Hey, Hey, It’s time for another How We…Wednesday!! A bunch of friends link up with Shay and Erika to share how to…whatever!! This week we’re talking about how we meal plan.
I used to be pretty regimented about meal planning when I had to cook for 6 people. The people got hungry, started circling the kitchen island and needed to be fed! My meals were meat heavy- (hello teenage boys) back then!! These days, it’s just 3 of us home and my daughter is sometimes here for dinner or sometimes not. Honestly, it hardly feels like I should cook- just for the 2 of us!! It should be a YOYO (you’re on your own) dinner every night!
Well, what I like to do is follow a simple skeleton for meal planning. Our week typically consists of:
3 chicken meals
1 beef meal
1 meatless meal
1 pork or fish meal
1 meal out
Does this always work out?? Nope. I’ve found that we have more “leftover nights” now because we have less eaters and Hello? who wouldn’t want a break in the kitchen every once in awhile!!
SO, I made these binders….to help me decide what to make for dinner!
As you can see, one is for Main dishes and one is for desserts. I usually don’t use the Dessert binder very often, it’s not good for my waistline! LOL!!!
My Main Dish binder has tabs for
BEEF
CHICKEN
PORK/FISH
SOUPS
SIDE DISHES
My Dessert Binder has tabs for:
BREAD
BREAKFAST
BROWNIES/BARS
CAKE
COOKIES
PIE
MISC.
I use these photo pocket pages to store my recipes.
So, it’s easy peasy to meal plan. I just pick out 3 chicken recipes I want to make and write down the ingredients that I need on my grocery list. Taking the recipe out of the binder and putting it in the left hand pocket for easy access makes the process of making the recipe go so much smoother!
Another tip I have is to categorize the grocery list according to aisles or departments in your grocery store. Not sure if this happens to you, but every so often my grocery store changes things around and I can’t find anything. Well, that’s why I ordered a custom made grocery list that is divided into departments so I hopefully don’t have to back track. Here’s what my list looks like”
After I make my list, I will head to the store OR order on Wal-mart’s website and drive in and pick it up!!
So, that’s it- that’s how I meal plan!
OH, how I love to share recipes!! This time of the year is so great because it’s starting to be SOUP weather! Here you’ll find my favorite soup recipes!!
Curry Chicken Soup ( p.s. I don’t add the curry!)
Tortellini Soup (make the day before)
Have a SUPER week and I’ll catch ya on the flip side!!!