Heavenly Homemakers

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What is Price Matching and How Does it Work?

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What is Price-Matching and How Does it Work

I’ve recently learned the art of “price matching.” Where has this been all my life? (Right under my nose. I just never looked into it before.)  This new practice has been saving me $10-$40 per week. That’s $40-$160 per month. That’s big savings for my family of big eaters!

What is Price Matching?

Wal-Mart offers an Ad-Matching Guarantee. This means that if another store within 50 miles is offering a specific food at a lower price (shown in their weekly ad), Wal-mart will honor that price. Read all the detailed information about their policy here.

It is important that you pay attention to the details of the grocery store ads. Price matching is only valid on items “pound for pound,” “ounce for ounce,” etc. I try to be very diligent about making sure I don’t accidentally pick up the wrong size item.

How Does Price Matching Work?

Sound complicated? It really isn’t. It took me exactly one shopping trip to work out all the kinks and learn how easy this practice is.

Before going shopping each week, I spend a few minutes looking at all relevant grocery store ads online. We have very few stores in my town, so I am thankful I can price match with the stores in our nearby cities which have 6-7 stores to price match with. I find the lowest prices from each store (mainly focusing on the produce), and make my list.

This week, my list looked something like this:

Aldi

~ Strawberries, 16 ounces, $1.29
~ Onions, 3 pound bag, 99¢
~ Red Potatoes, 5 pound bag, 99¢

Alert

~ Carrots, 2 pound bag, $1.19

Super Saver

~ Grape Tomatoes, 1 pint, 96¢
~ Blueberries, 18 ounces, $3.48 (our Walmart didn’t have this size, so I scratched that off my list)
~ Gala or Yellow Delicious Apples, 3 pound bags, $2.50 each

Wal-mart employees have been trained to quickly adjust the price of the items you are price matching. You simply tell them the price you found that was cheaper, and they ring it up at that price. Easy! I try to separate my price-match items from my other items to make it easier on the cashier.

Here is a sample conversation between the cashier and me…

Cashier:  You have such beautiful hair.
Just kidding. For some reason, the cashier never says that. Here’s the real conversation:
Me: These are my price-match items.
Cashier:  Great, we’ll start with the pears. How much?
Me:  99¢ per pound.
{Cashier rings up my pears at 99¢ per pound}  
Cashier:  Okay, now how about these onions?
Me:  99¢ for each bag

And so it goes until we work our way through all of my price match items. :)

How Much Can You Save?

Here’s an example of everything I bought and how much I saved through price-matching last week.

price matching

  • 2 bags of Yellow Onions priced at $2.98 for a 3 pound bag – I got for 99¢ each (saved 3.98)
  • 3 bags of Red Potatoes priced at $3.47 for a 5 pound bag – I got for 99¢ each (saved 7.44)
  • 1 pound containers of Strawberries priced at $1.99 – I got for $1.29 each (saved 5.60)
  • D’Anjou Pears priced at $1.67/pound – I got for 99¢/pound (saved 3.69)
  • 2 bags of Halo Clementines priced at $4.97 for a 3 pound bag – I got for $3.99 each (saved 1.96)
  • 2 bags of Carrots priced at $1.48 for a 2 pound bag – I got for $1.19 each (saved .58)
  • 2 bags of Gala Apples priced at $3.47 for a 3 pound bag – I got for $2.50 each (saved 1.94)
  • 2 bags of Golden Delicious Apples priced at $3.47 for a 3 pound bag – I got for $2.50 each (saved 1.94)
  • 2 pints of Grape Tomatoes priced at $2.98 per pint – I got for 96¢ each  (saved 4.04)

Price matching saved me $31.17 this week.  It took me about 10 minutes to sit at the computer and find the prices I wanted to match and make a list. Saving over thirty bucks in 10 minutes to feed my family real food? Yes, I think that’s very worth my time!

Watch that you don’t fall into the trap of snatching up good deals on processed foods. Those are out there too, so of course, I had to remind us all that those are just not worth the “price” we pay later. You’ll be surprised though at the great deals you can get on fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses, often organics too!

One last note:

I try not to price-match from my hometown grocery stores. My town is small, so it doesn’t take much extra time to run into our local grocery stores to pick up the food I need. I like to support our local stores. Where price-matching really works well for me is offering me big city sale prices from bigger stores that would cost me an hour’s drive and a half tank of gas. :)

Share with us! Do you take advantage of Wal-mart’s price matching policy? How does it work for you? Have any other great tips to share about this?

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Top 10 Money Saving Recipes

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Easy Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls – a Quick and Filling Breakfast To-Go!

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Oh man (lady – whatever). You are going to love this idea! Unless you don’t like eggs.  But for those of you who love eggs, and for everyone who wants an easy, real food meal that will pack a punch with nutrition and keep you full until the next meal…

Please allow me to introduce you to these delightful little Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls:

ham and egg cups1

See that? The ham is the bowl. Isn’t that clever? I didn’t think of this myself, but was enlightened by my friend who was excited to tell me about her fun breakfast of the day. She knew I’d need to know about this idea. She knows me (and my hungry crew) well, don’t you think?

Everyone get out your muffin tins and get ready to have some fun.

How to make Ham and Egg Breakfast BowlsYum

You will need:

Muffin Tins
Thin Slices of Ham
Eggs
Shredded Cheese
Sea Salt
Garnish like Fresh Spinach, Green Chilies, Mushrooms, Peppers, Onion, Broccoli, or Salsa

Push a piece of thinly sliced ham down into each muffin cup.

ham and egg bowls 4

Crack an egg into each “ham bowl.” Poke each egg yolk with a fork and carefully scrambled it around inside the bowl. Sprinkle with salt, top with cheese, and garnish however you like. Bake in a 350° oven  for 10-20 minutes or until the eggs are cooked through.

You can make these ahead of time, then rewarm them for a quick, ready-made breakfast or lunch! (That’s my favorite part, of course.)

You can also scrambled up your eggs in a dish, and then scoop some out into each ham bowl if you prefer. My kids like the texture of these better if I do it that way.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Easy Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls - a Quick and Filling Breakfast To-Go!
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • Muffin Tins
  • Thin Slices of Ham
  • Eggs
  • Shredded Cheese
  • Sea Salt
  • Garnish like Fresh Spinach, Green Chilies, Mushrooms, Peppers, Onion, Broccoli, or Salsa
Instructions
  1. Push a piece of thinly sliced ham down into each muffin cup.
  2. Crack an egg into each "ham bowl."
  3. Poke each egg yolk with a fork and carefully scrambled it around inside the bowl.
  4. Sprinkle with salt, top with cheese, and garnish however you like.
  5. Bake in a 350° oven for 10-20 minutes or until the eggs are cooked through.

 

Easy Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls

Is this idea genius, or what? You must try this! :)

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The Groceries I Bought This Week and Why I Bought Some Junk

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Well, I can’t really say that I blew the grocery budget plan that I had this month – but I did end up spending over the $400 I thought I’d spend this month during my freezer/pantry challenge. It’s food, and we need it, so all is well. Since I stayed right around $500 for the month, this is still huge savings for our big family. My hope is to get back at it and continue through the month of February with this challenge. We have plenty of meat to work with and plenty of pantry items. Sticking with purchasing only produce and dairy should work for one more month just fine!

Here’s a peek at what that extra spending went into:

Our Azure Standard order came in, which is always fun. I ordered sweet potatoes, frozen peas, carrots, chicken thighs (love these!), and roasted peanuts.

azure order jan

I filled my cart at the grocery store – mostly with produce. But as you can see, I also bought some junk. Be glad you can’t see the frozen pizzas hiding behind the chips.

jan 28 groceries

 

Why did I buy junk, you ask? Our church hosted a big youth rally this weekend, and our family signed up to host several of the boys for two nights. Many of the boys who came to town (from 5 different states) are good friends with our boys, having become acquainted at church camp the past few years. Youth rally weekends like this are like reunions for them! All that to say, we housed 17 teenage boys Friday and Saturday nights. There is no shortage of great friends for our boys, that is for sure!

Their meals were all taken care of at the church building, but once at our house for the night – they  needed snacks. I laid out huge bowls of fruit for the boys to help themselves to, and I also provided chips and a little bit of pizza. Homemade food was out of the question this time as Matt and I have been teaching classes at the youth rally all weekend.

Surely you’re wondering:  How was it housing so many extra teenage boys? Oh my, it was so much fun. We know most of the teens at the rally. So having the boys in our home was awesome. It always sounds like a lot – having so many extra teens. But truly, they are so nice, so polite, and so enjoyable.

I will say, with much affection and a bit of a cringe:  My entire house smells like a 3,000 square foot sock. Whoahoho. I love these boys and will gladly fill my home with them. But 34 teenage boy feet is something else. There are no words.

I should also let you know about the um…interesting situation with our bathroom remodel. All is well really – but as is typical of home improvement projects, this one is taking longer than expected. Matt had been working and working to at least get a working shower in before all the boys (and their feet) showed up. He was up until 4:30 this morning finishing it. (And then he taught Bible classes all day today at the rally. He is a Rock Star.)

bathroom 3

 

Everything else looks pretty disgusting in the bathroom right now, but hey, how about that pretty shower?!!!

Fun as all this is, I am one tired mom. Sleep isn’t on the agenda much during youth rally weekends. I’ll nap after they all go home on Sunday afternoon, you can bet on it. Writing out a menu plan for this weekend to share with you isn’t within my physical or mental capability. Maybe you can leave some yummy meal ideas in the comments for me this time? Aw, aren’t you sweet. :)

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15 Delicious Dips for Your Super Bowl Party

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As is always the case this time of year, I have absolutely no idea who is playing in the Super Bowl. If it mattered to my husband it would matter to me. But it doesn’t, so it doesn’t. Make sense?

What does matter to me is the fun night of fellowship we will have at our friend’s house during the game. Matt and I actually do enjoy watching the occasional game of football. The big buffet of fun foods never hurt my feelings either. I’m all about the dips at a Super Bowl party. I have several I’m thinking of making to share. Here are some of our favorites:

15 Delicious Dip Recipes

Yum


Black Bean Salsa – Five healthy ingredients, it’s like a flavorful meal all by itself.

Cream Cheese Salsa Dip – This is the easiest dip on the planet (2 ingredients!) and everyone loves it.

Easy Veggie Dip – Oh my cucumbers. This is the very best way to enjoy raw veggies. It stirs together in about two minutes.

Healthier Cheese Dip (a Velveeta/Rotel Knock-Off) – Who needs “processed cheese product” when you can have the real deal?!

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip – Just like the kind you pay too much money for at a restaurant.

Nacho Cheese Pretzel Dip – Just do it. This is amazing.

Spicy Avocado Dip –  My family devours avocados when we quickly mix this up. Hello, healthy goodness.

Easy Cheesy Bean Dip – This also only includes five delicious ingredients. Easy and healthy – that’s how I roll.

Hamburber Sauerkraut Dip – Even if you don’t like kraut, you will love this. It is incredibly good.

Cream Cheese Fruit Dip – This is like whipped heaven in a bowl, perfect with apples and strawberries.

strawberry_dip_2

But there’s more! A big part of healthy snacking is healthy dipping. I love that dips can add nutrition as well as help us get the veggies down. In our newest eBook, 227 Healthy Snacks, we’ve included several new dip recipes like:

  • Super Easy Hummus
  • Green Chili Dip
  • Fresh and Quick Salsa
  • Spicy Sausage Chip Dip
  • Spicy Lentil Dip

227 Healthy Snacks

Not only will you find these 5 awesome new dip recipes, you’ll find 222 more healthy snack ideas and recipes too. From bars to muffins to hearty cookies to fruit and veggie snacks, you will be totally equipped with loads of healthy snacks to keep your and your family full and nourished! Get all the details about this book here.

227 Healthy Snacks 2

Grab your copy and start putting together these easy, healthy recipes!

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The Recipe That Didn’t Make the Cut – and What I Did With It

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With all the recipe experimenting and inventing that goes on at our house (especially recently as we’ve been working on our new Healthy Snacks eBook), you can be certain that we have some fails and flops from time to time. Sometimes a recipe idea turns out tasty but ugly, sometimes a recipe is not tasty in the least, and sometimes it’s both not tasty and it’s ugly. Bless its pitiful little heart.

A few weeks ago I was excited to try out a recipe for Cinnamon Quick Bread. Sounds good, right? My men thought so. It looked like a recipe I could adapt easily to make with healthier, real food ingredients. But I ended up cutting the sugar down too low, and I didn’t adapt the baking soda amount, and I’m not sure what else I should have done differently – but not even Matt (who eats anything) could make himself choke it down. It tasted like bread full of baking soda. Can you say bitter? Bleh. (It was almost like the time I was at someone else’s house and I used salt instead of sugar while making cookies. Wow, wow, wow.)

Now silly me. I know better than to double a recipe experiment. But indeed, I thought for sure this Cinnamon Quick Bread experiment would turn out fine. So double it I did. Brilliant.  Not only did I come away with one bitter loaf of quick bread – I came away with four. {shudder}

Like I normally do with “leftovers,” I put the bread into the freezer. I’m not sure why I did this, because dare I remind you of the nastiness? It’s just hard to throw away food and hard work. Maybe I thought the freezer would settle down the bitterness and bring out the sweetness – as if my freezer has a magic wand. Hey, I figure if lasagna and spaghetti can taste better the next day, surely bitter bread can find a way to taste good. I realize none of this makes sense.

Several weeks after baking and freezing the pitiful bread, I cleaned out my freezers. Wouldn’t you know it? Shoved in the back I found a bag with two of these delightfully gross loaves of bread. It had been in there too long, so not only was it likely to still be bitter, it was also freezer burned and crumbly. I’m telling you, I really nailed this one.

I walked to the trash can. “Just do it,” I said to myself. I could bury it under the other trash. No one would ever know.

Ugh, I just couldn’t do it. I decided that my family had by now forgotten how terrible the bread had tasted, so they wouldn’t be afraid to try it in a “re-purposed” breakfast. Maybe? Hopefully?

Guess what? Nasty, bitter, crumbly quick bread – when soaked in egg and milk and cooked in butter on a griddle – makes a wonderful (yet more than slightly messy) French Toast breakfast. Without blinking, my family ate both loaves of this interesting looking French Toast. Butter and real maple syrup make anything better, right? Well, at least in this case it worked.

cinnamon french toast mess

I’m sure your life is enriched by hearing that inspiring story. I have no recipe to share this time (for obvious reasons, you’re welcome). I can’t even give advice based on my bad experience. But if at all possible, I do encourage you to try to make use of a recipe flop. There really is likely a good way to use up the food so you don’t have to throw it away.

But one more thing:  Never stir 2 cups of salt into your cookie dough. Paula Deen herself wouldn’t be able to figure out a way to repurpose that one.

Have a “recipe gone wrong” story to share with us? Do tell. :)

Here are all the recipes that DID make the cut! Get our 227 Healthy Snacks eBook while the price is still cut in half!

227 Healthy Snacks 2

 

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Menu Plan for This Week and a Freezer/Pantry Challenge Update

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Well, with my huge stock-pile of food, we are still doing just fine with only purchasing fresh produce, eggs, and dairy. Confession:  You will see a little package of Hormel’s Naturals lunch meat in this grocery shopping picture from this week. I needed some slivered ham for a fun breakfast idea my friend Brenda told me about at Bunco. I had to have it, yes I did. You’ll be thankful she told me about this and that I veered off course just enough to buy it. Just wait until I share the recipe. :)

jan 22

This isn’t everything, by the way. I had to make a mid-week run to the store since we were almost out of everything fresh.
I got cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, and I can’t remember what else because it’s gone already.

Can you believe I bought strawberries in January?? I can’t even believe it. Somehow, they were a great price and actually looked good. This never happens in Nebraska, but seeing as we are having 50° weather, it does sort of feel like spring. Even if these strawberries aren’t as delicious as they are in the summertime, I figure that at the very least we can choke them down with some Chocolate Whipped Cream. Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem.

I bought three packages of blueberries this week – woohoo for price matching! I also price-matched broccoli, cauliflower, and apples. This price-matching thing has been saving me a bundle.

Speaking of which, I am excited to share that our family has seen some significant grocery budget savings this month since I’ve bought only fresh food and have avoided buying anything for our freezers or pantry. We will be ending the month with spending at just a tad over $400. This number is fantastic for my family in this season of life. (Oh my, I remember the days I spent less than that for everything including meat and pantry staples. Hello, teenage appetites.)

I have also found it interesting to note that it takes between $100-$130 per week to keep us in fresh produce, eggs, and milk. Seem like a lot? I beg to differ. That amount goes a long way toward awesome nutrition so it is very, very worth it. I also love thinking about how our preserved garden produce helps keep that amount as low as it is. I also (how many times can I use also in the same paragraph?) realize how blessed we are that our fresh milk and eggs are priced so very reasonably.

And now, here is our list of menu items for this week. What a blessing to have so much variety and so much good food!

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Fruit and Veggie Sides (I serve 1-4 with each meal)

If you are also taking an “Eat from the Pantry and Freezer” Challenge, I’d love to hear how it is going for you!

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Get Your Real Food Menu Planning Package for $8 – Today Only!

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Here’s your friendly reminder that today is the final day to get our Real Food Menu Planning Package for just $8!

Real Food Menu Planning Resource Package - $8

Be inspired, be guided, and have fun!! Oh, and save loads of money too. Menu planning saves our family hundreds of dollars every year!

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$8

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Money Saving Monday: Clean out the Pantry and Freezer

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Ready to save some grocery money by cleaning out your pantry and freezer? You’ll be amazed at the great food hiding in there!

Since I’ve been doing my “eat from the pantry and freezer instead of buying groceries” challenge for exactly one whole day, I thought it was high time I posted an update about how it’s going so far. That, and I thought this idea of “using what you have” fit perfectly into our Money Saving Monday series. ;)

Money Saving Monday Banner

So there you have it. Today’s Money Saving Monday tip is:  Challenge yourself. Instead of running to the store for ingredients, try creating a few meals and snacks from what you have stored in your pantry and freezer. This can save you quite a bit of money in the long run!

So far, all one day of this challenge has been very fun for me. By the end of the month, I might not be as enthusiastic. Either way, this is a good practice to bless your grocery budget and to help ensure that you don’t waste food.

Sunday after church, we invited several college students over to eat with us. Matt and I worked together to make a mountain of Whole Wheat Waffles, scrambled cheesy eggs, Homemade Hashbrown Patties, and fruit. I was planning to make Peach Syrup but would you believe? We only found one little bag of frozen peaches in our freezer. (I guess the “eat all the frozen peaches” part of the challenge was completed before the month began.)

I decided instead to put that small amount of peaches into a pot with all the frozen berries I found hanging out in all my freezers. Therefore, using this Peach Syrup idea, I made a Peach-Strawberry-Raspberry-Blueberry Syrup. Matt declared it to be the best part of the meal. And now I’m completely out of frozen fruit (except for pineapple). Well that didn’t take long. :)

Here’s all that was left after our feast, but I’d say there are enough waffles there to give us an easy breakfast this week:

eat from pantry 1

For High School Huddle Sunday night, I made a huge pan of Apple Crisp from the bags of apples I’d sliced and frozen this fall. How easy was that?

eat from pantry 2

I will say that after just one day of this, I am really recognizing how much food we go through during a 24 hour period – especially when we invite others to join us. That’s the point though. We have plenty of food – and we are happy to share! If this challenge only lasts a week or two before I need to start stocking up again, so be it. That will be one or two weeks of grocery savings, and it all adds up!

Give this idea a try – I dare you. :)

Leave a comment, inspiring us with what you have creatively come up with in your kitchen when you’ve avoided going to the grocery store!

Budget-friendly recipes to make when you clean out your pantry and freezer

I’ll just bet you have the ingredients for most of these hanging out somewhere in your kitchen. If not, mix and match and get creative to see what you can come up with!

Out of mixes or condiments? Make your own!

condiments

You’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn how easy these are to make!

What are your favorite foods to make when you clean out your pantry and freezer?

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Menu Plan for the Week and My Grocery Budget Goals for January

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Now that we’re back from our holiday travels, I have felt the need to clean out some of our pantry and freezer items. Buying in bulk and buying ahead really works well for our family, but I’m thinking it may be a good idea to dig down to the bottom of my storage containers and freezers to see what random items I’ve kept pushing to the side for the last few months. I have plenty of meat, plenty of frozen vegetables and fruit, plenty of pasta, plenty of so many food items!

So I thought to myself, “What if? What if each week during January (and maybe February?) I only buy fresh produce from the store, eggs and milk from our local sources, and (wait for it)…nothing else? What if I forced myself to think simply, to use what we have, and to be creative?”

I’m really not sure if this little experiment is going to work for me. The beauty of buying in bulk when I come across a sale is that I pretty much never run out of anything we need and pretty much never have to pay full price for anything. One or two months of eating from our food storage and not taking advantage of deals might set me back a little bit. Plus, whatever shall I do if I run out of applesauce?!?!??!?!

Right. I am not going to run out of applesauce.

applesauce_2

There are dozens more jars where this came from. We had a great apple year.

Recovering from my bulk-food-obsession-panic, I realized that there will likely be good deals to be found in February and March when I’m ready to stock up again. Duh.  In the meantime, I think we’ll see some big grocery budget savings. Sweet!

Our menu this week reflects all the food I have ingredients to make without having to shop. Because this is the beginning of our experiment, I have plenty to work with. And who am I kidding? My family could probably eat well for more than three or four months with all the food I have stored away. It’s like a Coppinger Family Grocery Store in my back room. I’d show you a picture, but it’s freezing in that room and therefore a terrible mess because it’s too cold to organize, and I’m not humble enough to share the insanity all over the internet.

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

 Fruit and Veggie Sides (I serve 1-4 with every meal)

  • Spicy Avocado Dip
  • Sliced Cucumbers
  • Baby Carrots
  • Broccoli
  • Mixed Greens
  • Spinach
  • Apples
  • Pears
  • Oranges
  • Blackberries
  • Applesauce
  • Spaghetti Squash
  • Pineapple
  • Zucchini

Have you ever done an “Eat from the Pantry and Freezer” Challenge? Anybody care to join me in this little experiment? That way, on January 31 at the end of this challenge, together we can enjoy eclectic meals of whatever is left of our rice, tuna, and of course, applesauce. Don’t forget the applesauce.

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My Favorite Menu Planning Resources – and How I Feed All These Teenagers Without Going Broke

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As the old saying goes:  Where there is no plan, there is no casserole.

I think that’s in the Bible somewhere. Or maybe I just made it up twelve seconds ago. How about this one:  A frozen chicken will remain frozen if left in a frozen environment. I definitely made that one up.

All this proverbial insight to say:  Menu plans are really nice. They help you save money. They help you eat healthier. You should make meal plans.

For all of you (and I know there are some) who find that meal planning hurts instead of helps you – I say keep doing what you’re doing to put healthy meals on the table. No need to fix what isn’t broken.

For everyone else, I’m determined to do all I can to encourage whatever it takes for you to prepare simple, healthy meals that don’t break the bank. Menu planning can be a big help, but it can also be overwhelming if you haven’t found your menu planning comfort zone.

Before I say more though, first let me share this:  You should read the post Cooking Healthy Meals When the Menu Plan Fails. Even with the best of intentions, there are times my frozen chicken is still frozen at dinner time. It happens. No need to freak out, feel like a failure, or call for take-out. These ideas have saved me many times when my plans didn’t fall into place perfectly. (Hello, Life. You sure are busy.)

I want to help set us up for menu planning success as best I can.  I don’t actually like the word success because we seem to think that the opposite of success is fail – and that isn’t true (see paragraph above, in which I use the word fail, but wish I didn’t and there’s nothing I can do about it now). So let’s go with menu planning empowerment, how does that sound?

By the way, what I’m about to share will not only give you insight into how I prepare healthy meals for my family every day, it will also help you understand how it is possible for me to feed a houseful of teenage boys (and often their friends) without having to sell my furniture as a way to afford it. Planning ahead saves us hundreds of dollars every year. I can’t not plan. I can’t fall back on take-out. Keeping food costs down is very important when there’s already a comma in the grocery budget dollar amount. (They eat so much foooooooood. But love them, they’re worth it, and all that.)

Empowering You to Plan Healthy Menus

1. One of my favorite ways to be inspired and gain ideas is to look at recipes.  I look at cookbooks and on Pinterest, but mostly, I scroll through my dropdown menu of the hundreds (maybe thousands?) of recipes right here on my website. They are categorized, alphabetized, and even though I’m the one that put them there, I still come across recipes I forgot existed. It’s fun!

Doing this offers variety to our menu and gets my food planning creativity flowing. I typically pick seven recipes in each meal category and plug them into my menu for the week. There is flexibility, of course. There is always flexibility. My menu plan doesn’t own me, it simply acts as a guide.

Below is a screen shot of the dropdown menu on my website when I’m holding my cursor over the word RECIPES in my header. Do that, then click on any page you need. You’ll see lovely lists of real food recipes to pick from. Let your family help choose recipes to try if you like!

recipe dropdown

2. I’ve written and shared hundreds (maybe thousands?) of menu plans here through the years.  They are all in my archives, found at this Menu Planning Archives link. These are fun to look through for inspiration because they are complete menu plans, full of ideas for ways to pair side dishes with main dishes.

3. Our Heavenly Homemaker’s Recipes – Search by Ingredients feature is a really fun way to plan meals based on the ingredients you have in your home. If I’m at a lost as to what to plan, I simply type in a few key ingredients I want to use (such as beef, cheese, tomatoes), then scroll through the recipes that pop up for me. You’ll see this special search box at the top right of my side bar. Use it! It’s fun and helpful!search by ingredients

4. I’ve put together three very thorough menu planning resources through the years:  40 Real Food Menu Plans; 1-2-3 Meal Planning; and Build Your Menu Planning Notebook. The first two share all my best tips and strategies for planning meals, plus they include tons of meal plan ideas. The thinking is already done for you!

notebook 2

The Notebook? Oh my goodness. That’s how I put it all together. Not only is it mega helpful, it’s cute and fun and made to order. Yours probably won’t look like mine because your menu planning needs and design preferences are likely different from mine. That’s the beauty. You print and put yours together the way it will work best for you. :)

To bless your menu planning efforts this New Year, we’ve packaged up our three menu planning resources and knocked them down to half price. Now’s the time to get into a good menu planning routine! Save yourself some time and money, letting these resources guide you.

Menu Planning Collection

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