Meal Planning/Grocery Shopping 101

I find this post rather humorous. Mostly because it's about a subject with which I have much animosity. This chore/wifely duty is by far my least favorite, but alas I have been called (Matt's idea of cooking is heating up left over Monical's in the oven).

I AM NOT A PLANNER. In fact I hate planning and I'm bad at it. A very deadly duo. I tend to go with the fly by the seat of your pants, need some pressure to get things going approach and it has worked well in most aspects of my life EXCEPT this one. If I went with that approach with meal planning we'd either starve or I'd be at the grocery store every 12.5 minutes picking up another ingredient. Neither sounded like good alternatives so I have come up with this simple plan.

1. Assess your need.

With Matt and I's schedule it is pretty easy to know what nights of the week meals will be a priority. For example, Tuesdays and Thursdays are busy so left-overs and frozen stuff works best, but the rest of the week meals will have to be prepared. So that may mean 5 meals a week instead of 7.

2. Set a goal.

We try and make our shopping/meal list last about two weeks. Towards the end of the two weeks the meals get interesting and most of the "fresh" stuff is gone but it makes us use what we have without going out and buying more.

3. Go through the recipe box and pull out meals that are appealing.

We have a rotation of a few favorites like chicken and rice, Italian beef, tacos and fettuccine. I then pull them out and leave them on the counter.

4. Go through cookbooks/Internet for new recipes that sound good.

I try to stagger the new recipes with the old. That way if we don't like the new one, we know we will like the next one. I try about 3 new recipes every 2 weeks. I also ask Matt to go through and sticky note recipes that sound good to him in our cookbooks. That way I can go directly to them when the shopping list needs to be made (most of them contain ground beef, surprise, surprise).

5. Write down the list of meals you gathered and don't lose it.

I got this idea from my sister Brooke. I write down all 10 meals or so and put the list on the fridge. I cross them off as I go along so I know what ingredients I still have.

6. Make a shopping list.

I go through the recipes that I have collected and make a list based on them. If the garlic potatoes call for sour cream I put that on my list. I also make a list of the "fast" stuff like frozen veggies, yogurt, etc. Make sure you check your pantry for duplicate items!

7. Stick to your list.

Bring a pen and blinders (some how brownies get in my cart every time).

8. Cook away!!!

This is my favorite part. I get to cook meals that I know I have all of the ingredients for. Now don't get me wrong there is the occasional trip to IGA but it's not NEARLY as bad as it once was.

So there you have it. It can go in the record books... SHANNON ANDERSON plans something!

I still dread doing this every two weeks but the few hours of planning/shopping is worth the many days of bountiful yummies.

How do YOU do your meal planning? I'd love to know.

Any suggestions on side dishes? I have a hard time knowing what goes with what. I've been known to put potatoes with pasta (strange, I know).

Paying it Forward

To my faithful followers (all 2 of you),

Recently, I was the recipient of a random act of kindness.  

What kind of random act you ask?  

A few weeks ago, I  was sent a gift in the mail... two tea towels adorned with tea pots to be exact. They look like this (cute... I know).  

My friend Courtney was this giver.  No reason, just because.  How cool is that?  I mean I knew Courtney was cool, but that was just straight 

t up awesome.  Thanks Court... it seriously made my day/week/year.  

I thought about sending her a thank you card and showering her in gifts of my own but I decided that Courtney would probably want me to pay it forward and send someone else a random gift.  

So here's the thing.  Since Courtney and I reconnected because of our blogs, I decided to have a little contest here.  Whoever leaves a comment (about anything) gets their name put in a hat.  By the end of the day on Wednesday I will

 randomly pull out a name and whoever he/she is, will receive this in the mail. 

It's a grocery bag dispenser, lovingly made by me.  It's not perfect, but it's functional.  I even made it extra large for all of those grocery bags hanging out in the bottom of your pantry.  If you already have one that's okay, enter your name anyway and when you receive it in the mail turn around and give it to someone else... you get it now, right?  Paying it forward?  

Courtney: (you are eligible!)

Happy commenting!