Ok, giving you guys a BIG overview of my planning. Im starting out with a rough idea of how my weekly planning goes, I dont always get a chance to do this, and some weeks work out better than others, but in a perfect world, this is how I try to work it weekly: 1-Sit down over the weekend with a meal plan note pad, I make sure I look over the deep freeze and inside freezer to see what meats we could use. I also make a mental note of what produce is in the fridge that I need to use up. 2- I check our schedule for the week to see what nights my husband is home (shift work) and what days are packed full and allow less time for cooking. 3-Then I pull out my recipe box and flip through.... Taking those following things into consideration (what we have/ what I need to use/ how much time I have to cook/ for how many people) I plug in some recipes onto the week. Usually I only end up needing to do 4 big meals a week. Either we are at familys for the other, or I do leftovers, or Kyle is out working so I do simple for the kids and I. Often I will make a large batch of whatever, then freeze half it to pull out later on the busy days as well. Sample from last week (over explaining it a bit maybe....) Sunday: (kyle is working) WING IT! (I think I made pancakes and fruit) Monday: BBQ ribs (bought on crazy sale a couple weeks ago, 8 bucks for 2 racks of ribs) , roasted new potatoes (buy bulk, not packaged, much cheaper) greek salad (bought feta 2 for 1 a couple weeks ago as well) Tuesday: One pot bacon and pasta meal and Salad Wednesday: Black bean burgers and fruit Thursday: Not home Friday: Tandoori bbq chicken, Aloo Gobi (curried cauliflower and potatoes) and basmati and green pea pilaff Saturday: At my parents for dinner Whew. Ok, so I got that on paper, and figured out the recipes for each meal, checked it against what I had in the house, and then made a list of EXACTLY what I need to buy: -potatoes -1 cucumber -2 tomatoes -fruit (LOTS) -cauliflower - cilantro -carrots -lettuce And thats it. (I already had some other leftover produce in the fridge from last week) So here is the thing, the meat I usually buy in bulk when I find it on sale, then divide and throw in my deep freeze to build a meal around later. Dairy I do maybe once or twice a month (we dont really drink milk) in the states for a TON of cheese and like 8 lbs of butter (guilty- I bake a lot and do not use margarine) So we are usually stocked for that. Weekly I buy produce, based ONLY on what we need for the meals that week. Plus a TON of fruit, we eat a lot. But again, fruit I ONLY buy what is cheap (i.e. bananas, strawberries as of late, oranges, etc.) I dont buy expensive fruit unless it is in season (like peaches, plums, grapes etc). The buns for the burgers, I had actually grabbed a HUGE bag of hamburger buns at Superstore that were 50% off, then have them in the deep freeze and take them out a couple as needed. I also have my own private spice emporium built over time (Fruticana is great for this!) So whenever I try new recipes, I never usually need the ingredients. I bake everything from scratch (nearly) So I have industrial amounts of whole wheat and white flour. Sugar, baking powder, cocao, brown sugar etc are all bought in bulk as needed. But its not a frequent thing as I am usually well stocked (because I get so much at once) Rice, I buy in bulk from Costco (basmati) and 20lbs at a time from superstore for Jasmine. I keep a pantry stocked with a lot of bulk dried fruits/ nuts/ quinaoa/ beans/ lentils/ noodles/ canned coconut milk/ canned tomatoes and tomato paste. Bought in large quantities at at time from Superstore or costco. The other big question: How often do I shop? Well, it depends on how well I can organize my meal plan. I buy specific things at specific stores. I write lists as I run out of thing based on where I need them from (usually produce store, costco or superstore) My family only has one car, which is part of the reason I HAVE to be so organized, I cant just run out to grab something. My husband works 12 hour shifts, so if we dont have it in the house, its just tough luck. So I do a big super store trip maybe 2 a month, produce weekly, dairy once a month and costco once a month. But that can vary a bit. Also, sometimes the stars align where you end up running out of a lot of expensive stuff all at once (i.e. no meat left) and end up with a $700 month, but then I know that I am well stocked once again, which means it will bring down my bill over the next couple of months. It is a bit of an ebb and flow. Being organized and having a wide variety of the basics on hand, means that week to week I really dont need to go and buy that much. Because I make everything from scratch I always have a lot of components in my cupboard, which takes time to learn your cooking habits and what you use/ dont use. Ok this is getting way too long... Does it help? Let me know your questions!
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 20:40:08 +0000
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