Anyone who knows me, knows that organized is not a word that would be used to describe me. I've never been good at it and it has been the thorn in my side my entire life. In the past, this has meant that there have been days where dinner time would roll around and I would have no idea what I was going to cook for dinner. So I would either make due with what we had at home, rush to the store to buy something, or eat out. Of course this also usually meant that I wasn't paying attention to what was budgeted for groceries and, of course, I would usually blow it.
My attempt at getting control of this has been to take the methods used like at menus4moms and other menu planning websites and modify them. Since Mike gets paid every other Friday I usually go shopping the day after pay day and shop for two weeks. On one sheet of paper I will make a list of 14 meals. Usually trying to choose meals that have things in common such as the spaghetti sauce for spaghetti in week one could be used to make lasagna in week two. Or roasted chicken in week one can be used for chicken casserole another night.
From this list of dinners I will make my grocery shopping list on another sheet of paper, being sure to double up on some items I know I will run out of before two weeks is up. Usually cereal, milk, flour, cat food, etc. This part has been kind of challenging for me as this does require me to exercise the planning muscle in my head which has always suffered from some type of degenerative disease. Lately I have done the grocery list planning with my past receipts so I can write down how much they cost and keep tabs on the budget.
When I get home from the store I will hang my menu list up on my ventahood with a magnet. Then, each day I can decide what I feel like cooking for dinner and know I have all the ingredients on hand. It also helps to remind me to take out meat to defrost or soak beans the night before. After I make a meal I will cross it off my list.
I save these menu lists and will look back over them to plan future menus when my brain freezes up and I can't think of anything. Which, suprisingly happens fairly often.
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2 comments:
That's a great idea! I especially love hanging it on your venthood! I do my menu planning in my dayplanner, which doesn't really work since I don't look at it much when I'm actually home... I really like your idea of just choosing 14 meals but not being so picky about when you cook them, and making your list on another sheet of paper... Brilliant!
I've been planning a week's worth of menus for a long time, but I'm wanting to try a month. It's been overwhelming me to jump from a week to a month. I think I'll try two weeks first. That should be an easier transition!
And I love the idea of hanging the menu from the venthood. That's not a fire hazard is it? But it sure ought to work better than a file in my computer which is not visible unless it's turned on--or a scrap of paper that my nearly 2 yr old scribbles on and/or loses.
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