Share ! Auburn, Alabama —Do you plan meals in advance or do you just throw something together at the last minute? By taking time to plan your meals for as much as a week in advance, you can improve your health, your finances and your ease of preparation. Health – The foods you plan, prepare and serve will supply you and your family with energy for work and play, elements for growth and maintenance of the body, and regulation of the body processes. Be sure the meals contain foods in the amounts needed to keep the body going, growing and working as it should. Finances– Planning meals in advance will help you stretch your food dollar. You will be able to take advantage of specials and in-season foods, shop more wisely and use foods left over or conserved at home to better advantage. It will also help to keep you from overspending your food budget. Ease – Planning is the only way you can prepare a meal with ease and speed. This planning may be on paper, or if you are experienced, in yourhead. If plans are made ahead, food may be prepared ahead of time to avoid the last minute rush. With your meals already planned, you can prepare the meal with less effort. Plan Meals for a Definite Period of Time Plan your meals for three or more days. Write down your menus. Make sure you have the ingredients needed for each part of your meal. For example, if you are planning meatloaf, make sure you have the ground beef, spices, onion, egg, bread crumbs or crackers, tomato sauce and other ingredients needed to make it. Check your list of meals and double-check that you have everything needed to make the recipes. Keep an up-to-date list of all foods in the freezer, canned foods and food on your pantry shelves. “One of the best habits you can form is to make a written shopping list,” said Helen Jones, a regional Alabama Extension agent in Human Nutrition, Diet and Health. After your meals are planned and you know what foods you already have, write down the foods you need to buy. To savetime, list the foods in the order you will come to them in the grocery store. “Try to stick to your list as much as possible, but make substitutions if you find a better buy. You will not only shop much faster with a list, but you will get home with food you need instead of items you didn’t need,” Jones added. Check your local grocery stores for foods being offered at a special price. Many stores have weekly specials or coupons such as buy one get one free. Try to include as many of these in your menus as possible. However, if the specials don’t fit your family needs and likes, don’t buy them just because they are on sale. A wise planner tries to use foods in season. The quality is usually better and prices are lower. One example is strawberries. They are hard to find in the winter and cost a lot more than in their normal growing season. Jones said to always remember to plan for the number of people that will be eating the meals. How many servings will you need to make? Don’t cook morethan you will need unless you plan to freeze leftovers for another day and meal.  Plan a Variety of Menus One of the best ways to be sure you are planning well-balanced, satisfying meals is to include a wide variety of foods from the basic food groups in your menus. No one food can supply all the food value you need for good health, even though most foods contain more than one nutrient. Preparing a variety of foods will not only assure you of more food value but will also make your meals more interesting. “Don’t be afraid to try new ways of cooking recipes or adding new ingredients for color, texture and flavor,” Jones said. Appetite and the enjoyment of a meal are largely influenced by how attractive the food is. Think about the color of the foods you are planning for a meal. Is it an attractive color combination? If it lacks color, add some –maybe add a bright garnish. The texture of food plays an important role in the success of your meals too. Plan for a flattering contrast. Plansomething crisp, soft, crunchy. If the meal seems dry, add a sauce for moisture. If the meal is all cold, add a hot beverage or bread. Avoid serving foods that look alike.   Featured photo: CorepicsVOF/Shutterstock.com

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