My chart looks like this. I actually just print the blank chart and fill it in, but I typed this week's notes up so you could see how I do it. This is word for word what I have down this week:
Sunday
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Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Prep for Today:
Prep for Tomorrow:
- make chicken stock
- thaw beef
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Prep for Today:
Prep for Tomorrow:
- soak cracker wheat
- skim stock
- soak beans
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Prep for Today:
- make crackers
Prep for Tomorrow:
- thaw lasagna
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Prep for Today:
- make Nonie's applesauce
Prep for Tomorrow:
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Dinner Plan:
- whole chicken
garlic
lemon
- sweet potatoes
honey
ginger
- green salad
lettuce/kale/chard
tomatoes, cuc.
dressing
- stuffed artichokes
bread crumbs
- leftover homemade ice cream
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Dinner Plan:
- hamburgers
pickles, tomatoes
lettuce
raw cheese
mustard, ketchup
mushrooms
- corn on the cob
- leftover sweet potatoes
- green salad
lettuce/kale/chard
tomatoes, cuc.
dressing
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Dinner Plan:
- stew
leftover chicken
chicken stock
carrots, celery
kale/chard/spinach
zucchini, onion
broccoli, garlic
mushrooms
red potatoes
- homemade crackers
- raw cheese
- Melissa's homemade brownies
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Dinner Plan:
- leftover lasagna
- peaches, pears
- asparagus
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Thursday
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Friday
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Saturday
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Prep for Today:
Prep for Tomorrow:
- grind and soak tortilla flour
- soak beans
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Prep for Today:
- make guacamole
- make tortillas
- start beans 6-8 hrs EARLY
Prep for Tomorrow:
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Prep for Today:
Prep for Tomorrow:
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Dinner Plan:
CAMERON
- pasta
artichoke hearts
peppers
mushrooms
spinach
cream
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Dinner Plan:
- stuffed tortillas
rice, beans
veggies
zucchini
peppers
onion
tomatoes
guacamole
sour cream or cheese
- fruit
- homemade ice cream
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Dinner Plan:
- out to eat with Cinde and Anai
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Ideas for next week: stuffed peppers, veggie lasagna, stir-fry with rice, homemade pizza, Ariel's avocado pasta
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I know there are fancy websites out there like Plantoeat, which I think is a fantastic idea. You input your recipes to your calendar and it exports the ingredients to a shopping list for you. But it poses two problems for me --- one, the recipe importing takes too much time (though once you have a bunch stocked up I'm sure it's an overall time saver), and two, if I get on the computer to do meal planning I will get sucked into other online distractions like email, news, or blog-reading. That's why I print my own chart off and do everything by hand.
This is a system I know I"ll stick to! It took me less than a half hour to plan my whole week last night, and to make my shopping list. Here is what I do:
- I pick up my organic produce basket from Bountiful Baskets Saturday morning.
- I note what is in the basket, and what is already in my fridge, and plan the next week's meals Saturday afternoon or evening (or Sunday morning).
- I fill in the above chart, and as I fill it in I make a shopping list for any remaining necessary ingredients.
- I go shopping Saturday afternoon or Monday after work.
- At the store, I don't let myself buy anything that's not on my list (today I passed up 4-5 things I would normally just have thrown into my basket, like...mmm...those strawberries :( or cottage cheese) I make an exception if I know it's something we need that I simply forgot to write down, like dishwashing soap.
- I proceed with my week, carefree and organized. No hastily concocted meals, no missing ingredients, etc. And definitely saving money.
- As the week goes on I remain flexible if necessary, and of course jot down ideas for next week as they come to mind.
I'm also holding on to all receipts for later accounting. This month, I want to write up how much I spent on each individual food item and analyze where I can save next month. Since that will be kind of time-consuming I only intend to do it until I get a good handle on things.
It's been two weeks now, and I'm loving the change!
I also had a similar problem of going way over budget, and while my system is much like yours, Jeremy and I sat down together and pulled out my receipts for this month and did some basic calculations of what our recipes cost. It was eye opening for him and refreshing for me. There were a few meals that we had on our menu that we simply don't love enough to have them be some of our most expensive meals. So we crossed them off. It'd kind of liberating.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant ideas, Meredith! I've tried similar ideas to this, and I think I need to try again.
ReplyDeleteGreat organization! Great ideas! There is nothing like the freedom that meal-planning brings. Everyone is happier when this is in place, including the pocketbook. Your weekly planning sheet look a lot like mine with the prep section, which you have to have if you're preparing a lot of your food traditionally. Great idea to do the planning after you get your surprise produce box. My shopping list is a separate column on the same paper.
ReplyDeleteI'll do a post sometime on how we afford to eat real when it includes pricey items like raw dairy, grass-fed meat, coconut oil, etc. Love to hear everyone's thoughts on that.
How fun to have Cinde and Anai out! That will be a treat.