Saving Money With a Meal Planner

Most people have heard of meal planners and some use them to save money on their grocery bill. My elderly mum lives with me and helps run my life and care for 3 teenagers. I started using a meal planner about 2 years ago when mum kept asking me every morning “what do you want me to do for dinner tonight?” Apart from the fact that I’m extremely lucky to have my mum at home to do this, I realized it was causing her stress each day. As a child of the depression, mum was also not happy with the kids bringing home un-touched lunches that one of us had gone to the trouble of preparing. So I changed things….

First up, I started giving the kids $5 each a day for lunch..so that’s $75 a week or $150 a month (I share custody with their dad). It sounds like a lot but it’s not when you consider how much food we were wasting each day when the lunches came home uneaten.

Then I created a seven-day meal planner below incorporating after school snacks, dinner and dessert. Each of my 3 children can nominate one thing in each section a week so one after-school snack, one dinner and one dessert. By letting them only pick one, it allows me to populate the rest of the planner with balance and healthy options.

As any parent knows, children love routine and meal times are a big part of that. So while adults may not even think about dinner until they walk in the door after work and look in the fridge, kids will be thinking about dinner as soon as they’ve finished breakfast!

To make it more fun, I often add in themes like “Taco Tuesday” or “No Meat Monday”. You can take it one step further and celebrate US Independence Day on July 4 with clam chowder, hamburgers and pumpkin pie!

If you really want to freak the kids out try popping something in the menu from another country that they don’t recognise. I went with yak testicles from New Mexico or you could try muktuk from Greenland, which is a tradition in Inuit culture and is made from the skin and blubber of bowhead, narwhal, and beluga whales. Of course you don’t serve it (cause you cant buy whale at Woolies) but it’s hilarious to see the look on their faces when they ask what “muktuk Monday” is.

As I mentioned my 81 year old mum shares our lives and what a blessing she is, but it’s important to make sure her dietary needs are being met as well. We have to not only consider things like increased calcium requirements for elderly bones but also the texture of foods that mum struggles with because of her dentures.

The following example one day meal plan is designed for a typical elderly individual. It's nutritionally balanced to suit an elderly person who is moderately active and in reasonable health in order to maintain their weight. Obviously this is based on an average elderly person, and there may be significant variation in activity, mobility, weight, appetitive, etc, so like all plans, it is merely an example and needs to be adapted to suit an individual's own lifestyle, daily routine and nutritional requirements. Use this to give you an idea of what are healthy nutritious foods to include, but don't forget to vary your food choices.

One particular concern in the elderly is obtaining sufficient fluid intake. Following retirement it's not uncommon for people to drink less, as they no longer have scheduled coffee breaks at work. The plan below includes drinks, but it's also recommended to drink more water throughout the day.

It's even more important that elderly people try to stick to meal and snack times, as sometimes motivation to prepare food can be low, especially if you're only preparing meals for one. With increased age and the onset of disease, some assistance may be required with preparation and feeding.

Breakfast

• High fibre cereal (like Weetbix, All Bran, muesli, porridge, etc) + 200ml skimmed milk + 1 tsp sugar
   
• 200ml fruit juice
   
• Mug tea/coffee

Mid-morning

• 2 digestive biscuits
   
• Item fruit
   
• Drink

Lunch

• Sandwich: 2 slices wholemeal bread + olive oil-based spread + slice chicken/ham
  or 2 eggs (poached / scrambled / boiled) + 2 slices wholemeal toast
   
• Mixed salad
   
• Low fat / low sugar yoghurt
   
• Drink

Mid-afternoon

• Item fruit
   
• Drink

Evening Meal

• Medium chicken breast or 200g white fish or lean cut beef / pork / lamb
  and 1 medium jacket potato or 3-4 small boiled potatoes / mashed potato
  and loads of veg
   
• Gravy – optional
   
• Tinned or stewed fruit
   
• Drink water

Evening

• Hot milky drink

Read more at: http://www.mealplansite.com/age/elderly.aspx

There are also numerous apps around that can help you create your planner and once done, it will automatically work out the amount of ingredients you’ll need based on the number of people you tell it you have to feed. Then it creates the shopping list for you and off you go to the supermarket. If you stick with the list you should hopefully save some money.

The meal planner also reduces stress because you know when you do get home from work that you have all the ingredients you need (if the kids haven't eaten them already).

I’d love to hear your meal tips for saving time and money or managing tricky dietary requirements. kayley@fiftyupclub.com.au