A few helpful tips

When I first sent this message out, one of our participants sent me a message with some tips. I liked them, and thought I'd share with everyone else.

...each Sunday I sit down and plan the meals for that week. Now, that doesn’t mean if I put “beef stroganoff, greens, pasta” on Monday night that we have to eat it on Monday night. Any night that week is fine. Planning it out by day helps me to understand if I’ll be gone one night or if Jayson will be or if we already have plans to go out. It also helps me remember what I need to take out of the freezer each morning. So, getting back to it…I plan for the week on the left side and on the right side I write out my grocery list – what I’ll need to make the stuff. I’m not hardcore about it, but I try to organize it by the layout of the grocery store: veggies in the top left, dairy top right, meat below the veggies, canned/dried goods below the dairy, etc.

Now, here’s the part I recently started doing that I love: when I get back from the store, I hang up the plan for the week on the fridge. Then, I fold a clean menu plan and hang that right by it. When I realize I’m running low on OJ or olive oil, I add that to the blank list. Then, when I’m doing my planning on Sunday, I unfold the sheet we’ve been adding stuff to and begin again. It doesn’t eliminate the need to run to the store in the middle of cooking, but it does help.

Also, I always plan a night for left-overs or homemade pizza or just throwing something together. That way if I’m not feeling motivated or if we have tons of leftovers we can clear out the fridge/pantry. I also usually make a few notes on the bottom with lunch ideas and breakfast stuff – especially if I buy anything special for those meals.