For the last several months, I’ve been doing pretty good writing out a weekly menu. It’s better than randomly picking what to cook that evening, but I want to do better. We still make those quick runs to the grocery store and we still have those days where there’s nothing to eat, so we get pizza or go out to eat. We also wanted to start cutting costs in our grocery bill, using food we already have in the freezer or pantry, and using less meat.
The weekly menu was sort of working, but I want to challenge myself. My first goal is to create a 30-day meal plan. My second was to use what we have around the house (and not buy expensive or extra ingredients).
I’m kind of a zigzag organizer, so did not follow this list in order, but this is what I should have done and will probably do next month when I do this again.
1) Organize the freezers, the biggest food monsters. Something goes in my freezer and if it’s buried, good luck finding it again! I started by pulling everything out and writing down each item and quantity. I have two freezers, so sorted the items according to type - meat (plus our wedding cake and a few other odds and ends) in one and the other with breads, veggies, fruit, and leftovers (tomato products, roasted potatoes, white sauce, etc.) I then organized the list so it looked nice and printed it out to go on the freezer door. The plan is to stay on top of what goes in/comes out so nothing is forgotten!
2) Print out a calendar page and fill in the days we’re super busy busy (chiropractor appointments, gone all day, etc.) On those days, I plan easier meals to make and clean up after.
3) Figure out a formula for meal planning. I plan to have two meatless meals a week - Mondays and Thursdays. Saturday is reserved for smoking or grilling whatever my husband wants to. Sundays are leftovers. I figured this out once I was about halfway through, but this will help things go much faster next time! (I didn’t plan out lunches, but have a note at the bottom of my menu - lunches are leftovers, applesauce bread [from the freezer], or egg salad or tuna sandwiches) We don’t eat a lot of pasta, but that’s something I’ve got a bunch of, so I planned to have pasta once every two weeks so it gets used.
4) Get creative! Wait...I know for myself that if I plan a new recipe every night, I’ll never get around to it because 1. I don’t want to mess it up or 2. I don’t know how long it will take. So, I filled pretty much my entire menu with things I’ve made before - enchiladas, baked chicken thighs, crock pot chili, etc. I threw in just a couple new recipes to mix things up.
5) Stick to it. This is day one, so we’ll see where this takes me. :-)
I’m really excited to try this out! I know there will be adjustments as I figure out what’s working for us, but I think I’m off to a pretty good start.
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