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With dance practice, choir, cub scouts, and tae kwon do, who has time to prepare an appetizing meal for the kids after school? You do! You can have time if you serve an easy to cook kids’ meal.

Of course it’s a no-brainer to throw a hotdog in the microwave or set a tortilla in a pan on top of the stove, add some cheese and 90 seconds later have a simple quesadilla, but what’s the excitement in that? Instead experiment with Casseroles or one-pot meals which in most cases go over well with the kids; and are simple to whip together.

Try this quick kids meal:

1 – lb. ground beef
1 – 16 oz jar spaghetti sauce
1 – cup water
1 1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1 – cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Crumble beef in a three-qrt glass baking dish and microwave for 4-5 minutes, or until beef is no longer pink. Mix & rotate part way through cooking time. Drain Beef. Stir in sauce, water and macaroni. Microwave another 12 minutes, stirring part way through. Sprinkle cheese on top and allow to stand covered approximately 5 minutes before serving. Serves a couple hungry kids.

There are many meals you can cook with hamburger. Any recipe that asks for hamburger will work just fine replaced with ground turkey, chicken or venison instead. The simple recipe below uses ground meat. It takes nearly an hour to bake but merely a blink to prepare.

Combine together:

2 pounds ground meat
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
Crinkle Cut French Fries

Brown ground beef and drain the grease. Add both soups to strained ground beef and spoon into a 9×13 greased baking dish. Top off with cut French fries and bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until French fries are light brown.

Taco salads are very quick and easy to prepare. Begin with lettuce. Add tomato, onion and cheese (if your kids will approve of it.) Fry up some meat and toss in an envelope of taco seasoning – or just incorporate some taco sauce to the meat. Next add crushed tortilla chips or Fritos. Finish off with salsa or Ranch salad dressing. Remember the sour cream and guacamole too! Kids love this meal!

For a fast, on the go, healthy, cold meal try:

A head of lettuce (not bagged lettuce)
Ham or Roast Beef slices
Cheese slices
Condiments

Step 1: Peel off a medium lettuce leaf.
Step 2: Assemble meat, cheese, and condiments.
Step 3: Roll up and stick a toothpick in the middle.
Step 4: Gobble Up.
Step 5: Wipe your face, there is a trace of mayo. on your cheek.

How about an interesting twist to the normal macaroni and cheese kids recipe?

1 (16 ounce) box macaroni (elbow, seashell, bowtie – doesn’t matter, just not spaghetti)
1 c. cottage cheese
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon

1. Cook macaroni according to package instructions.
2. Stir in cottage cheese, sugar, and cinnamon with drained macaroni.
3. Taste and add sugar or cinnamon, if required.
4. Serve right away. Delicious!

Incorporate a bit of creativity to incorporate a twist on a tried and true recipe and even with the chaotic after school activities you will find time to cook a nourishing meal for your kids evening meal.

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Kid’s meals should be easy, delicious and healthy. Getting children to eat vegetables is a major negotiation. Finding a way to get vegetables into the mouths of babes is easy when they are part of the fun. Coming up with creative ways to get kids involved in the preparation and the cooking of kids’ recipes is part of the fun. Child friendly recipes will allow you the peace of knowing your children are eating healthy and they will enjoy feeling in control of what they are being fed.

Take your kids shopping with you. Let them choose the fruits and vegetables they enjoy. This is generally the simplest way even with children as young as 4 years old. Children learn to eat healthier when they are a part of the cooking and the meal planning for the family.

Children really like color. Even with food, kids will look, then smell, and finally taste. So a variety of color in meals is great. Eating a mixture of foods greatly improves the chances of consuming all the nutrients you and your family need for optimum health.

A exciting way to get your kids to eat vegetables is to use the vegetables as part of a project. Kids get to count, make shapes, and then eat what they create. You get the satisfaction of knowing that you are giving nutritious foods into their diet.

Kids Recipes for Create My Own Soup

Let your children count the carrots and celery pieces. Let them spell their names with the noodles if you include alphabet noodles. You may find other novelty noodles like car shapes, etc. Create a topic of the soup creation.

Cut star shapes out of the carrot slices and zucchini (using an aspic cutter) then set to the side.

Ingredients:
*1-2 carrots
*1 zucchini
*4 cups low sodium chicken broth
*1/4 cup shaped pasta
*Dash of sage
*3/4 cup chopped, cooked chicken
*Salt and pepper to taste

Bringing it All Together:

*Let the kids help you wash the vegetables. Once finished you can wash the carrots and zucchini softly with a vegetable brush.
*Cut the vegetables into 1/4-inch slices.
*Cut star shapes out of the slices, and set them aside.

*In a medium sized pot, bring the broth to a simmer over medium heat.
*Add the carrot stars and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the carrots are tender.
*Add the pasta, zucchini and chicken. Continue cooking the soup for another few minutes, stirring occasionally, just until the pasta is done. Makes 4 servings.

*Let your kids find their names or count the number of shapes in their soup bowl. The kids will like the adventure and fun, you will feel good knowing they are eating their vegetables.

Would you like more Kid-Friendly Recipes? Christine Steendahl – “The Menu Mom” invites you to visit Kid Approved Meals at http://www.kidapprovedmeals.com to download your personal 13 week breakfast and lunch menu made just for kids!

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More Help Can Be Found At Dine Without Whine

It seems like a never-ending battle with the kids. Although you and I know veggies are delicious and they’re also good for you, they act like vegetables are a plague they want to avoid at all costs.

If you need creative ways to get your kids to eat more vegetables, here are 9 ideas to incorporate into your daily meals right away:

1. Make healthy choices readily available and put the sugary and greasy snacks away. This doesn’t mean totally deprive yourselves of these delightful treats, but making healthy eating a normal part of your day goes a long way to helping kids develop better eating habits.

2. Add veggies like carrots or even asparagus to smoothies. Kids love fruit smoothies and they’ll never know you put in a little of those dreaded vegetables in.

3. Sneak vegetables into other foods. For example: Add grated carrots into spaghetti sauce or make a zucchini chocolate cake.

4. Try dip. You know kids love to dip everything. Just make sure they know they have to eat the dip stick and not just lick it!

5. Take your kids shopping with you. Let your child pick out a new vegetable in the grocery store that they’ve never tried. Then prepare the vegetable together.

6. Be patient and consistent. Avoid having a tantrum yourself when your child has a tantrum about vegetables on their plate. Sometimes it will take several times of serving the same food before your child is even willing to try it.

7. Make it artistic and fun. Place veggies into a smiley face on your child’s plate or decorate a pizza with them.

8. Let them choose: raw or cooked. Some children may have a definite preference as to whether their veggies are cooked or raw.

9. Plan your meals. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the veggies when you don’t have a plan…allowing your kids to get into the habit of veggie-free meals. Plan your meals and grocery lists in advance, so you won’t come up short on the greenery.

To make your meal planning a whole lot easier, sign up for you 1 ¢ no-risk trial at Dine Without Whine. They put together your weekly dinner plan and even make a quick and easy printable grocery list for you. Click here to get started.

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It never fails, we budget for our groceries, but the bill always ends up being more. We underestimate, run out of things faster than expected and overall, everything is becoming just too darned expensive! To make things a little bit easier, here are 9 simple ways you can start saving money on your groceries.

1. Go with a List: Yes, I know…it’s a pretty obvious suggestion, but it’s amazing how effective it can be. You can purchase only what you need and avoid all the other yummy distractions of the grocery store.

2. Meal Planning: Planning your meals in advance makes it easier to get your list together and ensure you buy only exactly what you need. You can get help with your meal planning at Dine Without Whine AND they actually put your grocery list together for you too.

3. Eat Before You Go: Another classic tip. If you’re hungry, you’ll want to buy (and instantly eat) everything! Have a meal or good snack before you go to avoid impulse purchases.

4. Stock Up on Staple Items When They’re On Sale: If you see ketchup or your family’s favorite sauce on sale, stock up. Or if it’s a certain type of soup or frozen vegetable your family eats all the time, buy a bunch of it. As long as it doesn’t spoil and you have space to store it, you will save money in the long run. The nice thing about this is if you continue to stock up on a variety of items, you’ll have a nice pantry full of food at any given time.

5. Cook from Scratch More Often: Yeah, yeah…it sounds easier said than done, but it doesn’t have to be too complicated. It’s no secret that pre-packaged items and convenience foods come at a premium price. They save you time in preparation, but they eat up your budget and let’s face it, time IS money. Plus, if you’re using Tip #2 and planning your meals, cooking from scratch more often is a whole lot easier.

6. Comparison Shop Before You Leave Home: No, I’m definitely not suggesting you go from store-to-store looking for the best deal. That takes too much time. Check the flyers that come to your door and see who is offering the best deals on what you actually need. If you don’t have any flyers at your door, visit the store website as they generally post flyers online.

7. Use Coupons Sparingly: Sure, coupons offer a great deal, but most coupons you’ll find are for items you don’t really need or use. Resist the urge to think, “Wow, that’s a good deal” and search for coupons based on items you need to purchase instead.

8. Keep the Little Ones At Home: If you have young children that want everything that they see, it’s easy to get into the trap of buying items you don’t need, treats that aren’t healthy and become victim to other grocery store distractions. Keep the kids at home with Daddy (it’s a good bonding opportunity) or a relative. You can even swap grocery store shopping times with your neighbor. Not only will you save money, but you’ll save your sanity too!

9. Make Quick Stops for Fresh Ingredients: This may not be easy if you’re on a tight schedule, but if you can work it in, it can save you a bundle. One of the biggest culprits in grocery budgets gone bad is spoiled food. If your fruits, veggies and other perishable items are always going bad, consider shopping for them more frequently, but in smaller quantities and restrain yourself from buying items you don’t need. If you have any teenage kids, this would be a great chore for them too.

There you go – 9 ways to save on groceries. But in order to make these tips work, you really need to have a plan in place. You need to know what your family needs and what you’ll be eating. To make your meal planning a whole lot easier, sign up for you 1 ¢ no-risk trial at Dine Without Whine. You and your grocery budget will be glad you did.

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Grilled cheese sandwiches are the least cumbersome meal to prepare. Kids can even learn to prepare it themselves. The ones I used to make contained regular cheese and white bread with margarine to cook it. Here are a few ways to make that grilled cheese sandwich healthier for your little ones.

First of all you need to slim the cheese. Full fat cheeses are a thing of the past. A slice of fat free cheese melts just the same with fewer calories and fat. If American cheese is too boring, try a slice of Swiss or cheddar cheese. Monterey Jack is good on a sandwich, also. One slice of cheese is plenty, but if you are using the fat free kind, you could probably get by with two slices for a creamier sandwich.

What about the bread? The bread is a key element. White bread contains too many sugars that are bad for you. Try whole wheat or seven grain bread. Sourdough bread would make a good substitution. What you want is bread with fewer calories and carbohydrates per serving.

What about some meat? When they added bologna to a grilled cheese sandwich when I was a kid, they called it a “flying saucer”. Adding a slice of meat makes the sandwich more of a complete meal. Depending on what their favorite is, you can add roast beef, sliced ham, sliced turkey, bacon, sausage, or sliced chicken breast.

What about some flavor? Add more taste to their grilled cheese sandwich with a few choice condiments. Adding mustard gives the sandwich a tangy taste. For an even better taste add brown or Dijon mustard. Go south of the border with a bit of salsa added to the sandwich. The salsa will make the grilled cheese sandwich spicy. Roast beef goes well with a dollop of barbeque sauce added for more flavor. If your child is into the simpler tastes, add a bit of fat-free or reduced fat mayonnaise or ketchup to the sandwich. Adding some dressing such as Thousand Island is another great option for adding variety.

Add some crunch to your sandwich. Slice up an apple and place it on top of the cheese. People eat a slice of cheese with apple pie and many cheese trays are served with apples, so why not on a grilled cheese sandwich? Use a Granny Smith apple for best results. They will maintain their form better than a red apple.

Our grilled cheese sandwich is definitely coming together. We have added meat, changed the cheese, changed the bread, and added sauces for added pizzaz. What’s left to do? Let’s see if we can incorporate some vegetables. Pickles work well on a cheese sandwich with bologna. A juicy slice of tomato would add color and flavor to any meat and cheese combination. Get a slice of green with a leaf of romaine lettuce or some shredded iceberg lettuce.

Ditch the margarine. I used to spread a thick layer of margarine on both sides of the bread before I put the sandwich in the pan. Here are a few alternatives to that. Use spray butter or non-stick cooking spray in the pan. Your kids will still have the butter flavor without all the butter calories. Another choice would be to brown the sandwich in the oven. Using a metal tray, spray both sides of the bread with butter spray. Bake the cheese sandwiches in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for about six minutes per side.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are getting a new look. By adding meat, seasoning, and veggies, your sandwiches are now a meal unto themselves. Get your family involved in the cooking. Let them create their own sandwiches.

Would you like more Kid-Friendly Recipes? Christine Steendahl – “The Menu Mom” invites you to visit Kid Approved Meals at http://www.kidapprovedmeals.com to download your personal 13 week breakfast and lunch menu made just for kids!

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Almost everyone may remember when classroom bulletin boards displayed the food pyramid. The pyramid – there was only one. One size fit all. Everyone needed to subscribe to the same nutritional guidelines. Everyone was told to merely glance at the pyramid to figure out how many servings were needed each day.

Almost all would agree that it is a good thing that obsolete food pyramid has gone by the wayside! It may have taken a while, but the idea that not all people require the same food intake finally caught on. Nor are children expected to follow the same nutritional guidelines as the adults.

If you’re hoping we’ll show you the “kid’s guidelines” there unfortunately isn’t a predetermined guideline. The amount of food from each food group that each person needs to eat to maintain a healthy lifestyle is dependent on their age, sex and physical activity level. One size doesn’t fit all. You can go to http://mypyramid.gov/ to type in some search criteria to get an idea of how much from each food category to eat every day.

Remember balance is the name of the game. Make sure your little ones are eating fruits and vegetables, dairy, meats and beans and grains every day. Then round it off with water, fresh air and exercise. To help you get started, below you will find a couple of nutritious meals for children.

This turkey avocado sandwich wrap uses kid-friendly ingredients for a nutritious lunch or treat.

INGREDIENTS:
• Whole wheat tortillas
• 1 avocado mashed
• Sliced deli turkey
• Shredded carrots
• Shredded lettuce
• Shredded Monterey jack cheese

PREPARATION:
Assemble wraps in the following order: Spread mashed avocado on tortilla; Sprinkle shredded carrots and lettuce on avocado; Lay on slices of deli turkey; Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

In addition, you won’t get any looks of disappointment if you inform the children you’re making chicken nuggets for supper. This kid favorite is just as good in the low-fat, oven-baked version. For quick clean-up and extra crispiness, lay a sheet of foil on a cookie sheet; and, then place a wire rack on top of the foil.

INGREDIENTS:
• skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut in 1-2 inch squares
• non-fat or low-fat buttermilk
• flour for dredging
• finely crushed corn flakes for dredging
• salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 375. Prepare three large bowls for dredging chicken – 1 with flour seasoned with salt and pepper, 1 with buttermilk, and 1 with crushed corn flakes. Prepare baking pan by laying a sheet of foil over a cookie sheet; and then place a wire rack on top of the foil. Season chicken with salt and cut into 1-2 inch pieces.

Drag chicken pieces in flour. Shake off excess flour and coat with buttermilk. Next, generously coat chicken with corn flakes, and place on rack of your baking pan. Bake nuggets for 15 minutes. These keep well for the next day’s lunch box so make plenty!

The next time you reach into the pantry or freezer to grab something simple to prepare for dinner, take a good analytical look at the ingredients. The idea is not to serve food that is adequate but rather food that is nutritious. Remember that not all of your little ones may require the same servings of food.

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Would you like more Kid-Friendly Recipes? Christine Steendahl – “The Menu Mom” invites you to visit Kid Approved Meals at http://www.kidapprovedmeals.com to download your personal 13 week breakfast and lunch menu made just for kids!

Today I would like to share with you an article on ecological organic vegetable gardening by Jonathan White – Environmental Scientist and Horticulturalist, and the creator of Food4Wealth.

ECO-Organic Vegetable Gardening Is It Magic?

We all know how much hard work there is in growing vegetables – digging, weeding, crop rotation, watering, fertilizing, planting winter crops, resting beds, spraying pests and weeds – the list goes on and on. So imagine a vegetable garden that didn’t need any of these things. Imagine a garden that never had pests, never needed digging, didn’t need to be rested in winter, had no need for crop rotation, had virtually no weeds, needed very little water and virtually looked after itself. But to top all that off, this garden produces many times more than a traditional vegetable garden and regenerates itself year after year, all by itself.

Surely, that would be magic!

How could a vegetable garden like this exist? Easily! The answer is in nature. Natural ecosystems are very healthy and diverse and don’t require any human interference. If we are able to take the same natural laws that are found in nature and apply them to our garden, we are able to reproduce the same results. And that’s exactly what the Food4Wealth method has done.

The Food4Wealth method is based on science. It follows very sound ecological principles. It’s a way of setting up a natural ecosystem using edible plants, and it uses the types of plants we all like to eat. The special planting arrangement mimics nature so the same interdependent relationships between the living components exist. These relationships are mutually beneficial for the various components, so the vegetable garden actually runs all by itself.

The people in the family who own the Food4Wealth plot are actually one of the important living components. They perform a similar task to a grazing animal in a natural ecosystem. The Food4Wealth plot actually benefits from regular harvesting, just as a natural ecosystem benefits from regular grazing. These plots are so prolific, that they need almost daily harvesting. Regular harvesting maintains the ideal vegetation balance required to run the garden like a natural ecosystem. It’s the ultimate win win situation. Harvesting is good for the people, but it’s also good for the garden.

The biggest challenge that faces modern agricultural practices is to incorporate pest ecology, plant ecology, soil ecology and crop management into a method that is reliable and efficient. And until now, that has never been achieved. The Food4Wealth method naturally combines all of these factors without any effort. You see, nature has had these things under control for millions of years. It’s only humans who have made things more complicated.

But the path is now clear, because Food4Wealth has laid the foundations for a healthier, more efficient and reliable way to grow food. It’s a simple method that sets things up as nature intended, so that problems simply don’t exist.

So, to answer the question – is it magic?

No, it isn’t magic, but it sure feels like it.

If you are planning on building a garden or storage shed you will need some type of plan. It doesn’t matter if you are a novice or a pro, you need guidelines. There are many sources to obtain free shed blueprints and plans. If you are a novice and the word blueprint scares you, relax. These are simple detailed drawings that show everything that you are going to need to know to build your shed. They are no different than a travel map. It simply tells you that you need to travel from one step to the next, and what you need to get there.

So why bother with free shed plans? How often have you purchased an item, and then when you got it home, you wished you had bought the deluxe version, or vice versa? It’s the same with plans. You go to all the trouble of picking one, purchasing it, then get it home, and for one of several reasons it just isn’t what you want. If its free, then you have lost nothing, you can just go and find another one. You can do this several times if you need to until you find the perfect one for you.

Ok it’s a great idea. Now where do we go to find these free shed blueprints and plans? To start with you could check out your local home improvement stores. Some of these have some great options. They often will have a series of standard plans in stock. They will give some of these to you free of charge, in the hopes that you will buy your materials from them. These plans usually consist of the majority of items they carry in their store. Some of them have even written their own series.

Another option is take in a rough sketch of the details of what you are looking for. Many building suppliers will draft up blueprints and plans for you. They may offer to do this for you with some type of commitment that you will purchase supplies from them. Sometimes they will offer this as free deal as a promotion.

Then there is always the internet. Lots of sites are willing to give away the prints and plans for free. One such example is MyShedPlans. Not because they are generous, but because they hope it will entice you to purchase some of the other items they carry.

These items are usually applicable to what they are giving you at no charge. For example if they give you all the drawings and plans you need., then you are going to have to know how to do the things that the plan says. This is where the extras come in. Perhaps the company that gave you the free shed plans sells some self help, or do it yourself books. They would be pleased to sell these to you. This is not being sneaky. In fact its an excellent business proposal. They help you identify what you need and then offer support where you need it. With the combination of your plans, and the self help books you need, you’re ready to build one good looking shed!

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How To Make A Healthy Eating Plan You Can Stick To

By Christine Steendahl

Once you get in the swing of things and find healthy foods that you truly enjoy sticking to a healthy eating plan isn’t very hard…provided you do it right and don’t fall in one of the few traps that seem to get most people to give up on their healthy eating efforts.

The key to healthy eating is to find ways to insure you are eating foods that are good for you until it becomes a habit or a new way of life for you. One great way to do this is to let family and friends know about your plans and ask them to check in with you every once in a while. Positive encouragement from loved ones and knowing that they will hold you accountable is a great way to motivate yourself to keep going and stick to your plan.

Put your healthy eating plan on paper. Sure that may sound a little simplistic and you may have a pretty good idea of what you are doing in you head. But it’s not the same as writing it all down and having it in front of you. It’s much easier to cheat yourself into thinking that carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is a health food when you don’t have a healthy meal plan written out. Get out a piece of paper or even better, grab your free meal planning basics report and meal planning worksheets at Menu Planning Central and write down what healthy foods and dishes you are going to enjoy this week.

Speaking of enjoying food. Try new healthy foods like a vegetable you’ve never had or a new recipe on a regular basis. Sooner or later you are bound to find some things that you absolutely love that are also good for you. And don’t completely cut out your old favorites either. If you can’t live without a bacon cheese burger then don’t… instead enjoy it in moderation like maybe once a week or once every few weeks. Make an effort to eat healthy foods the rest of the day and maybe take a walk to burn of a few of those calories. The point is that you don’t have to live without those favorites. You just don’t want to eat them all the time. But don’t feel guilty when you do indulge yourself. In fact, you may want to make them a regular part of your meal plan.

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Top 3 Guidelines For Saving On Groceries

Gas prices aren’t the only thing that has gone up in recent months. With it has come a slow but steady increase in the cost of groceries as well, along with anything else that must be transported from one location to another. Everything from milk to meat has gone up and with it the amount of money we must allocate for groceries each month. Now is a great time to get into a few little habits that will add up to big savings at the cash register.

If you’ve thought that coupons were a big waste of time, now may be the time to rethink it and give these little money savers another try. Yes, coupons can save you money, but use them carefully. Don’t let the fact that you have a coupon for product X bully you into buying it if you don’t really need it. Figure out what you really need from the store and then go through your coupons. Only grab those you actually need and weed out any coupons that have expired as you go along. Make it a habit to clip coupons once a week and stick them into a little box or an envelope.

Comparison shopping is also a good idea. Take a few minutes to glance through the different store advertisements to find out who has chicken on sale or where you can find the cheapest milk (check your local gas station for milk). If you know your family eats a lot of chicken breast for example, it’s worth making a trip to the store that has it on sale and stock up on a few pounds. Freeze some of the meat for the next few weeks.

Make sure you don’t go to the store hungry. Grab a little snack before you head out the door. When we’re hungry, we end up buying a lot more food – especially junk food – that we don’t really need and weren’t planning on buying in the first place. All these extra little purchases add up, not only at the register, but also later on the scale. Shop after you eat, or at least grab a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts to eat on your way to the store.

So far so good… while all of the above will help you save money on your groceries, we haven’t gotten to the most powerful strategy yet. You’ll be surprised how simple, yet effective it is once you put it into place. Here it is – Plan your meals ahead of time and only purchase the items that you need for those meals. You can plan part of your meals around the items that are on sale, or look for a good deal on the ingredients you need to prepare the dishes you picked. Why does planning ahead of time work so well? Because you can make a grocery list that includes everything you need to prepare those dishes (avoiding extra trips to the store), and you don’t buy too much extra “stuff” that ends up going bad in the back of the fridge. Coming up with a plan is also the best strategy to avoid impulse buys that will have you overspending on your weekly grocery budget.Planning your meals and your grocery list is easy with the Menu Planning Basics report and the menu and shopping worksheets that you can grab free at www.MenuPlanningCentral.com – Or if you prefer, you can have “The Menu Mom” create the menus for you.