I've written before about how one of my saving graces when life gets busy is meal planning. It is so nice to not have to "think", at least about dinner. In the past I have meal planned a week at a time with a big grocery shopping trip once a week. Lately, I've totally and completely fallen off the wagon and that is so hard when I'm not able, or have the energy, to stop by the store at a moment's notice. It results in lots of standing in the pantry and usually ultimately ends up in pizza or our favorite local Mexican joint. After noticing that my freezer was actually over flowing with freezer meals and packages of meat I had picked up on sale, all buried under other stuff I had thrown in there on a whim, I knew it was time to do some planning and use it up before it was ruined.
This spurred me to meal plan for two weeks. I usually DREAD meal planning and often get stuck in an idea rut, but this actually went fast. It has only taken me about 30 minutes to plan and make out a grocery list this morning. Not too shabby. I started by printing out a cute little calendar. It makes me smile. I found mine here. And it's FREE. Cause I'm cheap like that! :)
I looked through my freezer and took into consideration meals I had already stashed and meats I had already purchased. Sigh. This makes me feel so. much. better. This isn't written in stone. It will switch around based on whatever trips our trigger and there will still be nights we go love on some queso at the Mexican joint, but overall this helps so much!
Do you meal plan? What's on your menu?
On the menu:
Crab cakes, asparagus, roasted potatoes
BBQ grilled chicken, corn on the cob, salad
Bistro chicken, masked potatoes, fried okra
Pasta e Fagoli Soup (from freezer stash)
Crock pot roast, potatoes and carrots
Lasagna, bread and salad (half will go into the freezer)
Chili (half will go into freezer)
Savory Pepper Steak with rice and salad (half will go into freezer)
Ruby's chicken, corn and green beans
Pasta half and half, salad and bread
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