Why I have I never tried this before?

Let me just say that I totally need to offer praise to whomever invented meal planning. And especially whomever thought of free meal planning websites. As part of non-resolutions number 1 & 2, I decided to start meal planning this week. I figure it will not only help me save $$ by only shopping for the essentials & for what we need for that weeks meals, but will also encourage me to cook more thus controlling what I put into my mouth. Also, by having a plan we will be less likely to have to find dinner on the fly or at the last minute which often results in bad choices such as fast food, Chinese or pizza. Or the biggest waste of money & detriment to my waist line--eating out.

I thought this would be an impossible venture with a 5 month old, because seriously--who has the time to sit down & plan out a week's worth of meals?? I usually have a lot more important things to do during naps & after bedtime. But honestly, the website just makes everything a breeze! It does all of the hardwork for you. I can not believe how easy it truly is to meal plan & I wonder why I never thought to do this years ago.

There are quite a few meal planning websites out there, but I joined Recipe.com. I love it!! It not only helped me find my recipes for this week's dinners, but it also helped me make a shopping list & THEN the piece de resistance--it tells you what items on your shopping list are on-sale & where (looks them up by your zip code so it's all your local stores)!! Between this & coupons I was able to get a ton of food for less money then I would normally spend in a week. It also allows you to look up recipes by the ingredients you have on hand. And, it tells you how many ingredients from any particular recipe are on sale that week.

I'm also excited to try all of these new recipes that I have planned. I'm not the best cook in the world, but I do like to experiment. Plus, it's nice to have some variety from our normal 5-10 meal fair. Tonight was the first night of trying a new recipe & we had Herbed Cheese Stuffed Salmon. It sounds far more complicated then it is & boy was it delicious. Definitely one to keep in my "Recipe Box." We had it with sides of cheesy rice & broccoli. Can't wait to try out the rest of my new recipes this week!!