Working Moms, Save Time, Save Money – Eat In!

By Betty Lynch

With everyone worried about today's economy people are looking for ways to save money. One great way to ease your budget is to prepare more meals at home instead of eating out.
Check out your weekly grocery store ads and see what is on sale this month. If chicken is on sale, pull up My Country Kitchen's website and click on the category for chicken. Find a delicious chicken recipe, check your pantry to see if you need any of the ingredients and add them to your shopping list. Continue to check out the grocery store ads and the website until you have all the meals planned for the week. Planning your meals ahead of time and only purchasing what is on your shopping list will save you money.

Once you are home from the grocery store, wash and clean your herbs, lettuces and vegetables, put your chicken and/or meat in sealable bags and label for your dishes. If you need to marinate your meats, add the marinades in your plastic bags and then store in the refrigerator. Place your recipes on a magnet clip and place on the front of your refrigerator. This will keep all your weekly recipes organized and ready for use.

Too busy to cook? Set aside a couple of hours when you get home from the grocery store. If you need to brown ground beef for a dish you are going to have that week, go ahead and brown the meat while you are putting away the groceries. Boiling chicken ahead of time is also a great time saving tip. Then store the meat in labeled plastic bags. This will also cut down your preparation time during the week.

Every time you cook a meal at home instead of picking up the phone to order pizza, put that money that you would have paid for the pizza into a money jar on your kitchen counter. If you go to freezer and pull out a half gallon of ice cream and fix your own ice cream cones instead of going to the local ice cream parlor, put that money into the kitchen money jar. If you fix your own soft drink before you leave the house, instead of stopping by the drive through to pick up a drink, put that money in the kitchen money jar. Or better yet, fix your own coffee every morning instead of stopping by your favorite coffee shop on the way to work, put that money into the kitchen money jar. See how quickly the entire family can save money. I am almost willing to bet you that your entire family will love saving money. The money jar creates a fun way to break old habits of always spending money. Once the money jar is full, plan a special outing or trip with the kitchen money jar savings.

Save time, save money, and spend more time with your family over a home cooked meal. What could be better than that?

Betty Lynch, author of Back to the Table with My Country Kitchen, and owner of My Country Kitchen, Easy Answers to Bring Your Family Together. My Country Kitchen prides itself in helping family's cook easy, convenient meals so that the family can save money in today's economy. Recipes, tips and ideas for easy and nutritious meals are only a click away. You may visit her website at http://www.mycountrykitchen.com;/ Email at: blynch1490@gmail.com