Meal Planning 101:
I got this idea from another blog, but it's definitely not as detailed as the one I saw on the other blog. The three reasons I chose to put this together were....
1) I'm tired of thinking about dinner at 4:30 and getting frustrated because nothing is thawed out or ready to use.
2) I'm tired or making the same things every week.
3) Living in a small town with no grocery store - I'm needing to become a more efficient grocery shopper.
So basically in a nutshell:
The first part of the binder is a monthly calendar where I filled out two weeks worth of meals.
The next part is a master grocery list where I can check things off that I need to prepare the meals plus everything else I need to purchase at the store. The hopes is that this would be a once every two week visit.
And last I have all of our "Well Used" recipes (main dishes, sides, desserts, appetizers) typed up so that I don't have to shuffle through all of my recipe cards, books, and internet printouts looking for ideas.
I also have two pocket folders at the back of the binder: One to hold coupons - although right now I'm TERRIBLE at remembering to cut them out and actually use them. The other to add new recipes to so that periodically I can update my printed recipe list.
Hopefully this comes in handy!
11 comments:
Kim said... Wheres the recipe????
I love it Nikki! I amy steal some of your ideas. I just starting writing our meals on the calendar for about two weeks in advance, so I too don't have to think about what to thaw out for supper and don't just grab whatever looks good at the good at the grocery store and come home with nothing that makes a meal!
Eric also likes to look at the calendar to know if he can look forward to supper or not - depending on what I'm cooking. :)
Okay - I apparently have a typing problem. The above message should say....I Failed proofreading!
I love it Nikki! I MAY steal some of your ideas. I just startED writing our meals on the calendar for about two weeks in advance, so I too don't have to think about what to thaw out for supper and don't just grab whatever looks good at the grocery store and come home with nothing that makes a meal!
Eric also likes to look at the calendar to know if he can look forward to supper or not - depending on what I'm cooking. :)
That Amanda... isn't she smart?! I'm still working on mine, but it's in progress!
Holy cow! I just looked at your baby counter. 16 days! Wow!
Oh sweet Nikki! How your life is about to be thrown for a loop once that baby comes! :-) Corey is right you do have too much free time. . . which is making the rest of VERY jealous! It is a good thing my family like frozen pizzas, because that is about all they get these days!
Actually all joking aside. I do love the binder idea. I keep all my recipes that I print off in a pile in one of my cupboards and I can never find them when I am looking for them. Maybe now that Jason is FINALLY done with work I can get a spare second to get my recipes organized. . . and a scrapbook page or two done! :-)
I think you should come up with another blog with all your recipes. . . so we can copy all your good ideas!
Hope you are still feeling good. Talk to you soon!
Nikki,
Just tell Corey that this is "Nesting at it's Finest", and now that you're all organized at home... It's time for BABY! GREAT IDEA!!!
Tanya
I've thought of doing this too, in hopes that it would motivate me enough to actually start cooking!!!
Kim ~ The recipes for this week are coming. Kayla's stipulation about having a picture to go with it means I actually have to MAKE it. So tonight I have one in the works:)
Kim said... Looking forward to it Nikki.... Yes the picture thing does make things a little more complicated but looking at Kaylas pictures of her recipes makes me REALLY hungry.
I love your idea Nikki. I to hate coming home with starving kiddos and not knowing what to have for supper. Joel and I talked about doing the calendar thing too, but I can't imagine it would be as organized as yours.
Good luck in the days to come with everything. We will be excited to hear about baby Wixo soon.
I have the same kind of system! It works when I want it to work. :) Hope you're doing well. Would like to see you sometime this summer.
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