Meal Planning Happiness

Meal Planning Happiness – It is a thing…

Today I am going to tell you why, I believe meal planning makes YOU happier, and why I want you all to join me in a happier, healthier life for yourself and your families.

Have you ever had that feeling where you have everything together, everything is sorted, and you can breathe that little easier as you are on top of everything, you are organised? How good is that feeling… that happy, elated and satisfied feeling!

YOU CAN HAVE IT!

Meal planning will make you happy every week, guaranteed, and here is why.

1. TIME you will save time! What mother, or busy parent do you know that has all the time in the world to shop and cook? Yup, just as I thought, none! Meal planning will save you time, as you are only going to the supermarket once a week, you have a shopping list detailed with your items, that you stick too. No more wandering around aimlessly wondering what you will buy, what you will make – it’s in and out, and you won’t be back every day without any clue what to get…
2. MONEY I know all of us are guilty of spending way too much on our weekly grocery bill, and I am sure I am not the only one whose husband has questioned me over it! Impulse buys, purchased to keep the kids happy on the trip, buying way too much because you really don’t know what you’re going to be making and “that will do tonight” and wasting it. You will only buy the items necessary for the meals you will consume for the week, there is no need to worry about buying too much as your list will have measurements, and quantities and you stick to that list, and go through the aisles knowing exactly what you need
3. HEALTHIER Taking the time to plan the weeks meals, will make you more accountable to prepare them, and make them as you already have the fresh produce at hand, therefore minimizing the “takeaway’ trap as you are organised from the very beginning, by planning you also incorporate a balanced diet within your meals, not only will you be eating a variety of good, wholesome and nourishing foods – you will be feeling better for it, which makes you happier.
4. WITCHING HOUR It is bad enough between 5-6pm, tired kids, hungry kids and nothing prepared for dinner, we all know the scene right? The crying baby on your hip, the other at the bench or nagging they are hungry, and the husband that walks in, expecting dinner on the table, you know this feeling – the anxiety and stressfulness – by planning this will be eliminated, as you will have already prepared dinner because you had time during the day or the night before as you had the ingredients ready, and the tired kids will have a full tummy, and the husband will be happy, and you … well you know where I am going with this, you will feel so happy having this under control(you may even be able to enjoy a wine!... do it, you’ll totally deserve it!) The kids won’t be nagging “what’s for dinner” anymore!
5. WASTAGE I touched on this above in the money section, but feel it is as important to mention as Australians throw out $8 billion dollars’ worth of edible food each year costing you, our farmers and our environment over $1000 personally a year! Filling up almost half our bins! Meal planning will prevent this, by using what you have purchased, and planning meals that build onto one another (i.e.: last night we had taco Tuesday, so tonight as we have leftover lettuce, cheese, tomato already cut, we are having homemade hamburgers, (with the grated carrot gone into the hamburger mix) . Meal planning also allows you to make the exact amounts that you will actually eat, minimising you throwing our perfectly good food. That can only make you happier, and our environment a happier place to live in.

I hope you can take some of these on board, and throughout my blogs I will give you some tips, and tricks I use for savvy meal planning.

Happy Cooking,

Hayley =)