Ok, so one of the biggest things that helps get me in the kitchen is MEAL PLANNING. This may seem... daunting. overwhelming. too much work. scary. not worth your time.
And it might be all of those things. But for me it is ESSENTIAL. If I don't meal plan I... end up buying things at the grocery store that I wouldn't normally purchase. eating out more often. throwing food away because it goes bad before I can use it. Here's some Qs and As to help explain meal planning and how it happens at our house.
So, what is meal planning?
Meal planning to me is where I select different meals to make throughout the week (Monday through Sunday) and then write up a grocery list according to the ingredients I need for those recipes.
How do you know which recipes to choose? How do you get inspired?
My inspiration mainly comes from Pinterest, but you get inspired from wherever you can! Pull inspiration from a dish you had recently at a restaurant that you loved, from food that friends post on their social media, from Pinterest, from a food show you watched, from a cookbook that you've had forever. Another place I've found to get inspiration is from those I'm cooking for! If I'm finding it difficult and nothing sounds good, I'll often ask my husband. And recently, to get my girls involved, I've been asking them to choose the recipe.
How do you keep it organized?
I know some people who use a chalkboard/white board system that has the days of the week on it and they write down which meal occurs on which day. Or they write it down in a planner. Now I don't have room for a whiteboard and honestly I'm not a planner person (although I wish I was because there are so many pretty options for planners!). I use Pinterest. I actually have a board on Pinterest called "Menu Planning" and on that board I have sub-boards for the different days of the week and even special days like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Super Bowl Sunday, etc. Once I have made a recipe that's on my "Menu Planning" board, it then gets moved to "Awesome Recipes" or "Disappointing Recipes" depending on which category it falls into.
Do you meal plan EVERY meal?
No. I usually only meal plan dinners. Sometimes a breakfast on the weekend if I'm feeling generous. During the week breakfasts consist of cereal, yogurts, toast, granola bars, fruit, scrambled eggs, etc. We keep breakfasts simple. Same with lunches. Adam will take leftovers for lunch and Moira will either take leftovers or something else depending on what I have on hand. And since Keira and I are at home, we usually have leftovers. Or if there's no leftovers I always have fruits, veggies and PBJ or turkey sandwich fixings on hand.
How do you figure out grocery shopping after you've menu planned?
First things first, I write down a list of all the ingredients I need for the week's worth of recipes. I try to choose recipes that use some of the same ingredients, so leftover ingredients don't go bad and I don't waste anything. Then I shop our pantry and refrigerators. I often find that I have forgotten that I have a partial jar of sun dried tomatoes in the back of the refrigerator or that I already have an unopened jar of mayonnaise in the pantry. And there are other times that I think I should have plenty of rice and it turns out I have way less that I imagined. Then I'm ready for the grocery store.
*Important thing to note* I am a little crazy about how I structure my grocery list... I organize it by department and those departments are listed in the order that they are laid out at my grocery store. I find that if I don't do this with my list, I am bouncing all over the store because I forgot to grab a package of cream cheese when I was in dairy and lemons when I was in produce (bot on complete opposite ends of our grocery store).
How do you organize your groceries once you get them home?
I don't. I have seen those gorgeous pictures of pantries that have bins labeled for different meals and snacks and frankly I don't have the bandwidth for that. I mean I did give it a shot once, but it was a disaster. Because I often use the same ingredients for different meals, some ingredients would only be placed in one of the meal bins and then I would forget that I would need that ingredient for another meal. So, when I would pull out a bin for a meal and an ingredient was missing, it would throw me for a loop and I spent way more time trying ti find the missing ingredients. So, instead every ingredient has a designated place in my pantry and *usually* gets put away properly. But also my kids help put groceries away and kids are often unreliable help.
How does cooking one of the planned meals work?
So, when I meal plan, I designate meals to certain days. Sometimes I stick with that schedule and other times I don't. Like if I have Chicken Marsala planned for Wednesday and Wednesday comes and I'm not feeling Chicken Marsala? I bump it to a different day and choose a different meal that I have planned for later in the week. I'm totally fluid on my meal planning schedule. Also if I have forgotten to thaw meat that also has an impact on what we may or may not be having for dinner. Basically I plan for 7 different meals and as long as I make those meal within the week, I'm golden.
Other questions about meal planning?? Ask me!
Here's our weekly meal plan for April 6-April 12
1. Spinach and Cheese Enchiladas, Cilantro Lime Rice, Tomato Corn Salad
2. Lemon Garlic Chicken, Baked Beans, Fritos Corn Salad
3. Chicken with Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Broccoli, Focaccia Bread
4. Chicken Enchiladas, Refried Beans, Rice
5. Lime Chicken with Tomato Avocado Salsa, Mexican Zucchini, Black Beans with Rice
6. Breadstick Pizza Casserole, Roasted Broccoli
7. Roasted Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Green Bean Casserole, Stuffing, Biscuits
And it might be all of those things. But for me it is ESSENTIAL. If I don't meal plan I... end up buying things at the grocery store that I wouldn't normally purchase. eating out more often. throwing food away because it goes bad before I can use it. Here's some Qs and As to help explain meal planning and how it happens at our house.
So, what is meal planning?
Meal planning to me is where I select different meals to make throughout the week (Monday through Sunday) and then write up a grocery list according to the ingredients I need for those recipes.
How do you know which recipes to choose? How do you get inspired?
My inspiration mainly comes from Pinterest, but you get inspired from wherever you can! Pull inspiration from a dish you had recently at a restaurant that you loved, from food that friends post on their social media, from Pinterest, from a food show you watched, from a cookbook that you've had forever. Another place I've found to get inspiration is from those I'm cooking for! If I'm finding it difficult and nothing sounds good, I'll often ask my husband. And recently, to get my girls involved, I've been asking them to choose the recipe.
How do you keep it organized?
I know some people who use a chalkboard/white board system that has the days of the week on it and they write down which meal occurs on which day. Or they write it down in a planner. Now I don't have room for a whiteboard and honestly I'm not a planner person (although I wish I was because there are so many pretty options for planners!). I use Pinterest. I actually have a board on Pinterest called "Menu Planning" and on that board I have sub-boards for the different days of the week and even special days like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Super Bowl Sunday, etc. Once I have made a recipe that's on my "Menu Planning" board, it then gets moved to "Awesome Recipes" or "Disappointing Recipes" depending on which category it falls into.
Do you meal plan EVERY meal?
No. I usually only meal plan dinners. Sometimes a breakfast on the weekend if I'm feeling generous. During the week breakfasts consist of cereal, yogurts, toast, granola bars, fruit, scrambled eggs, etc. We keep breakfasts simple. Same with lunches. Adam will take leftovers for lunch and Moira will either take leftovers or something else depending on what I have on hand. And since Keira and I are at home, we usually have leftovers. Or if there's no leftovers I always have fruits, veggies and PBJ or turkey sandwich fixings on hand.
How do you figure out grocery shopping after you've menu planned?
First things first, I write down a list of all the ingredients I need for the week's worth of recipes. I try to choose recipes that use some of the same ingredients, so leftover ingredients don't go bad and I don't waste anything. Then I shop our pantry and refrigerators. I often find that I have forgotten that I have a partial jar of sun dried tomatoes in the back of the refrigerator or that I already have an unopened jar of mayonnaise in the pantry. And there are other times that I think I should have plenty of rice and it turns out I have way less that I imagined. Then I'm ready for the grocery store.
*Important thing to note* I am a little crazy about how I structure my grocery list... I organize it by department and those departments are listed in the order that they are laid out at my grocery store. I find that if I don't do this with my list, I am bouncing all over the store because I forgot to grab a package of cream cheese when I was in dairy and lemons when I was in produce (bot on complete opposite ends of our grocery store).
How do you organize your groceries once you get them home?
I don't. I have seen those gorgeous pictures of pantries that have bins labeled for different meals and snacks and frankly I don't have the bandwidth for that. I mean I did give it a shot once, but it was a disaster. Because I often use the same ingredients for different meals, some ingredients would only be placed in one of the meal bins and then I would forget that I would need that ingredient for another meal. So, when I would pull out a bin for a meal and an ingredient was missing, it would throw me for a loop and I spent way more time trying ti find the missing ingredients. So, instead every ingredient has a designated place in my pantry and *usually* gets put away properly. But also my kids help put groceries away and kids are often unreliable help.
How does cooking one of the planned meals work?
So, when I meal plan, I designate meals to certain days. Sometimes I stick with that schedule and other times I don't. Like if I have Chicken Marsala planned for Wednesday and Wednesday comes and I'm not feeling Chicken Marsala? I bump it to a different day and choose a different meal that I have planned for later in the week. I'm totally fluid on my meal planning schedule. Also if I have forgotten to thaw meat that also has an impact on what we may or may not be having for dinner. Basically I plan for 7 different meals and as long as I make those meal within the week, I'm golden.
Other questions about meal planning?? Ask me!
Here's our weekly meal plan for April 6-April 12
1. Spinach and Cheese Enchiladas, Cilantro Lime Rice, Tomato Corn Salad
2. Lemon Garlic Chicken, Baked Beans, Fritos Corn Salad
3. Chicken with Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Broccoli, Focaccia Bread
4. Chicken Enchiladas, Refried Beans, Rice
5. Lime Chicken with Tomato Avocado Salsa, Mexican Zucchini, Black Beans with Rice
6. Breadstick Pizza Casserole, Roasted Broccoli
7. Roasted Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Green Bean Casserole, Stuffing, Biscuits
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