Over at One Starry Night, Sarah is asking people to share their process when it comes to meal planning. Here’s mine:
- I start by taking stock of what meats I have in the freezer. Meat is the most expensive component of my grocery budget; I’ve been buying organic chicken and ground beef at Costco lately and I don’t have my own Costco membership so I can’t necessarily pop over there any time so I make sure to work with what is already in the freezer. Most weeks I make one chicken dish, one beef dish, and one other dish (either vegetarian or using bacon, turkey, or some non-chicken/beef meat).
- Put your plan together when you’re hungry or having food cravings. It makes it so much easier. I note tasty looking recipes I find online throughout the week and then fill in the gaps from my master index of recipes from my cookbooks and magazines.
- If I’m planning to make a main dish that doesn’t already include a vegetable, I select an in season and on sale vegetable from the weekly grocery ad to prepare along with that dish. I keep my freezer stocked with frozen veggies like peas and pepper strips so I can add them to any dish on a whim. I love berries and always pick them up when they’re in season and on sale and I always make sure to have a few apples on hand for snacking (apples keep really, really well).
- I’ve got a wicked sweet tooth so most weeks I plan to bake one dessert item. Cookies and cupcakes are especially good for those of us cooking for one because it’s easy to freeze some of them; pies and cakes are tricky because you really shouldn’t eat the whole thing by yourself before it goes bad and it’s hard to preserve just part.
- Some weeks I cook up a breakfast item like scones, muffins, or quick bread. On days I don’t have a fresh baked breakfast item, I eat cereal, oatmeal, or toast possibly along with fruit, bacon, and/or eggs.
- For lunches and for dinners on nights I’m not cooking, I eat my leftovers. For variety I usually put one or two servings of each dish in the fridge and the rest in the freezer for later weeks.
- After my list of recipes I’ll be cooking that week is complete, I put together my grocery list based on any items I need for those recipes that I don’t already have. Basics like milk, eggs, and flour get added to the grocery list as soon as I notice I’m running low.
Related posts:
- Meal Plan 11/1
- Meal Plan 9/27: Less Meaty, More Snacky
- March Meal Plan
- Meal Plan 4/26
- Meal Plan 11/22: Thanksgiving Week
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{ 4 comments }
You are not only more organized than I am, but less easily distracted as well – half the time I change my mind half way though cooking a meal! great post!
You’ve got a system down. I can’t even plan as to what I am going to have for brekky tomorrow morning. i think that if i were to get more organized than I wouldn’t eat out as much or make my random Whole Foods runs which end up being quite pricey.
It is a lot greener (and can be cheaper) to just skip the meat. Just saying, this is about frugal and green habits.
That may be true and I’ve experimented with vegetarianism but the fact of the matter is I love meat. I don’t eat it every meal or even every day but I do enjoy meat and want to continue to eat it sometimes so I plan for it.
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