I've missed blogging! I won't bore you with excuses, but we all know how crazy life can get, and mine definitely gets that way sometimes. Oh, and there's that little thing of me being pretty lazy, too. That kinda puts a hiccup in things occasionally.
So it's Wednesday, and that means FOOD around here! Well, today, it's going to be more about food/kitchen organization than actual food, but you gotta get your kitchen in order to have an easy breezy prep and cooking time, right?
First thing's first...meal planning. I've been doing it for about a year now. I did it for two main reasons: so I wouldn't feel so CrAzY when I went to the grocery store, and to save money. Yep, if you have a very set list and know exactly what you need when you set foot in the store, you WILL save money. I guarantee it*
So this is what I do. It's simple. First, I make a list of all the dinners I will make for the next week (I only meal plan one week in advance. Some people do much more...more on that in a bit). Then I think about who will be home and what they will need for breakfast and lunch. Then, I think about the ingredients I will need for these meals, and make my list accordingly. Brandon is my "checker." I sit regally in my chair and call out ingredients to him and he dutifully checks cabinet/fridge/freezer to see if we have said ingredient. If not, it goes on the list. Ta da! Meal plan made; grocery list made.
A friend of mine, Lena, made this INCREDIBLE meal plan calendar. Someday I want to be like her. (I want to be like her in more ways that just this meal plan. Let's just suffice it to say she's kinda awesome.)
How cool is that?! Yep, pretty cool. (I must ask her about lentil tacos. Sounds so interesting!)
Onward to kitchen organization.
Disclaimer: I have none of this awesomeness in my kitchen. This is simply a dream of mine. This all comes from my "Smart Organization" pinboard on Pinterest.
**Sigh** Don't you just wish?! And if you have any of this cool organization stuff in YOUR kitchen, don't tell me. It will just make me hate you.
So, it's off to the races for me on this Wednesday. Have a wonderful day!
*No guarantees are actually made. I will NOT refund money you don't save or anything crazy like that.
So it's Wednesday, and that means FOOD around here! Well, today, it's going to be more about food/kitchen organization than actual food, but you gotta get your kitchen in order to have an easy breezy prep and cooking time, right?
First thing's first...meal planning. I've been doing it for about a year now. I did it for two main reasons: so I wouldn't feel so CrAzY when I went to the grocery store, and to save money. Yep, if you have a very set list and know exactly what you need when you set foot in the store, you WILL save money. I guarantee it*
So this is what I do. It's simple. First, I make a list of all the dinners I will make for the next week (I only meal plan one week in advance. Some people do much more...more on that in a bit). Then I think about who will be home and what they will need for breakfast and lunch. Then, I think about the ingredients I will need for these meals, and make my list accordingly. Brandon is my "checker." I sit regally in my chair and call out ingredients to him and he dutifully checks cabinet/fridge/freezer to see if we have said ingredient. If not, it goes on the list. Ta da! Meal plan made; grocery list made.
A friend of mine, Lena, made this INCREDIBLE meal plan calendar. Someday I want to be like her. (I want to be like her in more ways that just this meal plan. Let's just suffice it to say she's kinda awesome.)
How cool is that?! Yep, pretty cool. (I must ask her about lentil tacos. Sounds so interesting!)
Onward to kitchen organization.
Disclaimer: I have none of this awesomeness in my kitchen. This is simply a dream of mine. This all comes from my "Smart Organization" pinboard on Pinterest.
**Sigh** Don't you just wish?! And if you have any of this cool organization stuff in YOUR kitchen, don't tell me. It will just make me hate you.
So, it's off to the races for me on this Wednesday. Have a wonderful day!
*No guarantees are actually made. I will NOT refund money you don't save or anything crazy like that.
I do wish I had all those things! We have a wire shelf just laying against the wall waiting to be fixed and hung in my laundry room so I can make it like a pantry area. Then I'll get it all nice and organized in my cabinets again. I'm sure it'll take all of two weeks for it to go back to being a mess though. I think I'll document the process and do a follow up to see how long it lasts.. lol.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have a good system going for you will the weekly meal planning. I would definitely only be able to do one week at a time. There was something I saw on Pinterest that had a meal plan for like cooking up all your hamburger at once for meals you planned for the next three or four days... or the same with shredded chicken. You could add it to pasta and sauce one night, tacos or fajitas the next, loose meat sandwiches of some sort the next. And, I also saw something on a blog recently where three or four moms would shop each week for enough ingredients from one meal to be given to each other mom. They all trade out and the ingredients are all prepped and ready to go. Seems like a good idea.