Last week I posted about my schedule and mentioned that I had started meal planning. This small thing seriously has CHANGED MY LIFE!
I know this is nothing revolutionary but you have no idea the how much this has
- reduced our monthly grocery bill
- saved time
- improved the quality of our meals
I started out on this little adventure by eating out of our pantry, freezer, and fridge until it was gone. No kidding people, it took a bit of creativity but we did eat our way through it. I only got a few strange looks from my hubby:)
Try it you would be surprised with what you can do with what you have.
Ok, so once the pantry and fridge had tumbleweeds rolling through them, I sat down and planned out breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the week.
Monday:
Breakfast- Sausage and Fruit
Lunch- Grilled Cheese and Veggies
Dinner- Baked Chicken, Broccoli, and Brown Rice
Tuesday:
Breakfast- Bacon and Fruit
Lunch- Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwiches and Veggies
Dinner- Spaghetti & Meat sauce, Salad, and homemade garlic bread
Wednesday:
Breakfast: Pancakes and Fruit
Lunch: Turkey Hotdogs and Veggies
Dinner: Shrimp & Asparagus Stir Fry over noodles.
Thursday:
Breakfast- Sausage and Fruit
Lunch- Grilled Cheese and Veggies
Dinner: Fish Tacos with all the fun stuff:)
Friday:
Breakfast- Bacon and Fruit
Lunch- Peanut Butter & Honey Sandwiches and Veggies
Dinner- Home Made Pizza night and a salad
Saturday:
Breakfast- Pancakes and Fruit
Lunch- Turkey Hot Dogs and Veggies
Dinner- Breaded pork chops, tossed sugar snap peas, peppers in balsamic vinaigrette
Sunday:
Breakfast- Sausage & Fruit
Lunch- Grilled Cheese & Veggies
Dinner- Home made chicken soup with Matzo balls.
For snacks I keep on hand
1 variety of crackers- usually goldfish
almonds
raisins
And for desert! Homemade chocolate chip cookies and ice-cream.
Next I changed the way I shopped. No more picking up 3 boxes of crackers because they are on sale. I ONLY BUY WHAT WE WILL EAT THAT WEEK PERIOD.
For real people. Totally shifted how I though about shopping, cooking, everything. SO AWESOME. I feel like such a dork, WOHOOO do you meal plan?!
No laughing at my meals, OK remember I have to entertain 3 little people with very strong opinions about food. Oh, and most of our meats are from a meat share that we belong to. All farm raised and local.
OOh, i love meal planning, we meal plan our dinners because we both work and have just a little baby. but even the dinners saves us time and money, and YOU are so right, we do use every bit of food in our house before we shop again! :) it makes it so we dont waste our food :)
ReplyDeleteWe *kinda* meal plan. We figure out 5 dinners for each week & buy the things needed for those 5 dinners, but we don't really plan which day we'll have what, we go by feel for that. We get 5 because usually at least one day hubby is working through dinner & I'm on my own, or we'll go our to eat a day, and at least one day we'll have leftovers or random spaghetti or something already in the house.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I meal plan but I also stock up on sale items too - just not overboard. I tend to have more pantry items around in the Winter as well, in case it snows and the roads are bad - then I could always whip up a meal! We also have one night of just leftovers and that cleans out the ole' fridge. Good for you getting on your planning and hey if you're saving money and time, yahoo!
ReplyDeleteI love planning my meals; it is time consuming and takes some creativity, but it definitely keeps me more sane. Glad it's working out so well for you!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good thing! I plan somewhat but not to the extent you are doing. I need to. Thanks for the motivation!
ReplyDeleteI meal plan when the kids are home, when it's just me I tend to wing it. I don't think I could clean out my pantry and freezer, I'd be afraid of having no food in the house - what if I were stuck there for a week in a snowstorm? Yeah, I guess that I could probably just walk to the store, lol!
ReplyDeleteo yeah! eat through all you have first, then purchase what will be eaten this week..with a plan for when, and locally purchased meats..an awesome plan! love it!
ReplyDelete