Friday 2 September 2011

Give Yourself A Helping Hand With Weekly Meal Planning

By Lolita Jacobs


Considering weekly meal planning can have a positive effect on your lifestyle. It is a great way to save money, chasing sales you found throughout the week. Organizing yourself can inspire one to lose weight, buy healthier, local food, and even be an inspiration in learning to cook.

When making your lists, you will likely find that it is of a cost benefit to visit several stores for different products. It is a good idea to have a day that you shop. Whether that is a double coupon sort of day, or just your day off. You should peruse the paper throughout the week to get an idea of what to buy, and what meals to plan. Make a list for each store you plan on visiting, and don't forget local farmer's markets and butchers. They can have high quality product at a great price as well.

When you purchase local foods your tax dollars stay local, and you can benefit local farmers. Often the food will be fresher and taste better as well.

Losing weight is another possibility. The more time you spend looking through your shopping and cooking the meals you planned, the more opportunities you have to remove bad fats and add vegetables and fruits. The desire to eat out can decrease when you have food at home. It is pretty easy to add a calorie count to your planner, and with good choices losing some of those extra pounds is possible.

If you want to learn to cook, or just want to expand your menu, these practices can help. When faced with new foods that are on sale or just look tasty at the market, go ahead and find some recipes and bolster your chef portfolio. A couple new meals a week can make you an excellent cook in no time.

Planning your meals week to week, while taking a little extra time, can really pay off. It can potentially save you money, benefit your local community, help lose some weight, and expand your cooking skills.




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