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Old 11-02-2007, 12:30 PM   #9
schmamy
Rose Garden
 
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,321
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Default Re: Can someone teach me how to meal plan?

I resisted meal planning for the longest time because I thought I would hate it. I finally started by necessity a few months ago when DH had to do the grocery shopping and more of the cooking while I was PG and on restricted activity. Now...I it!!

I've only been married/cooking for about two years so I don't have a ton of stuff I could make out of my head--but that doesn't bother me. I got organized this summer and put all my tested-and-approved recipes into a three-ring binder that's my main go-to for recipes. Each section also has an index listing all the recipes as well as recipes in other cookbooks that I would otherwise forget about (for example, the pork/beef section index would say "Pork Pot Roast in Apple Cider (BHG cookbook p. 48)"). Then I keep a stack of other recipes I have printed off that I want to try. I love trying new recipes and don't repeat very many things very often, so only working off a list of what I know would NOT work for me--I like to experiment and I would get bored!

Each week I sit down with the grocery flyer, my binder and my recipe stack. Sometimes DH is around or I'll call him and ask if there's anything he's hungry for. Then I just decide on a week's worth of meals based on:
  • what's on sale at the grocery
  • what DH or I am hungry for
  • what new recipes I am wanting to try out
  • what we have on hand, especially things that need to be used up
  • what we have going on that week (nights when dinner needs to be quick, or when it'd be convenient to use the crockpot, or whatever)
  • whether I was overbudget the previous week at the grocery (so I'll try extra hard to make things with what we have on hand)
  • what meal(s) we had planned for the week before and didn't actually end up making

I do my grocery list and my meal plan simultaneously, checking to see what ingredients I need or how I can combine ingredients (like if I need sour cream for one recipe, I might choose another meal that uses sour cream).

Then I write the list on a whiteboard on the fridge, as well as a separate list of what needs to be thawed/prepped when, so I can make sure meat gets taken out of the freezer in time.

It is SOOOO helpful to know I have everything I need for dinner and to have the meat already thawed. Not to mention avoiding that whole 5:00 blank stare into the refrigerator, not knowing what to make, or knowing I'm hungry "RIGHT NOW" and everything we have on hand takes an hour or more to make, or things like that. Everything goes so much more smoothly--and it's even easier for DH to help if DS decides he needs to nurse right at dinnertime.

Our plan is generally just a loose guideline. More weeks than not, a couple of days get changed. DH might decide he's not really hungry so we don't eat much dinner at all...we might end up with a ton of leftovers, too much to eat for lunches (we always have leftovers for lunch) so we'll have "clean out the refrigerator night"...DH might decide he wants something different than planned...It's not rigid.

I'm not an expert. And I don't really even base everything on what's on sale at the store--I know some people do that to save money with GREAT success, but for us, that's just a starting point, not the main deciding factor. This week I bought ribs which were on sale but didn't want to put them on this week's plan because we just had them a couple of weeks ago--so I froze them and we can have them another week. But even just this little bit of planning has helped me be more efficient in the kitchen and feel more organized.

AFA freezing meals, I would love to, but we don't have the freezer space. I do other things to save time like:
--buy ground beef (OK, we do ground turkey at Aldi, it's waaaaay cheaper. I wouldn't use it for burgers, but when it's in things or seasoned a lot you don't notice a difference) (/tangent) 5-6 lbs at a time and brown it all at once, then freeze in 1-pound bags
--buy a whole fryer chicken and cook it in the crockpot, then cut up and freeze the cooked meat for recipes that call for cooked chicken
--when making spices from scratch (taco seasoning, a rub for roasted chicken, whatever) I make several batches at once and keep them in ziploc bags in the cupboard, so the next time I can just open a bag and it's as convenient as something pre-made from the store (but cheaper and probably healthier).

That was a ridiculously long post. Hope some of it helps you! Allison can probably help you more; she plans for every meal (I only plan dinner) and cooks for more people (here, it's just DH and me).

**Oh, one other note. When it comes to leftovers, I just did something new this week that was helpful. We had TONS of leftovers on the fridge at the beginning of the week...so I did an inventory and wrote a list on the whiteboard on the fridge, in order of oldest to newest (using the previous week's meal plan so I could remember when we had what). So when DH went to pack his lunch, he knew what was in there (if it's not in front he forgets about it) and what to use up first. Same when I was ready for lunch, I could pick something older since it would go bad sooner. Very helpful so we didn't forget about things that get pushed to the back of the fridge, or reach for the newest leftovers only to have something older spoil.
__________________
~Amy~
married to Mr. Wonderful (2005)
DS1 - 2007
DS2 - 2010
DD - April 2017

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." - 2 Corinthians 12:9
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