Menu Planning

I spent last weekend at the beach with my KD sorority sisters, it was a great time.  Among the 11 ladies that were able to attend, we have 11 babies and 2 on the way.  One friend was unable to attend last minute because her daughter came down with pneumonia, so make that 12 babies + 2.  By next year, I figure there will be at least 14 with a few more on the way.

Anyway, one of the topics that came up was menu planning . . . do you plan out your meals for the week?  The answer to this question in our house is a resounding YES.  We spend less money, eat healthier, save tons of time because we only have to make one grocery store trip per week and, the best part, with a good plan, Quincy can do the grocery shopping!  Our meal plans are not extensive.  Once we got over thinking that every meal had to be the best thing we ever ate, things got a lot easier.

Lots of people use fancy menu planners, keep notebooks, print recipes on Sundays, etc.  Making things more complicated is a recipe for me abandoning the tasks, so I keep things as simple as possible.

I mostly use this note pad, available here:  http://www.glowbaby.ca/product.php?productid=17520&cat=250&page=1

I got it as part of a set and put it into use.  I'm not sure I'll buy another one since it is pretty expensive, I'll just use the same concept on regular paper, which I do sometimes now, even though it's not yet used up.  The strategy is simple--dinners at the top, grocery list on the bottom.  I plan out meals for Sunday-Thursday using the ad from the store we choose to go to that week so that we are buying what is on special.  One of us does the grocery shopping on Sunday and the other stays home with Clara.  Inevitably something throws us off track like an invitation to eat out, a late night at work, etc., and one of the meals gets shifted, so we have food for the whole week.  Also, we do like to get out once in a while, so it's important not to plan out all of the days, or you just end up throwing food away.  Here's the meal plan for this week:

Sunday--Superbowl, we were at Eve's house, so we didn't plan a meal.
Monday--Pork roast, salad, rice (my mom picks up Clara on Monday, so she can throw the pre-prepared roast in the oven)
Tuesday--Pork fried rice using the leftovers from Monday (we love this)
Wednesday--Crock pot vegetable soup (I will bring this for lunch on Thursday & Friday)
Thursday--Garlic ginger salmon filets (we buy the frozen sockeye salmon filets from Costco), steamed broccoli, sauteed black beans w/ tomatoes and sweet onions

And that's that!  Nothing fancy, but there is no scrounging, no "what do you want to eat" or "why do I always have to pick," etc.  It's important to utilize the freezer for meat late in the week--we try to have frozen burgers (veggie, turkey, regular) and fish (usually salmon and shrimp) on hand.  The crock pot is also key.  Also, I organize the list in the order of the store, which makes it much more simple to shop.  It's the little things that make our crazy life more manageable!