Meal Planning
Since we stocked up the pantry not that long ago, I said we need to go back to meal planning. After we listed our standard 10 meals, we each grabbed a couple of cookbooks and picked out meals based on how great the picture looked.
DH was nice enough to stay away from seafood (not my favorite at all) and I stuck to meals you have to actually cook (he hates it when I try something completely simple like a sandwich and chips LOL).
We came up with a lot of ingredients. Well, once I check my seasoning shelf I doubt we will need to add much more to it – but we will needs lots of fresh veggies.
I wish I knew a great way to save fresh veggies – I’m sure I could cut and freeze them or cook them all at once or whatever, but I never do.
I told DH I wanted to stick to $150 for groceries this payday. We have a lot of food and need little replacements – we need fresh items, milk, bread, etc. – and I am open to buying more can soup if it is on sale.
That’s the thing about DH – he grew up extremely poor and said no matter how little extra money we may have (extra meaning going out and having fun or extra as in extra sent to the credit cards), we will always eat well. Which is why we typically spend $400-500 a month on groceries. That seems so expensive to me – but my Mom said it is probably average for a family of four.
Anyway, so we did meal planning and wrote down our dinners for the next two weeks. Of course we won’t stick to the meal exactly on that day, but we at least know what our options are.
I personally would like to do a lot more crock pot cooking and I’d really love to try doing a day of cooking and then freezing the meals. A couple of times I went to a business that does that – you bag or put the food in the boxes and then take it home and freeze it, cooking it when you need/want to. DH thought it was too expensive per serving – only because he doesn’t eat a normal serving size, he eats a lot more. For me and the kids it was great.
Anyway, we are going grocery shopping sometime this weekend, after I get the ingredient list narrowed down. We really don’t need a lot and I am considering just going to the farmers market because the grocery store we usually shop at is 20-30 minutes away.