Over Christmas break as Katsu studied for his quals, I mostly rested and such. But I did get one thing done - a meal menu.
I have always been interested in doing this. Before, as I was thinking of going to the grocery store, I would pull out my cookbooks ... at least 5 or 6 of them ... and then a few hours later after imaging all the delightful dishes I could make, I would finally come up with a list of 7 or so dinner recipes and what to buy at the grocery store. A grand way to spend an afternoon, but perhaps not very efficient.
Then, during my first trimester, I was so tired that basically Katsu cooked every night. Katsu is a great cook, but after a few months, I was feeling tired of pasta with homemade sauce. So, my plan was to come up with a few weeks of planned menus with a variety of healthy foods. My goal was :
1 fish dish, 1 mainly vegetable dish, 1 easy (crock-pot or such) dish, 1-2 rice/pasta dish, 1-2 meat dishes, 1 bean dish.
I originally planned on coming up with four weeks, but we had too many favorite recipes, so we have a list of 6 weeks of recipes.
Then, I created an Excel spreadsheet of everything we normally shop for at the grocery store. I copied this sheet for each week and then underlined each ingredient that we needed for that week's recipes. Now, I just print off the grocery/menu list, go through the cupboards and see what we need and highlight it, and voila a week's worth of menus.
Right now, we just finished up our first six week run and it worked! It usually takes us a little longer than a week to get through a week's worth of recipes because things come up - ward dinners, busy evenings, eating out, etc. And sometimes we are lazy or things are out of season so we switch it up. But overall, it has made meal planning, cooking, and shopping so much easier.
And by the way, for those who didn't know, yes, I'm pregnant and I'm due May 4th, with probably a boy.
3 comments:
Sounds like a plan for sure! I remember your Mom doing that and it is a great idea. I used to do it but have gotten out of the mode. I need to regroup and do it again. Sounds like you are doing well and we can't wait to see you in June. We have our reservation at the Marriott where the wedding will be held. We are excited! Love you, Grandma and Granpa Clark xoxoxoxxo
that's awesome! We do a simplified version of that and I love it, but now you've made me want to do more! We have an excel file just of meals we like and we set up a menu for 2 weeks and shop for 2 weeks of groceries... but 6 weeks is awesome!
What a very organized idea! Maybe I'll try it, I'm so tired of 4:00 coming around every day and wondering what we're going to eat for dinner. Too late for anything in the crockpot or a run to the grocery store (because Spencer is usually asleep). What a great solution!
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