So in an effort to save money with me staying at home with the boys for now, we have gotten into meal planning. I know, "Ugh! How hard is that?" I used to look at people who had pre-planned their whole month of menus & think I could never be like that.
Truth is, I'm not!
Tony & I sit down once every week & look at the sales circulars for our 3 local markets. Then we take stock of what is in the freezer, fridge, and pantry. (This part is made easier by keeping a post-it pad on the fridge to jot down things as they run out) We plan "menus" based on what we have on hand & what is on sale, then go do our shopping. We stack coupons on top of sales and will even stop at all 3 markets, if the deals are right. We usually do 2 big trips per month and 2 small trips per month. The small trips are to stock up on perishables between big trips.
Our menus are "flex menus" because I have most of my ingredients on hand for 2 weeks of meals so I can pick what I feel like instead of being dictated to by some list I made one day when I was hungry. I usually try to stay at least one day ahead of myself for prep. This way I am not stuck at 5pm going, "I forgot to thaw anything out!"
Not a perfect plan.... but it works for us!
Tomorrow: My love affair with my slow cooker!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Oh, how O wish I could be so organized! Our big fight every day is what we'll be having for lunch/dinner....
ReplyDeleteJulie from IV
We do the same thing. Every 2nd sunday I write down two weeks worth of meals on a chart and cross them off as we have them. :) Works great because I never forget what we have and I'm never left unprepared.
ReplyDelete