Mom Foodhacking: The Pros and Cons of Meal Planning vs. Euro Shopping

Whether you’re reading about home productivity, ways to save money, or what’s new and great here at EverythingMom, you’ll soon see that meal planning has become hot! There’s many reasons to embrace this efficient way of shopping… and some setbacks. And then there’s the other way of shopping for your family’s food, something Wise Bread’s Philip Brewer called European-style shopping.

Which way’s the right one for you? To help you decide, consider each of these methods’ pros and cons.

Menu Planning

Pros:

* With one list to cover your entire week’s necessities, it’s likely you’ll cut back on splurges.
* You get an at-a-glance idea of what meals you’ll be preparing throughout the week, so everyone in the family knows what they’ll be eating, when.
* If you’re on a tight budget, meal planning can really amp up bulk-purchases’ power and allow you to pre-plan how leftovers will be reused in new meals.
* If you’re not comfy winging it, combining multiple recipes’ ingredients into one list is a no-brainer.
* Menu planning can be a great family activity, allowing everyone a ‘vote’, as well as the chance to learn more about nutrition and economics.

Cons:

* It’s been a long day, and you have all of the makings for a lasagna, sans energy. Or, a major event happens to throw off the week’s meal scheduling. What do you do, then?
* It can be more expensive to menu plan, if you’re not looking at the sales flyers before you select your dishes.
* For some families, menu planning can feel too rigid.
* If you’re low on storage, buying a week’s worth of food plus the occasional bulk items can be frustrating to deal with.
* “When do you have the time to sit down and plan an entire week’s menu? I don’t!” Actually, I don’t, either. I’m a Euro-style shopper, through and through.

Euro-Style Shopping

Pros:

* Fresh food, everyday. You’ll never get to the end of the week to find limp celery.
* You can nab the best sale prices, when items become available, and often the best selection (great for meats and produce).
* Are you someone who eats somewhat by the craving? This is perfect.
* If lugging heavy bags from the store to the car to the house and to the fridge and cupboards isn’t your bag, this is.
* If you thrive on routine, this can be a great daily excursion. Grab some tea and a basket and window-shop in your grocery store!

Cons:

* You’re stuck with the current prices – which might not always be great, even if they are sale prices. And if you go later in the day, you can sometimes find that the selection has dwindled.
* If you’re not confident in the kitchen, it can feel overwhelming to guess what ingredients you might need.
* If you prefer having a small list of tried-and-tested meals, shopping daily can get monotonous pretty fast.
* “Everyday? You want me to take my tired, cranky, loud child where everyday?” Well, now that you put it that way…
* It can be harder to stick to a specific grocery budget if you’re shopping daily, unless you’re fastidious about a daily spending limit.

About the Author I blog, I parent, I have mood swings and talk too much. Posted by Terra in diet on March 26, 2010 More from this author  |  Author Website Follow Terra on:  |  |  |

Comments  

 

0 # Ivy Larson 2010-03-25 21:10

Great article Terra!!

I've never heard the term "Euro Style Shopping" but I can see the advantage to getting fresh produce. Personally, I like to meal plan only because it seems to be the easiest way to help me stick to my healthy "whole foods" diet (healthy eating helps me control my symptoms of MS) Also, after writing 3 books on diet and nutrition I've found meal planning is not that difficult if I have 30 or so "go-to" meals to choose from!

ivy
www.HotandHealthyLiving.com

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0 # Zoeyjane 2010-03-27 20:40

Ivy, it seems like you have a good core of reasoning. Funnily, for my home, it makes a little more sense to Euro-shop because of the whole foods method, too. We buy the grains that we might need in bulk, but the additions like produce (since we eat a very produce-heavy diet) daily. My daughter has food allergies, so we thrive on dairy- and gluten- free foods and follow a fairly vegetarian diet, as well.

I'm off to check out your books on Amazon!

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0 # Ivy Larson 2010-03-29 04:23

Thanks Terra! Yes, we too are super heavy on produce. Btw, we cook a lot of whole grains too---have you tried using a rice cooker? I find this makes cooking quinoa, millet, brown rice, etc so much easier than the stove-top method!

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0 # Zoeyjane 2010-03-29 06:43

Nope, no rice cooker here. Pretty much everyone had recommended one, but I remain stalwart (aka extremely stubborn) about using appliances, when I could just do it, myself. Now, if I could just find a sieve fine and large enough to rinse my quinoa well, without losing a bunch of it down the drain, life would be perfect!

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0 # Al_Pal 2010-03-29 13:24

I'm not sure if the holes will be small enough for quinoa, but I got the "OXO Good Grips Plastic Colander" so that I could drain/rinse cool my orzo, since it was falling through the regular colander.
Have a look? ;p

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0 # Jennifer Clark 2010-03-30 21:20

I think I'm in between. I shop every week unless I'm restocking the pantry then I may go twice a month but I don't menu plan a week in advance. I use what I have on hand but I usually have dinner for the following day planned (at least in my head).

This allows me flexibility with my cooking - I like to cook by inspiration or craving - but it also allows me to take advantage of grocery sales to get the biggest bang for my buck.

Great article!

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0 # Zoeyjane 2010-03-31 04:17

Jennifer: You seem to have it all under control, and it works for sales - that's awesome! I don't have the ability to do the 'big shop' every two weeks like other homes, since we don't have a car and my daughter's always with me. The every day mini-pick-ups works really well for our produce-heavy diets!

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