Meal Planning

To avoid eating out as much, I try to plan my meals for the whole month. Some people might be rolling their eyes at this, but I truly enjoy making our menu and I look forward to it each month. I have mentioned this before, but I typically grab my newest cooking magazine and have my food boards on Pinterest readily accessible.

Here are the steps I take:

1. Fill out any dates I know we have dinner plans, or dates I know we would like to have dinner plans.

2. We typically have Tacos and Yum bowls every week, or every two weeks - I fill these in next. I like to plan these meals during the week because they are easy and make great lunch leftovers. The Hubs is also good at whipping this up!

3. On Mondays I try to plan a crock pot meal. Mondays are rough enough as it is, I don't want to add cooking dinner to my list. Typically, I have plenty of time on Sundays to prep the meal so all I have to do Monday morning, is throw everything in the pot.

4. I look through Pinterest or previous recipes I have used, and put fish on the menu once a week. I don't care for cooked fish all that much, so finding recipes that excite me is pretty challenging.

5. Fill in the rest of the days with new things I want to try or meals I know we love!

February Menu

 

This process is fun for me, inspires me to try new recipes, and I never have to worry about what I will cook for dinner.

I usually go through each meal and write down any non-perishable ingredients or meat needed for the meal. Then I grocery shop for all of those items at the beginning of the month, plus the produce and everything else I need for the current week's meals. Then each week, we shop for more produce, milk, lunch meat and sometimes bread. I found that by going to the grocery store more often, we tend to waste less food.

If I make something like split pea soup or taco soup, I will double the recipe, freeze it, and use it again for another meal. Saves a lot of time! Anything with a "P" next to it, means I can find the recipe on one of my Pinterest boards.

I will try to post some our favorites!