i think this is something all moms struggle with! let me know what you come up with!

We decide what meals we want for the week before we go, write all ingredients down on the shopping list (I actually write my list according to where everything is in the store !) Then, I go through and see what coupons I've clipped will work for the meals and write notes in the margin of my list…yes grocery shopping is a PRODUCTION, but we only go once per week and we go together AND it usually only takes us a half hour at Wally-World.

I never embraced frozen foods until Steve. Walmart sells a bag of chicken breasts for $7 that has easily about 5-6 good size pieces in the frozen section. Likewise with fish…

Some super crazy fast easy recipes :

Mac n' Cheese n' Beans
Cook mac according to box, after mixed, add baked beans (you can also cook up a pound of ground beef/turkey and add as well)

Good ol' past n' sauce, again add turkey/beef if desired

Sausage n' pasta –
cook onion, peppers and 1 clove of garlic (I get the already diced garlic in a jar) over medium in olive oil
Add chopped up sausage, cook until browned (not pink in center) bonus — use turkey sausage to cut calories
meanwhile, boil water for noodles/cook noodles
When sausage mixture is done cooking, combine with drained, cooked noodles. Add 2 cans of tomato soup (yes, soup!), mix well and add cheese if desired. Boom! Enough for 2 adults and 2 hungry kids (tested on Steve's two hungry boys)

I have a million of these since Steve n' I are crazy busy people who can't afford to eat out, um, ever. Feel free to hit me up

I trim up all of the chicken at once and then freeze them (I use a FoodSaver, but a ziploc would work too) in smaller amounts. For us this is usually two chicken breasts or 3/4 lb burger). That way I can just set out a pack in the morning or dinner that night.

I hate having to trim up the chicken, so I just do it all at once to get it over with. And it saves me a lot of time when I am trying to cook our meals.

You pick a meal plan and a store – and it is gives you a week of simple recipes plus a SHOPPING LIST. Super fast. It is like $6 a month.

I thought the food was good – we had one failure. It could be a little bland at times, and relied on some processed food. It could be a good jump start for you.

I'm bit of a foodie, so now I go with the plan-a-week-at-a-time method, which allows me to try new recipes and ingredients.

Embrace leftovers. Right now, we're feeling especially short on time in the evenings, so we're experimenting with making a double batch (of whatever) on Sunday and have leftovers on Monday; make a double batch on Tuesday and have leftovers on Wednesday. That leaves Thursday, which can be your pasta night; Friday can be your fish night. It's not gourmet, but isn't it better than takeout? Heck, even leftover burgers heated up in the microwave are better than another round of takeout, as far as I'm concerned.

If the full leftovers plan sounds too repetitive, at least try to make double of some things. I recently realized that cooking up a fresh veggie every night is too time consuming (sad but true). So this week we're making twice as much veggie every time we cook, and having leftovers every second night.

I second the breakfast-as-dinner idea. Last week one night we had scrambled eggs with ham mixed in, toast, and canned baked beans. What it lacked in yumminess it made up for in speed and easiness.