{Teach Me Tuesday Link-Up #2} Meal Planning

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Hello! My name is Emily. Amanda and I have been friends
for…. 6 years – ish. We met through mutual friends quite a while ago and though
the group of friends we had has faded, somehow we stuck together. I am truly
blessed by her friendship and really enjoy the time we spend together. We can
talk about most anything, even if our viewpoints differ (which I think is a
sign of a very healthy friendship).

I am a stay-at-home mom, I am extremely thankful and blessed to be where I am in life.  I know you’ve seen
pictures of Amanda sporting her blue and pink apron; that was a gift
of my handy work. In my spare time (there isn’t much, but I have to have a
hobby to keep me sane) I love to sew and craft.

Christmas baking party..Emily and I on the right

 Enough about me. Amanda has asked me to write a post for her about meal planning, something we’ve discussed a few times when she visits and sees our weekly menu on the fridge. 

Happy New Year! Ok, now it’s time to get serious, or so we say. It
seems we either put a big crunch on our fitness or our finances (or both!) every new
January. And this is true for us too, almost every year. January 2010 our
church offered Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace course. Joe and I excitedly signed
up. Boy what an eye-opener!! After being married only 7 months it was great to
lay everything out and look at a financial ‘roadmap’. The course is AMAZING if
you need any help with finances, we highly recommend it!

We were given examples of and encouraged to set up a budget… ouch! But it’s a good ouch, ya know. When you only have a certain $$ amount allotted
for food, you need to have a plan.

One of the programs that Dave Ramsey endorses
is E-Mealz. You pay a small fee and choose your ‘plan’ (how many people you’re
feeding and what store you shop at), then each week they email you a meal plan
and grocery list for that week. It’s AWESOME if meal planning is not your
thing. I found it very helpful, I saved a print out of each
week’s plan and after 3 months (when it was time to renew the subscription) I
decided I could probably figure it out myself. So, I started writing out a
weekly menu and grocery shopping only once a week (usually). We were able to
get a good handle on our grocery budget and a realistic view of what/how much
we actually spend on food.

      If $$ isn’t your issue but fitness and physique are… a meal

plan is a good idea for you too! That way you’ll know what you have available
to eat, and having a written plan can decrease your skipping meals and ‘accidental’
binges. If you keep a copy or journal of each weeks plan you’ll be able to look back and track your
progress too!

It does take a little time upfront to work out your plan.
Sometimes it’s only 15 or 20 minutes and sometimes more like an hour, it all depends
on what we have going on and how creative I feel that day.

Usually I flip
through my recipe box and pull out a few cards of favorite recipes for the
week, then I ask Joe (my beloved hubby) for at least one meal suggestion of something he wants to
eat that week. (He does not enjoy helping me plan this so I figure if he can
offer one night, I’ll take care of the other 6… that’s fair right?! Hehehe)
It’s always good to be trying new recipes so I have a stash of ‘new recipes’
and I try to incorporate one of those each week (but I do have a tendency to
find more new desserts than meals).

Next it’s a good idea to look at the activities scheduled
for that week and plan the meals accordingly. A day when I will be gone most of
the day is usually a crock pot meal (yes, even in the summer… I LOVE my crock
pot), if I know one day might be hectic, I’ll plan for an ‘easy’ meal, or the
nights Joe isn’t working I try to plan his choice or favorites, etc. Just work
around your life. Sometimes on Sundays if I’m making a big lunch/dinner after
church we can just have a sandwich or popcorn for supper. And it’s a-ok to plan a night of leftovers if you are making a few big meals in a row and you know they will fill the fridge.

** Truthfully what ends up on my dry-erase menu and when we
actually eat the meals can be entirely different. But I do find it extremely
helpful to have a list of the meals that I know I have the ingredients for. Then
I can make all these meals before needing to go to the store again. It’s great to be able to look ahead and see how you can help yourself be more efficient, like prepping salads for 2 nights or browning extra hamburger that you know you will need soon.**

Shopping the ads with my favorite little helper. Not a very organized event, but we have fun!

Once I have my meal plan for the week (or sometimes 2 weeks)
I make out my grocery list. I have to have a list, it’s just how my brain
works. Having the list helps keep me from impulsing on things that
look/sound/smell good at the store. And even if something is on sale, I don’t
have to buy it unless it fits in the menu that week.

Another tip is to plan/shop according to what’s on sale and
to cook seasonally (grilling in the summer, soups in the winter, etc.). We buy
our meat in bulk from the locker to store in a deep freeze, but if that doesn’t
fit your lifestyle I highly recommend looking for meat when it’s on sale.

I have tried planning/shopping a month at a time…
ridiculous, did not work for us. However, I do have a friend who writes out her
menu for a month and then shops weekly. I might adjust to her strategy because
then we won’t run into the “we’re always eating the same things” problem.

Your meal plan might look totally different than mine,
depending on your family and life.

I’m at home and therefore have to have a
plan for 3 meals a day…. Breakfast is usually whatever we’re in the mood for
that morning, generally always simple stuff: eggs, toast, cereal, yogurt,
(occasionally cinnamon rolls) etc. Lunch is a little more tricky, I try to plan
3 or 4 lunch-y foods each week and then also sub in leftovers and one day of
mac & cheese (my toddler’s fave!). We eat our meals as a family, whoever is
home/awake. Suppers are the main meal where we are basically always all home so
they are the ‘main event’ of my weekly menu.  

We do have a family blog where I post about our activities
so that relatives at a distance can keep up with us. Sometimes I have recipes
on there or other DIY activities (How to Dye Pasta) and I’ll be adding a homemade
laundry soap tutorial real soon, one more area where we save some pennies, it’s
super easy!

Thanks for taking the time to read, I’d love to here how meal planning works for you! And thank you Amanda for letting me guest post on your blog! Blessings!!
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Do you meal plan?  Why?  
Did it take you awhile to get into the groove of things?