I know some of you have expressed interest in meal planning and grocery shopping lists. I do this religiously every time I go grocery shopping. I make a meal plan, make a list, then stick to the list (pretty strictly I might add). It really helps take the stress out of trying to figure out what is for lunch and dinner because I have so many great options to choose from and KNOW I have all the ingredients on hand to make them. It also saves my family money because I don’t make those impulse buys at the grocery store too often. (YES-grocery stores are MARKETING MAGNETS!!! I watched a whole show on the process of setting up a grocery store to get consumers to spend the most amount of money.) I thought I would walk you all through my meal planning, grocery shopping prep so that maybe it can help you start meal planning or perhaps tweak the process you already have. (PS..I am always looking for time/money saving tips for grocery shopping/meal planning so if you have some good info-PLEASE SHARE!!)
Step 1-RAID YOUR PANTRY
See what supplies you already have and maybe find some inspiration from your ingredients
Step 2-Check out local ads and coupons
Maybe you can use an on sale item to offer inspiration or ideas for your meals..PLUS save some $$.
Step 3-Write up your meal plan
I used to do my meal plan day by day but realized that my pregnancy whims and cravings had me switching days around so now I just write up a list of dinner’s and a list of lunches or lunch food. It also makes it easy because I do NOT cook full blown meals EVERY SINGLE DAY. Some days I just do the quick lunches or dinner ideas OR If I make a big dinner the night before I will usually have a day of leftovers. The goal is NOT to micro manage what we eat every single day, rather just take the stress out of wondering what is for dinner…even if that dinner happens to be grilled ham and cheese, steamed veggies, and fruit…which from time to time does happen and is TOTALLY acceptable. Here is an example of the meal list I made for this week.
DINNER OPTIONS
Meal 1
Taco Hotdish (Casserole for those NON Minnesotans), Fresh lettuce salad and Sugar free jello w/fresh strawberries
Meal 2
Chicken Stir Fry w homemade Fried Rice
Meal 3
Turkey burgers, sweet potato fries and watermelon
Meal 4
Corndog Casserole (this is a new recipe I found and decided to try because of Tanner’s LOVE of hotdogs..I’ll let you know how it goes), steamed veggies, and pineapple
Meal 5
Grilled BBQ Chicken, grilled potatoes and asparagus, pasta salad
Meal 6
Homemade chicken noodle soup and homemade bread
LUNCH OPTIONS
Meal 1
Turkey and Swiss wraps and cottage cheese w/fruit
Meal 2
English Muffin Pizzas
Meal 3
Homemade Mac n Cheese w/veggies
Meal 4
Chicken nuggets, steamed broccoli and yogurt
Meal 5
Breakfast for lunch-(Blueberry Pancakes and turkey bacon)
Like I said before..this is just a list of options. I don’t stick to it like it is LAW. Sometimes if I am feeling lazy I will even go SUPER crazy and have a lunch options for dinner or vice versa…CRAZY I know.
STEP 4-Make a Shopping list
Based on your meal plan and what ingredients you already have in stock, make a grocery list. I like to make categories on a sheet of paper: Produce, Frozen, Meat, Dairy, Canned, and Other. I write these categories down over the sheet then go through meal by meal and write down the ingredients I will need in the right category. It makes it easier to grocery shop rather than having a laundry list of random items sprawled over the page. It also can help gage how much $$ you will be spending on your trip to the market-lots of meat equals a higher bill. However, if you stock up when there are sales and coupons on the higher priced items you can really save LOTS!!
After you have all the meal ingredients written on you list go through and write any incidentals, snacks or breakfast food you may need/want. For example: I needed brown sugar, breakfast cereal, vegetable oil, olive oil and fresh fruit for snacks this week so I added it to the list. Paul is a chip FIEND so he requested sour cream and onion chips as well as frozen pizzas. Writing down even these seemingly SIMPLE things will save you $$. Put it on your list then ONLY get what is on your list.
Step 5-Enjoy your STRESS FREE approach to making dinner
I know this sounds SUPER detailed and OCD but it seriously takes me 15-30 minutes from start to finish. PLUS it makes my grocery shopping and dinner prep STRESS FREE!!! I just go to my list and poof –Dinner is done for the night. I only started planning lunches because the dinner menu was working out so great and I found myself wondering what to make Tanner and myself for lunch everyday with out doing the SAME OLD THING. It would also be helpful for working moms/dads who want to save money and pack their lunches daily.
Did I mention it saves $$$ too?? Oh I did…Well- With the exception of milk, eggs and bread runs in between..this amount of groceries and these meals can feed me and my family for about 2-2.5 weeks (3 if I am feeling extra sassy). But there are only six dinners you say?!?!- remember…I don’t do BIG meals every night, there are leftovers, I use lunch stuff for dinner sometimes, AND there are days when we are running or busy when that grilled cheese and veggies is the dinner of choice. From time to time I also enjoy the challenge of “throwing” together a meal from what I have laying around. It makes me feel resourceful.
Today’s GRAND total I spent on groceries was: $163.54 (including stocking up on meat and olive oil…2 big $$ items)
(Like I said I won’t need to do another BIG trip for about 2.5 weeks)
Pretty good huh???
Hope you find this helpful!!! Remember: I am always looking for tips too so if you have a secret meal planning/grocery shopping tip PLEASE SHARE!! Also, none of these recipes are SUPER fancy on my meal plan BUT if you want more details on any of the meals just let me know and I can shoot you an e-mail.
Happy Meal Planning!!!
