I am not sure if I have shared this before, but over the last year I have become a serious meal planner. I figured I would share with you what I do when I meal plan so it might help. I use a form that you can get if you sign up for emails from this website.
I used to just add meals randomly but I have developed a method that works for me, although it may not work for anyone else. I will share my basic premise as follows. I like to cook new recipes constantly. I have a few tried and true ones I make for company but when it is just me and my husband I cook new things all the time. I like to expand my horizons and I try not to get bored. The only things I tend to avoid are seafood. I use this meal plan to plan out five dinners, which usually make enough for the two of us and leftovers for lunch, three breakfast ideas, and depending on how light the dinners are I add in a lunch idea or a few for backup meals in case we run out of food. I also usually use the snack section to make a dessert for the week, because I have a serious sweet tooth. I I like this form because it allows me to write my grocery list for the week right on the plan and I take it to the store with me to go shopping. Although sometimes my list ends up at the bottom and the back of the page depending on what is currently in our house. One other thing I do is at the top I put a note and star things I will need to do ahead of time, whether it is freeze a banana or cook a chicken breast or whatever needs to be done before I start the recipe to make it easier. These things I typically tackle on Sundays. This means I am reading recipes ahead of time so I know what will need to be done in advance to make my life easier. I start by thinking about what I would like to test for the blog this upcoming week. Then I look at the cook books I am currently cooking my way through, which I wrote about before. I am currently cooking through Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Foolproof, which I am surprised at how much I am enjoying. I made chips last week and nothing burned! I typically favorite the recipes that are seasonal and start there. My lunch ideas are typically my go to we ran out of food recipes, fried rice, dragon noodles and turos csusza. Other formats for meal planning have included
I have found that by varying my cuisine by day of the week I have found I enjoy cooking more and I am excited about the variety of my meals. Hopefully this inspires you. I have to say meal planning changed my life and has made me able to really budget. One thing I am realizing though that played a larger role in my budgeting than I realized was shopping at Trader Joe's. I appreciated mentally having a smaller selection and not having to make as many decisions, but I also appreciated that because there are less items the cost is lower. I am excited to say that a new Trader Joe's has opened up close to where I live and I am hoping to be able to find budgeting easier by going there again.
1 Comment
Bethaney
3/27/2019 01:45:23 pm
This is so helpful! It's always interesting to see how other people do it...and I'm always inspired how your brain works!!
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About MeI'm Sarah; a wife, traveler, foodie, and adventurer. Archives
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