Tonight I made potatoes out of a box. I actually cringed as I made them. The "potatoes" looked like potato chips and the "cheese" was a powder. I got them basically free since our Food Lion has been having some triple coupon weeks but I still was wondering what in the world I was putting into my body and my daughter's body (J was at class).
I've been working on simplifying my meal planning. I'm trying very hard to keep our grocery bill under $200 a month. I have found a system that is really working for me although I realize some of you will think its totally boring. That is ok- its not for everyone.
Basically I'm compiling 30 recipes (my goal is 30- I'm still working on it) that we love and will plan my meals for the month from those recipes. I do like to try new recipes but I'm limiting myself to one new recipe (main or side dish) a week. We don't eat the meals in the same order and we will probably never need all 30 but I like having that many to choose from. I'm putting my tried and true recipes together in my recipe notebook that I received at a wedding shower. I'm tired of having my recipes scattered through out many cookbooks, half pieces of paper, recipe cards and my favorites folder on my computer.
This has really helped our grocery budget because I'm cooking the same recipes every month. So I have most of the ingredients on hand. That spice I bought a bottle of but only used 1/2 tsp- I can use another 1/2 tsp and it costs me nothing that month.
So there you have it. Do you have a method for planning meals? Organizing recipes? I'm always looking to make this a more enjoyable, easier process.
10 comments:
My meal planning...
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I like to have tortillas around all the time - I can make anything into a burrito... tuna, egg salad, regular burrito stuff... etc...
Our method... cook a lot in the cold season... cook very little in the hot season... adn since it's hot season... I don't have much for you :) haha!
Not sure if this is 'simple' but I loved doing this. I did this when I had an office job and sat at the computer all day. I put my fave recipes in a folder, and every pay period (for me it was every two weeks) I would type out a meal plan on Word for every night those weeks. (I'd look at the calendar and see when we had plans, and I'd also leave Sunday night blank for the inevitable changes throughout the week) Then, I'd open up Excel (my vice :) and make a shopping list from the menus. Here's where it gets even nerdier. I would put the items in order from where you see them in the grocery store, because I would print out this for my list and it made it easier to shop. Then, I'd estimate what the item should cost, and keep everything under $100 (we also had a $200 grocery bill) Lastly, I'd make sure I had all the toiletry/cosmetic items on there, and then I'd go shopping. ANd I'd put the meal plan up on my fridge so I knew what was coming up. I LOVED doing this, and looked forward to the Mondays I got to do that! haha! Um, needless to say, this method failed miserably in India.
I like your idea. It sounds simple. Let me know if it works, because it sounds more housewife-friendly than my old one.
I used to shop for the month...but that included way to many nights of eating out, therefore blowing the monthly budget. Now that we are eating at home all. the. time. I shop a week at a time. I plan a meal for every night including sides and some lunches (in case there are not leftovers for lunches) and of course some snacks and sweets! I must be pretty nerdy too because I print my list out so I can shop by sections also! It cuts down on missing an item and going through the store 100 times to pick up all the things I have forgotten because my list wasn't organized.
I do like to try new things, but after several flops, we limit it to once a week. J's mom called it a Wednesday meal because every Wed was the night to experiment...might be good, might not!
I haven't ever thought about picking 30 meals and using them over and over. I need to count and see if we even eat that many things!
I like your idea. I kinda follow a same pattern as Tres Alejandros: once a week shopping with a list for all dinner for the whole week.
You should give your list of 30 meals so I can get some good ideas! I'm in a rut...
I love your blog. I spent a long time the other night catching up on what you have been up to since I saw you last (high school I believe) anyway I just wanted to say hello and I dont find your meal planning blog boring. I too meal plan. Are you guys in Greenville now? Well I wanted to say hello. Talk to you soon
Lauren Hilton Buczkowski
you should check out www.supercook.com it is a really neat website for recipes. You just enter in the ingredients you need and it will give you a bunch of meals you can make with those ingredients. Check it out..
Wow, Kelley! I'm just impressed. When it was just the two of us, we used to budget $40 a week for groceries. So $200 a month for a family sounds amazing to me! Our strategy for staying under budget was going to the store with a calculator. Eventually we learned the cost of things we bought regularly. We also kept an eye on grocery sale papers--when places had 4 fridge packs of drinks, thats when we bought them, since they get expensive. Planned my meals week to week and I also had to think through when we could buy meat, etc. My meals were a mix of some nicer meals (meat and veggies) and some simple, cheap meals (beans and rice, pizza, mexican casserole, etc). Also, do as much as you can from scratch--tortillas, biscuits, etc--saves a bunch of money! Can you compile your 30 recipes in a word doc for the rest of us when you have time??
sar- I was telling someone just the other day how thankful I was that I can cook this far into pregnancy. By this time with Kiran, the kitchen was way too hot to cook. We ordered McDonald's and Domino's a lot!
e-rob- be prepared for sticker shock! Prices for food have gone up so much since you last lived in America. Bananas have risen 30% in the last month! For crying out loud.
to be clear- I don't meal plan for the month or shop for the month. I meal plan for the week and shop for the week. Then the next week comes and I adjust all the meals I didn't make for some reason and then plan. The biggest change to what I used to do (which was still weekly meal planning) is a keep my weekly meal plan on a monthly calendar and I have my list of meals (which is only up to 16 or so now). I was always forgetting good meals that we liked or felt like we had the same things over and over again.
I thought some people might find eating the same 30 meals every month boring but its plenty variety for us.
*hey Lauren! Its been a while. I did CEF with your husband- did you know that? He, Kendra & I were the best at making up missionary stories. Kinda ironic now.
Thanks Sara Beth- it is quite a challenge to keep it under $200 but the last few months have been successful! It takes a lot of planning, a lot of eating leftovers, a few free meals from parents, in laws, etc. I like having the challenge but I do look forward to the day we can afford Salmon again ($5.99 a pound is the lowest I've seen it- anyone seen better?)
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