Our Meal-Planning System
March 07, 2014
At the beginning of the year, we really cracked down on our budget. We have almost completely stopped eating out--with only three exceptions for mini-celebrations--and have been cooking dinner every single night and cooking three meals a day on the weekends. I love it!
I want to share with you our system of meal-planning and menus. It has made a big difference in our budget and our routine. Hopefully, you will be inspired to create a plan of your own when you visit a supermarket so you don't succumb to the devious ways of the advertisers and their product placement. :P
Planning the Menu
This strategic planning has been a HUGE help when it comes to grocery shopping and sticking to our budget. Every other Thursday evening, we plan our menu for the following two weeks. We plan a dinner for every night Monday through Friday, then breakfast, lunch and dinner every Saturday and Sunday. During this planning time, I ask Hubs what meals sound good to him and what foods he hasn't had in a while. As he blurts out ideas, I search for recipes...where else?...on Pinterest.
After we have two weeks' worth of meals listed, I then go through each recipe and make a grocery list. I list the amount of every ingredient needed, whether I know I have it already or not. Then, I place each meal on my handy dandy pocket calendar. I organize it by ingredients if something like spinach or basil will expire sooner. For example, one Friday night, I made chicken and lemon basil pasta. The next day, I used the rest of the basil to make pesto for tomato, mozzarella and pesto paninis. Sometimes, I'll even check the weather forecast and, if it's going to be a nice, warm day, I'll schedule Hubs to grill or smoke something outside. If it's going to be a cold day, I'll cook soup or this amazing chicken pot pie.
After I have assigned each meal to a breakfast, lunch or dinner, I go grocery shopping in the kitchen to check off things on my list. When I know what I already have, I begin organizing what I need by department. Produce, fresh seafood and meat, condiments, baking supplies, canned beans and veggies, bread, frozen and dairy.
THEN (I know, this sounds like it takes a while. And it does. But, it's totally worth it...and fun, too!), I give the list to Hubs, who has created a fancy schmancy spreadsheet on his phone. That's the list we use when we're at the grocery store.
Supermarket Adventure
Since Jan. 1, we have spent every other Friday night at the supermarket doing our grocery shopping. If you have never grocery shopped on a Friday night, you're missing out...big time. You're missing out on clear aisles, fully-stocked shelves, the freshest produce, cashiers waiting on customers to come to their check-outs instead of customers waiting in lines for hours (we shop at Crest Fresh Market for their fresher produce, cheaper prices and much nicer people). Since everyone is either out to the movies or restaurants, that leaves the entire grocery store for us...the losers with nothing else better to do on a Friday night--including Valentine's Day. :)
We LOVE our Friday night grocery-shopping adventures. No, really. We do. We look forward to them!
As we fill our cart, Hubs inserts the price of every single item and the quantity we buy into his phone's fancy spreadsheet. As he adds the price, it automatically calculates the sales tax, so we know TO THE PENNY what the total amount will be at check-out, even if we're using coupons. Here's where that gets tricky: produce. If something is priced by weight, then yes...we weigh it. Last week, onions were 98¢ per pound, so I tried to find an onion that was exactly 1 pound, which wasn't too hard. When there's a few cents' difference at check-out compared to what our spreadsheet is showing, it's usually because of the weight of produce.
As we fill our cart, Hubs inserts the price of every single item and the quantity we buy into his phone's fancy spreadsheet. As he adds the price, it automatically calculates the sales tax, so we know TO THE PENNY what the total amount will be at check-out, even if we're using coupons. Here's where that gets tricky: produce. If something is priced by weight, then yes...we weigh it. Last week, onions were 98¢ per pound, so I tried to find an onion that was exactly 1 pound, which wasn't too hard. When there's a few cents' difference at check-out compared to what our spreadsheet is showing, it's usually because of the weight of produce.
The challenge of trying to stay within budget is actually really fun! Ahh, to be a grown-up. What's even better is the feeling you get after the last item goes into the cart and there's extra money! Wooo!
A Sample of Our Menu
Here's our meal plan for the next week, in case you're interested and want to copy it or make your own:
- Friday, 3/7: Mozzarella and pesto-stuffed chicken breasts, grilled asparagus
- Saturday, 3/8: Breakfast--French toast (the cinnamon swirl bread I made courtesy of Pioneer Woman is a whole other story...delicious!); Lunch--Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches; Dinner--Light fettuccini alfredo with artichoke & spinach dip (a Zio's copycat recipe!)
- Sunday, 3/9: Breakfast--Scrambled eggs, cinnamon toast; Lunch--Out with in-laws; Dinner--Smoked salmon and grilled asparagus
- Monday, 3/10: Chicken parmesan, garlic toast
- Tuesday, 3/11: Chipotle fish tacos
- Wednesday, 3/12: Grilled ham & cheese paninis
- Thursday, 3/13: Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes
- Friday, 3/14: PB&Js and grocery shopping!!
A lot of the times, I will eat left-overs for lunch or a sandwich. Simple and easy. I even take my own little Vera Bradley lunch pail to work! Hubs, on the other hand, eats his lunch at his work's cafeteria for super cheap.
Before we had this system, we were aimlessly wandering around the grocery store with no list, no plan. One of us would say, "Let's have ___ for dinner," then we would hike a mile across the store to get what we needed. It was chaos. I don't know how we survived it. Then, we would sit at home at night and think, "We don't have anything good to eat. Let's just go out." Not anymore.
Meal-Planning Tips
Here are a few tips from what I've learned during our three months of meal-planning.
- Plan meals that sound good to you and that you can look forward to cooking and eating! There are only so many ways to make a sandwich or grill a chicken breast. Think outside of the box! We LOVE smoked salmon, but we don't want to fork over $50 to enjoy it at a restaurant. Our supermarket has fresh salmon fillets for cheap, so we'll be smoking it ourselves. I cannot wait for this meal!
- Try something new. Don't just settle for the same ole frozen pizza or spaghetti. Mix it up! I intentionally search Pioneer Woman's website and the Food Network for foods we have never tried. Believe it or not, neither Hubs or I had ever eaten fish tacos before I found a chipotle fish taco recipe. Now, we have fish tacos at least once every three weeks or so.
- Don't just pin recipes, make them! Most people on Pinterest have boards dedicated to delicious-looking food. Sure, they're pretty, but they also can taste amazing! Most of the time, they look a lot harder than they actually are. Don't be intimidated...anyone can do this stuff.
- Make it a team effort. One of my most favorite roles is that of Wife. I love serving Hubs and making sure he is well-fed, which means I love to make scrumptious meals for him. But, he doesn't want me to have to do everything myself...he wants to be part of the process. He likes suggesting meal ideas, and he enjoys helping us stay under budget with his fancy spreadsheet while we're at the grocery store. If grilled or smoked meat is on the menu, that's his area. It's something he loves to do. We don't have kids, but if you do, then get them involved, too. This process would be way too much for one person to handle on his or her own, so making it a team effort is extremely important.
- Control your portion size. If you're cooking for two, then make enough for two, not four. I, personally, can only handle certain left-overs. If I eat too much of the same thing, I get burned out and don't even want to think about cooking it again for a long time. Most recipes you find online are made for four servings. I simply split them in half. Again, if you have kids, adjust accordingly. Portion sizes at restaurants could easily feed two people. Controlling your portion size at home trains your stomach to get full faster.
- Be spontaneous! If you get a craving for something sweet in the evenings, rather than stressing because you didn't buy any cookies at the grocery store, how about making your own? Most people have the baking basics (sugar, flour, baking soda, butter, etc.), so whip up a quick treat! You deserve it!
- Have fun! I love to eat. Hubs loves to eat. Have fun in the process knowing what you're cooking is healthy, delicious and filling. Once it's a habitual part of your weekly routine, you will look forward to it every day.
Here's a list of the new recipes I've tried over the past week:
- Chicken & lemon basil pasta
- Citrus pork tenderloin (the left-over lemon basil pasta was the PERFECT side to this pork tenderloin)
- Snickerdoodle pancakes
- Tomato, mozzarella & pesto panini (using the Vitamix pesto recipe! OMG...one of my new faves)
- Pepperoni spaghetti bake
- Chicken pot pies
- Mozzarella and pesto-stuffed chicken breast
- Homemade cinnamon bread
That Pioneer Woman sure knows how to cook! She walked me right through making the homemade cinnamon bread. I cannot wait to make it into French toast tomorrow morning!
Hopefully I've given you a different way of looking at your grocery shopping and budget. Let me know in the comments if you have some other ideas!
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