By far, my most tedious and time consuming weekly task is planning the dinner menu. But I have found a fantastic time saver!! MENUS4MOMS.COM!! You can subscribe to their weekly newsletter and get the menu and grocery list emailed to you. The grocery list is editable and comes with an estimated cost associated with the various items and an estimated grand total. The menus are not planned by nutritionists; just 4 busy moms just like you and me. They try out the dishes before they post them and they try to keep them tasty, healthy, and well balanced. They do a pretty good job. Some meals are healthier than others and some tastier than others. But you're a mom with good mom sense and you can easily tweak these meals to meet your families nutritional needs. But, at least they give you a kick start and you don't have to sit down in front of the cookbooks for hours trying to find divine inspiration. Tonight we had a beef roast, brown rice, and a corn casserole. All for 8 points (I threw that in for you weight watchers out there!) I usually use reduced fat or low fat options and PAM whenever possible and things usually turn out fine. And now with the grocery list, I just hit print, add in the other household items we might need (toilet paper, dishwasher soap, shampoo, etc.) and I'm off to the store. That saves at least an hour every week! 52 hours a year!!
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