Do you have a limited budget for your grocery shopping? Are you tired of stressing over the question "what’s on the table?" Are you determined to give your family healthy meals but can’t find ways to stretch your budget and time? If you find yourself nodding "yes" to all these questions then don’t worry. There is one solution you can use to solve all these dilemmas of yours: Design your weekly healthy meal plans.

By doing your own meal plans, you can remove all the stressful guesswork in cooking breakfast, lunch, or dinner for your family. Not only does it save time, it will also help you stop from seeing your grocery cart overflowing with expensive and unnecessary food items. More importantly though, you will be able to scrutinize the amount of nutrients and the quality of nutrition that you will give to your family everyday. In making your food plan, make sure to consider the food preferences that your family loves to eat even though you are aiming for a healthy diet. Come up with a list of choices which you can use for other weeks. By doing this, you will be able to see your available options easily in just one glance.

In making healthy meal plans, include some old-time favorites and easy to prepare meals. If you notice that you are running short of the things to write, don’t worry. As time goes by your list will start to grow when experimenting with recipes and the changing of taste of your family. If your family is a busy one, however, there are some factors that need to be considered for your food plans. The first among these is to be realistic on the food that you will put in your list.

If you know you will be working late for the week then refrain from inputting dinner meals that will require at least two hours of preparation. Also think about the possibilities of your family wanting to eat out or simply taking out food from your favorite veggie shop down the street. Even though dining out plans don’t actually look like an activity that fits in saving money, it can still be healthy for your wallet when mixed with dinner at home. Your family can also be more enthusiastic in having quick meals for days if they know they will be having restaurant meals scheduled for the week.

During days when you know you don’t have enough time to cook, choose to prepare meals that can simply be done through the crock pot or can be cooked earlier and just reheated during the eating time. Using leftover ingredients can also be a good idea in making your healthy meal plans. Be creative with your recipes and don’t be limited by the cookbook. The only things you have to be aware of are the nutrient contents of the food you will be presenting your family with. Include recipes in your list that require the most imperishable ingredients like breads or meats.