This can save money for families too. Some families go out to eat, simply because there was no planning ahead and no groceries bought up.

****Also remember, I plan 3 meals a day and 2 snacks a day and spend about $500 a month to feed all 8 of us, very well!

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