Tag Archives | menu planning

Family Dinner: Planning Ahead

By on February 13, 2011 in Saving Time

When it comes to cooking family dinner, planning ahead will save us time and money.

At a recent presentation with a room full of busy moms, I asked how many of them made daily trips to the grocery store for family dinner due to lack of planning.  All but a couple raised their hand.  “Just think of all the time you could save”, I said, “by just having a plan.”

Unfortunately, many of us simply do not have the time it takes to do the planning and organization; but then we end up spending more time in the end scrambling for last-minute solutions- not to mention- more money.

If you’re one of those busy moms, and want to save time and money on your family dinners, let The Organized Cook do the planning for you.

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New Year’s Resolution #1: Eating Out Less

By on January 4, 2011 in Making Dinner

The statistics are out there.  Families who eat dinner at home spend 50% less than families who eat out.

If any of your resolutions this year involve more organization, more savings and less eating out, menu planning is obviously going to be at the top of your list.

Menu Planning, Evolved

The Organized Cook takes menu planning a few steps further.  With this system, menus, grocery shopping lists and meal preparation are organized into a weekly meal plan system designed to save a ton of time and money while also reducing waste.

I didn’t like all of the wasted food I was left with at the end of the week…half an onion, a bag of spinach lettuce, etc.; it all adds up.

So how does The Organized Cook accomplish this?  Menus are organized into an algorithm that first, reuses key ingredients throughout the week.  For example, you may chop an onion to use half in a sauce on Day 1 and store the remaining chopped onion to use in a casserole on Day 4.  Further, you may saute more chicken breasts than you need to use for a Chicken Madeira on Day 2 and store the remaining for a Chicken Curry on Day 5.

So, what you’re doing by using The Organized Cook is not only reusing ingredients, you’re actually reusing your time.  Think about it, with just those examples, you’ve already reduced the time it takes for those two preparation items by half.  Not only that, you’ve reduced the number of knives, cutting boards and saute pans to clean by half.  Now apply that method to reusing your time throughout the entire week and the savings in time just keeps adding up.

Making It Simple

Eating out less is a great resolution to have this year.  Not only for economic reasons, but considering the health factor and statistics on childhood obesity, the reasons keep adding up.

However, I believe it needs to be made simple in order to be achievable.  If a resolution becomes too daunting or overwhelming, it’s easy for it to get thrown out with the Christmas tree.

To help other busy moms keep this resolution, The Organized Cook is extending the introductory offer for the Weekly Meal Plan Subscription through January.  Share your resolution with a friend and help her save time, money and the family dinner.

Bon Appetit!

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