Grocery Shopping and Meal Planning - Combining the Two!

The key to healthy eating, of course, is to actually go grocery shopping and buy healthy foods.    I remember times when I used to walk into the grocery and just pick up things and put in my grocery cart.   Then later when I get home and unpacked the groceries I'll be asking myself, "What to cook for lunch?"  

I’ve created grocery lists and used them many times in the past.  But every method backfired.  Either it was too time-consuming or I ended up spending more money.  And no matter how ‘well’ I thought I had done at the store, I still struggled to create meals throughout the week because I’d always be missing a few key ingredients.  I'm sure that has happened to a lot of us most of the time.

Then I realized that I needed to combine my grocery lists and start planning my meals to ease my frustration.

So instead of just randomly jotting down things I think I’ll need in the grocery, I'd first identify four or five meals that I want to cook throughout the week  and list the ingredients for each meal idea.  I also add in other miscellaneous things that we’ll need, like cereal, and milk.

Right now I'm preparing pasta for lunch.  Try  this Baked Ziti and Vegetables.  I substituted the squash with normal pumpkin, sometimes I leave it out altogether.   Enjoy!

  

Do you use grocery lists or meal plan?  How do you make it work for you?