Meal Planning Made Simple...I Hope

I’ve had “create a weekly meal plan” on my To Do list virtually since I said “I DO.” I've started a few times, but never with a budget friendly goal in mind. Then again, we used to be a two income and childless family. Now we are a family of three; a stay at home mom and one income family of three. I took a good look at our food expenditures over the last few months, and let me tell you, it is not pretty.

So, I’m resolved this time. Yes, resolved. It WILL happen. It MUST happen. There is no choice in the matter.

We simply cannot afford to keep wasting food, eating out, and squandering needed dollars away on junk-heck, even if we’re spending the money on culinary delights, we just can’t afford to do it anymore at the same rate.

Finally, I’ve come up with a plan that I hope will simplify the process and force out some creative BUDGET FRIENDLY meal ideas:

I’m going to use a “fill in the blank” formula for each day of the week. I’m also going to keep the active prep time (and preferably cook time) to thirty minutes or less most days.

1-Family Favorite Night and Sweet Treat for the Week
We’ll do this on Monday. As we do Family Home Evening (FHE) in our home, it makes sense to have the most requested meal made on family fun night. This can be anything from homemade pizza to tacos to baked mac and cheese…whatever kids and hubby love.

We also serve treats after FHE, so I’ll double the recipe so we’ll have extra throughout the week as sweet snacks. My goal is to make most of these treats reasonably healthy (think pumpkin spice cookies or blueberry muffins or cinnamon crepes).

2-Cooking from Food Storage
This night will probably rotate, depending on our schedules, but my hope is to both build my food storage reserve through this night AND learn how to use it and actually have a rotating storage (instead of the sits-on-the-shelf-and-gets-thrown-away-x-years-later-untouched system we currently seem to have). I will buy double the recipe: one for dinner and one for storage. I’m hoping to discover tasty (enough) creative new recipes-hopefully some that really don’t require gas/electric-that are very budget friendly AND nutritious. Wish me luck.

3-Slow-Cooking
I’m betting this day will end up being Sunday most of the time…three hours of church (and a restless kid) later and all you want to do is come home, relax, and chow down; not come home and prepare/cook/clean. This may be another way to increase food storage use (twice in a week couldn’t hurt) and should be very easy on the pockets! Most crock pot recipes don’t require the best cuts of meats and there are always lots of left-overs to use as lunch or another meal.

4-$10 or less
I’m challenging myself to come up with meals that serve everyone for under $10…when I get good at it, I may challenge myself for $5. I figure if I plan meals right, I’ll be able to use left-over ingredients for this meal, use what I have on hand from my general grocery list, and use coupons and sales to make up for the rest. I’m interested in what culinary delights I cook up for this one…DH and I are pretty particular when it comes to the quality of food, and neither of us are fans of casseroles (the cheapest meals out there), so it should be a fun adventure. If all else fails, it will be a Costco night.

5-Left-Overs/Breakfast for Dinner/Freezer or Pre-Prepared Meal Night
I’m giving myself a mid-week break and having a bit of a free for all, likely on Wednesdays as there are often church activities then. I figure we can snack on crock pot (or other) left-overs (though neither of us usually love left-overs), bake a frozen pizza/cook frozen ravioli or I can make breakfast: nothing like whipping up some grits, fried eggs, and a few slabs of bacon…maybe even with some chocolate chip pancakes on the side (all of which we ALWAYS have, is very cheap (we Costco the eggs and bacon), and SUPER yummy). As I get into cooking more, I’ll probably make a few frozen entrees to be cost-effective and bulk up temporary food storage-like if I’m making lasagna or pot pie or soup I’ll make one for dinne and one for the freezer-and we can bite into those this night too.

6-New Recipe FUN!
I discovered cooking while pregnant and LOVE it (I was previously domestically deficient and really had no clue in the kitchen). I salivate over Cooking Light magazine every month, and in the past have made several of their recipes several times a week. Problem is, not all (or many) of the meals that interest me are very budget friendly.

I’m giving myself one night a week to go all out, buy whatever ingredients I need and splurge on a taste-tastic fun new meal. I’ll probably do this Saturday. Ever since the little one became so mobile, she isn’t so patient for me while I attempt to prepare a somewhat laborious meal (hence the 30 minute or less goal most days). Hubby can play with her Saturdays while I actually enjoy my kitchen time (though I’m hoping I discover tasty meal options for the other days too!).

7-DINE-OUT/TAKE-OUT or DATE-NIGHT!
And because I have never been great at being the picture of pure restraint, (and because, honestly, after a long week we deserve it), one night a week will be on our cash but on someone elses cooking and clean up. I’m betting this will almost always be Friday, unless it’s date night, which would likely then be Saturday. DH is sooooo exhausted after a long week’s work and hasn’t a lot of extra to give for baby entertainment…and I’m pretty exhausted myself after dealing with her ALLL day Monday-Friday and could use a brief break. Hubby works lots of Saturdays (part days usually), so it’s often business as usual as soon as we wake up. This night can be as effortless and cheap as Jack in the Crack or Micky D’s, as flavorful as take out from our favorite Thai or Chinese or Mexican, or as eventful as a family night out on the town.

Regarding Breakfast, Lunch and Snacks
The plan of the moment is to plan breakfast by the week, i.e. Smoothies and toast one week, European spread one week, eggs, etc… to simplify life and make sure all fresh fruit/ingredients are used before they go bad. Additionally, we will always have a variety of cereals on hand (thank you, Wal-Mart, for a box of $2.50 Cheerios) and fresh produce.

Lunch for the littl’un will usually consist of left overs from last night’s dinner plus some fresh fruit and milk, and I’ll be sure to always have lunch meat/bread/cheese on hand for sandwiches.

Snacks: aside from fresh fruits and veggies, V8 (a must around here), we always have pudding and crackers and cheese…lots and lots of cheese. I’ll probably also try to keep some tabouli or pasta salad, the hubby’s infamous humus and pita bread, spinach dip and bread bites, or yogurt/yogurt dip (serve with fruit or cinnamon sprinkled pita) on hand.

I’m excited about my plan and feel like it is very doable! Wish me luck and check back in to see how I’m doing…and maybe get a few budget (and time) friendly meal ideas