We all get into a rut of preparing the same meals over and over. Meal planning can be boring and tedious. Liven it up by using your local grocery store’s weekly sales flyer! Our office is near a large grocery store, so I will be using their weekly ad to create a meal plan for a family of four for 3 meals. My favorite visual for meal planning is the MyPlate:
My meal planning nearly always starts with the protein in the meal, as it is generally the most time consuming aspect to prepare, as well as often the most expensive item in the menu. To start, I saw 93% lean ground beef was on sale, this is a rarity! What can I make with lean ground beef, why not a meatball sandwich! I found whole grain buns on sale to use, discounted low fat cheese to top it with, and a salad on sale for the side with some discounted citrus slices on top. I will continue to use the salad, cheese, and fruit again for another meal.
|
Protein |
Grains/Starch |
Vegetables | Fruits | Dairy | |
| Lunch | 93% lean ground beef | Pepperidge Farm Whole Grain Buns | 2# bag of Farmers Market Garden Salad | 3# bag Sunkist Smiles |
Kraft Cheese (buy 1 get 1 free) |
|
Extra items |
Prego Pasta sauce is on sale, Ken’s salad dressing buy 1 get 1 free |
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Next, let’s discuss breakfast. Eggs were on sale this week, and are generally quite low in cost. Breakfast burritos can be quite tasty! Scramble up discounted eggs, toss in salad leaves (purchased for lunch) for some added veggies. Serve in a discounted wrap topped with salsa (additional tasty veggie, also on sale) and a dollop of discounted store brand plain yogurt (to mimic sour cream). Mangos are on sale and not something we commonly consume, so take the opportunity to enjoy this as the side dish of the breakfast burrito!
| Protein | Grains/Starch | Vegetables | Fruits | Dairy | |
| Breakfast | Store brand Eggs | Flat Out Wraps (whole grain) | Farmers Market Garden Salad (REPEAT) & Newman’s Own Salsa | Mangos (10 for $10) |
Store brand Plain yogurt |
| Extra items | |||||
Lastly, we need a plan for dinner time. Ground beef stew is the perfect recipe to help use up the rest of the 2 pounds of discounted ground beef. Toss quinoa (on sale) and discounted frozen mixed vegetables into the stew, and top with the remainder of the Kraft cheese (purchased for lunch). We still have some discounted Sunkist Smiles leftover to have as dessert! Seasoning blends and store brand canned tomato products were on sale this week as well, which will be nice flavor additions to the ground beef stew.
| Protein | Grains/Starch | Vegetables | Fruits | Dairy | |
| Dinner | 93% lean ground beef (REPEAT) | Nature’s Earthly quinoa | Frozen Bird’s Eye Mixed Vegetables | 3# bag Sunkist Smiles (REPEAT) |
Kraft Cheese (REPEAT) |
|
Extra items |
Mccormick Perfect Pinch Seasoning is on sale for stew, store brand canned tomato sauce if you like a tomato based stew |
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From the weekly grocery store flyer, a healthy meal plan for a family of four was created that incorporates all the food groups! A small chunk of time used to meal plan can save stress on upcoming busy days trying to decide what is quick to prepare for family dinner.
Final grocery list (minus a few pantry staples):
Protein: 93% lean ground beef, eggs
Grains/Starch: Nature’s Earthly quinoa, Flat Out whole grain wraps, Pepperidge Farm whole grain buns
Vegetables: Bird’s Eye Frozen Mixed Vegetables, Farmers Market Garden Salad, Newman’s Own Salsa
Fruits: Sunkist Smiles, Mangos
Dairy: Kraft Cheese, plain yogurt
