The Menu Planning
This is an important step in the process, and you don't want to wait until the day before your shopping trip to plan this out. No, this starts right after my shopping/cooking weekend. I have a dry erase board on my laundry room door that has the weeks meals on it. This is good for the week, however, my monthly plan is in a word file.
Here is the great part about having the word file: You can add links. We all Pinterest, or some form of it. So, when I peruse Pintertest, I have my word file open. I copy and paste the link into my word file, and then later when I go to do my shopping list the recipe is only a click away.
You also want to ask your family for their favorites, or must haves again for the next month. We have some staples we have once a month; I know you've all heard of Waterstraut Waffle Wednesday. We also have Rumpelstiltskin I'm not a huge fan- but everyone else loves it. It's just diced tomatoes and spices mixed with shredded chicken over egg noodles. But they go crazy for it.
But, here you are in the beginning stages of menu planning, so think of it as a rough draft. You don't have to plan out what is on what date yet (although I usually do and just sometimes ending up moving meals around). The first time you do it will likely be right before your big shopping trip, but any subsequent time is much easier because you have a whole month to work on your menu. 5 minutes here, 5 minutes there. No big deal.
I always try and have my menu done after thee weeks; leaving me one week to work on my grocery store list. Be sure to add any special events to your menu: someones birthday, a date night, cookouts with neighbors-- because you don't want to have to plan for meals you won't actually be around for. Also, plan for easy dinners on your shopping day and cooking days. (I usually pick up a Costco pizza for dinner one night, and this week we had a cookout at our neighbors so I didn't have to worry about the other day) My word file looks something like this (my weeks in my word files work from dinner Friday to dinner Thursday because shopping day is always Friday):
Week 1:
Friday May 10-- Cookout at the Neighbors
Dinner- Pasta Salad to take over to Lonnie and Jans
Saturday May 11- Symphony at Raymond James
Lunch- BLT's
Dinner- Costco Pizza, Salad, Fruit
Sunday May 12- Survivor Finale Night/Mothers Day
Lunch- Survivor Food Auction (In honor of the Survivor Finale!)
Dinner- Low Country Boil- http://snapguide.com/guides/make-a-low-country-boil/
Monday May 13- Asa's Test (Rootbeer Floats!)
Lunch- Chili (1 of 3)
Dinner- Grilled Balsamic Steak, Mashed Potatoes,veggie - http://pointlessmeals.blogspot.com/2011/05/grilled-balsamic-flank-steak.html
Tuesday May 14-
Lunch- Green
Pepper and Roast Beef Sandwiches
Dinner-
Alaska Salads
Wednesday May 15
Lunch- Black
Bean Burgers (1 of 6)
Dinner-
Honey Glazed Porkchops, Cous-Cous -
Thursday May 16- SEASON FINALE NIGHT!
Lunch- Baked
Potatoes, Salad
Dinner- Pasta Bar
Week 2:
Friday May 17- Disney Weekend!
Lunch-
Uncrustables, Snacks
Dinner-
Quesadillas
Saturday May 18 – Dinsey Weekend!
Lunch- Sandwiches
Dinner-
Maid Rites-
Sunday May 19 - Disney
Weekend!
Lunch- PB,
Fruit and Granola Wraps
Dinner-
Southwestern Egg Rolls (1 of 2)-
Monday May 20-
Lunch- Chili
(2 of 3)
Dinner- Honey Sesame Chicken- http://baked-inthesouth.blogspot.com/2012/08/crockpot-freezer-meals-part-2.html
Tuesday May 21-
Lunch- Sweet Potato and Corn Salad-
Dinner- Chicken Mango Salsa
Wednesday May 22-
Lunch-
Black Bean Burgers (2 of 6)
Dinner-
Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Veggie (1 of
2)
Thursday May 23-
Lunch- Phili
Cheese steaks (1 of 2)
Dinner-
Homemade Big Macs-
Ok, so you get the point. I won't bore you with my whole menu. If we are repeating, I put in the 1 of 2, or whatever. I don't recommend more than 2 of anything in one month. Lunch is different, especially if the black bean/portabella mushroom burgers are on sale. Those make excellent easy lunches.
While this is a little more organized than I do now, I used to italicize anything that I can make all or part of ahead. Obviously with burgers, I can go ahead and make the patties, or with quesadillas I can make the shredded chicken ahead of time. I find you can freeze almost anything.
The Cooking List
Once my Menu is done, I usually make a cooking list. You can do this before or after your grocery list, or You can skip this step if you want, but I find it really helpful. Everything I can make ahead of time I write down on notebook paper. That stuff goes in one column In another column I have categories of meat. It'll look sort of like this:
Cubed Cooked Chicken:
Southwestern Egg Rolls
Cubed raw Chicken:
Itlaian Chicken crock pot
Honey Sesame Chicken
Shredded Cooked Chicken:
Quesadillas
BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
Rumplestilskin
Chicken Mango Salsa
Raw Ground Beef:
Meatloaf
Big Macs
Tacos
Cooked Ground Beef:
Maid Rites
You get the idea. This way, when you cook, you'll know exactly what you need the meat for, and you can cook like all the ground beef together, and just separate it before you season it or whatever. After all, we are cooking once a month to cut corners!
Shopping List
And here comes the biggie- the shopping list. Heres what I do. I have two copies. My rough draft begins early on. I write down everything I need. Even if I think I have it. Lets say you need green peppers for 5 different meals or something. You don't write it five times, just add a tally mark behind it.
After you've written it ALL down, go to your pantry and shop what you already have. It feels awesome to cross off stuff from a grocery list when you haven't even left the house! I usually work on/do this list early in my shopping week (remember I shop on Friday), so like Monday or Tuesday.
Then I wait, until the ads for the week come out on Thursday. I sit at the kitchen table and I get a piece of paper for each store I'm going to go to and label it at the top: Costco, Winn Dixie, Walmart, and Publix (at least if I need certain things I may end up at the dollar store, Target, or Walgreens).
Then go through the ads and your list and put each item on the store where you are going to get the best deal. (I'm so crazy about it I even divide my paper into sections corresponding with the way the store is laid out so I don't have to run back and forth all across all the stores!) I have had a lot of years to get used to shopping for a family. I can tell you almost everyone's prices on everything. I could totally nail a Price is Right Shopping Game. But sometimes there's a sale and I'm not positive which deal is better. In that case, I write it on BOTH lists and circle it on BOTH lists. Important to also include the price as well as how much your getting (ounces, pounds) for that price. I am such a nerd, sometimes I will literally do math in the aisles. When you shop once a week a dollar or two here and there doesn't seem like a lot, but when you're spending it all in one day everything adds up and you really see your savings.
This is also where you can tweak your menu a bit. For example, we were going to do an Italian Chicken meal in the crock pot; but roasts were Buy one Get one at Winn Dixie this week, so it became Italian Beef instead.
As far as snacks go, and adding those to your list: we have a strict snacking schedule in this house. You get one in the afternoon and one before bed if you ate a good dinner. (Although they can totally buy another snack with their points) The night time snack is something we usually have together. Chips and Salsa, smoothies, apples and peanut butter, homemade potato skins, homemade taquitos, that kind of thing. We also usually have desert on Mondays and skip the night time snack: Ice Box Cake, Brownie or Cookies with ice cream in my cast iron skillet, jello roll ups, dirt- that kind of thing.
Were not huge breakfast people around here. Sometimes I make freeze ahead Egg McMuffins, I also do breakfast burritos and we usually have oatmeal, fiber one bars, and cereal on hand. So that stuff will also go on the list after I see the sales.
Drinks are something I do not buy a lot of. We are big water people in this house. Each kid has their color of water bottle, and has to drink at least 1 a day (two for Peyton since he's here all day), and after they drink that they aren't really thirsty for anything else. I do have milk obviously, sometimes a lemonade or something and juice boxes for Disney trips. (If you freeze those, they can thaw in your backpack and still be cold while walking around the parks!)
Also, you want to make sure to add anything to your list you may need that isn't food: bathroom items, pet food. Amazon is actually really awesome for these things if you subscribe to them you save even more money. I try and stagger what we need so I'm not buying everything in the same month.
Coupons you ask? I'm not awesome at coupons, I don't use them except for the costco ones that come in the mail. However, I just started with the digital coupons at Publix and Winn Dixie, and they are awesome.
Also, the day before to a quick clean out of your fridge and freezer. The last thing you want to do when you get home on your shopping day is have to do that!
Then staple your lists together, in order of where you'll be going (easier to find the store and keep track of it all- trust me this staple will make your life SO much easier) And pack up for the trip tomorrow. Think water, granola bars, and an ipod. Who needs to deal with all those people at the store? You are on a mission, and if you have headphones in people leave you alone.
Shopping Day
So you wake up this day, and groan. How did it come again so soon? Are you prepared? Have you slept well? Is the car empty and ready to be totally filled? Be sure to grab your cooler, because it's going to be awhile before you get home with those first cold things. (I do not go home between stores, but this may have to change in the warmer months- cars heat up FAST here in Florida) I do usually make a trip out to lunch first, Crispers is right next to Costco and I love Crispers1
I also start with Costco, it's where I spend the most money. Really, be careful here. It is not always the best deal. Cereal is almost B1G1 at another store, meat on sale may or may not be cheaper somewhere else (the circled items). But, I will tell you bread products are almost always cheaper here. Lettuce is very inexpensive (I get 6 Romane heads for $4!), Milk is cheapest here as well. I do often buy the big bag of onions and potatoes even if they aren't exactly the cheapest. I do this because the potatoes and the onions are huge, and so you have to peal less of them, and thats nice. Tortilla chips are a good price here, and I always buy the huge box of fiber one bars. I usually get the boys one big box of snacks here too: fruit roll ups, or rice crispie treats. I'm not huge on prepackaged foods but were also not health nuts.
Then I go out to the other stores, being careful not to squish anything. My car is small, and my family is big- so it's totally filled with groceries, front seat and all by the time I get home. This is also another reason to go to Costco, they have the best dog food for the best price. that needs to be on the bottom of everything for sure. I do find too, that if you have them put all your cold stuff in a box at Costco, and then cover it up with some other things, it'll stay pretty cold without needing the cooler. I do this with the dairy and produce products and haven't had a problem yet (never meat though- that always goes in the cooler)
I make my rounds as quick as I can, and head home. Important to stick to your list though. You should have listed everything you need, so theres no need to stray from it. By the time you get to your last store you'll be trying to wrap your head around the amount of money you've spent in one day. It freaks me out every.single.time. I have had people asking me how much I spend. This month it was just about $600, last month it was closer to $700. Thats for everything: pets, bathroom stuff, food. But it's still just SO. MUCH. MONEY. in one day. (For us anyway)
We have a chest freezer in our garage which leads to our kitchen, so I back in the car, and the boys all unload while I play director. My freezer has a smooth top, and so I use a dry erase marker to write what is in it on top. I have categories of: Meat, Meals, Fruits, Veggies, Grains, and Snacks. Bread can go straight in the freezer, or any premade things like burger patties. I put anything I'm going to use to cook with the following day on my counter (if it doesn't have to be in the fridge of course), there is no sense in putting it away if you jut have to fish for it the next day. Meat always goes in the fridge. People make the mistake of freezing meat without doing anything to it for a meal; then you just have to defrost it to cook it again. Thats not the way to go.
I also usually put my chicken that I'm going to shred in my slow cooker on Friday. I only have one crock pot; and I almost always use it during cooking day to make chili. Plus, then I don't have to wait for the chicken to be done if I'm adding it to any freezer meal. If you cook it long enough you can just shred it with two forks and put it in tupperware for the next day.
Sometimes I chop things up on Friday, but not always. Carrots, Onions, Mushrooms, Garlic, Celery- and just put them in bowls for the next day. You can do this on cooking day, but its SO nice once your done. Your recipe calls for chopped onions? Just grab some out of the bowl. Also this is a GREAT way to sneak veggies into things like burgers, and meatloaf.
Dinner, like I said, this night is usually a Costco pizza and salad or something similar.
Cooking Day
So you wake up the next day, and think- 'Crap, it's cooking day'. But never fear, once you get through today the rest of your month will be easy peasy lemon squeezy (as Hayden would say).
If I didn't chop stuff yesterday, I do it today. Then I get everything out on my counter that isn't already there, spices, zip locks, any utensils I may need, measuring spoons and cups, pots and pans- just everything so I don't have to run back and forth. Put on my apron (with a pen and sharpie tucked in the pocket to write on the bags or you know you'll lose that pen a million times), and some music and get to work.
I always start with side things you wouldn't necessarily think of: caramelizing a bunch of onions, hard boiling eggs, making an avocado puree (just add lemon juice so it doesn't brown), making rolls, and dealing with the potatoes. Calib is always on potato duty. We put some in the oven for potato skins, and he peals a ton for mashed potatoes. He also usually cuts some up for breakfast burritos.
And then you just cook. Kids are great for stirring and assembling, Calib can practically make the southwestern egg roll mixture on his own. (Which you can use in burritos, for egg rolls or in won ton wrapper cups) I usually go with ground beef first, then while thats cooking I cut up the chicken I have left. I cube it all. The stuff I need raw gets thrown in the ziplocks, the stuff I need cooked will then go in the pan to be cooked. See how that works? Only get out that chicken cutting board and knife once. I know it seems obvious but any meals that have the same steps you want to do it all at once. This is where you're really saving yourself time.
Keep your list of what you're cooking in front of you, and have your laptop or whatever open for any recipes you need. Just one click away!
Here are some things to remember:
When you put something in a ziplock to freeze you want to flatten it out. Take for instance Mashed Potatoes. Flatten them out and lay them down in your freezer like that. It's easier to thaw if you don't have a big chunk at the bottom of the bag. Oh and make sure you close it really, really good. (I'm telling you this since I have frozen Hawaiian meatball sauce in the bottom of my freezer. I actually usually freeze things in my freezer attached to the fridge, and then move it later to the chest one. It just works better that way. Yesterday was cooking day, and I haven't moved everything over yet, so its not all written on the top yet. I'll get to it tomorrow.
Most things freeze fine, but for things like chicken stock added to something or even spaghetti sauce put them in ice cube trays or muffin tins (I prefer the muffin tins) and freeze them first. It thaws better, and is easier to manage. If you have leftovers of anything do this too.
For things like the onions and avocado puree, I put them in smaller bags and then in a larger bag all together so they don't get lost in my freezer.
For things like taco meat, I find adding the water makes it a little weird in the freezer. I've changed that out for tomato sauce/paste/puree and it freezes much better. You'll learn tricks like this along the way. If a meal doesn't really work for your family or is a little weird, just take don't make it again or try it again and tweak a few things.
REMEMBER to get things out of the freezer the night before to put in the fridge. This makes everything SO SO SO much easier. (Some of the crock pot stuff you can leave in until that morning). This is why I have my dry erase board with the weekly meals on it, it helps me remember what to get out next since it's right in my face all the time.
Most things should now take you under 10 minutes to put together (including salads and such which we have every night) Some things take even less. A lot of things we just put on sandwiches, over rice or noodles so of course you have to do this- but that can be delegated to husbands and kids.
Important Rules to Follow:
I limit myself to one grocery shopping trip in between all of this for produce and milk. Produce I'll try and get at the fresh market if we can make it, it's cheapest there. I try and get things like strawberries or grapes for the first week (more perishable), and apples and oranges for the second (last longer). Even better if we can pick it ourselves. Cheap and an activity to all do together. Also if you fill up your sick with water and one cup of vinegar letting fruits and veggies sit in it for ten minutes before draining and washing it off, it will last longer.
This really is key: If you don't have it make something else work. Don't run to the store for anything. If you're running low on snacks, thats ok. The kids won't starve and it really makes them learn how to ration stuff out. They know they won't be getting certain things for another month. Your pantry, fridge and freezer will be pretty empty at the end of the month. That just means you did it right. You're not planning for over a month, just one. You may have a couple of meals left because you went out to eat (something we do maybe once a month around here) or had leftovers.
You don't have to stick to exactly whats on your board or in your word file. You can be flexible Just know that's what you have for the month. Sometimes I have something on the board I'm just not feeling that day so I switch it out; no big deal.
Don't delete your previous menu planning word file. I did this the first month, and I wish I hadn't. I feel like I could get a good three month rotating menu going complete with grocery rough draft lists, and not have to do so much planning month. I'll probably try that out after the summer since things are going to get weird here with visitors and vacations.
And thats it. Happy Shopping/Cooking-- and then taking the rest of the Month off!
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