Menu Planning/Grocery Shopping

Over the past few months, I've really refined my Menu Planning and Grocery shopping.  Really, I've always planned because that is who I am - I can't just walk into the grocery store, pick up a few items, and than go home and cook.  I need a list when I walk into the store.  But I didn't always plan well.  I never planned side dishes, breakfast, or lunch for myself.  Instead I just figured it would "happen" - something would entice me to eat it.  That really isn't the best plan.  After reading lots of other posts, sites, and books on how to plan a menu and how to shop, this is what works for me.  I don't think that the same plan really works for another person - it always has to be tweaked to fit your lifestyle, but if you currently aren't planning, do!  It will save you stress, money and those last minute trips to take-out or the store.  You'll become the "hero" in your home when you put dinner on the table - something different - every night of the week and those special pizza nights will be a treat instead of an expectation.  

What works for me is to shop weekly - I read a book about a family that shopped monthly for a family of seven on $350.00.  Wow.  I tried going two weeks - was in the store for hours and still had to go back the second week to get produce and dairy products.  So once a week works best.  As you may know from my other posts - I'm working to get my budget down from the current $75.00 a week fifty cents at a time and this is part of what helps me.

First, I am a coupon cutter. Honestly, this is not my favorite past time but in order to save as much as possible, I do cut, file and use my coupons.  I found a really great coupon organizer online at http://www.couponmagicorganizer.com/ that I use to the fullest and it has really made actually using my coupons so much easier.  It uses the basic "baseball card" holders but they are designed to withhold the constant use.  It also has tabs for the different areas (I will say, I wish there were blank tabs so I could refine some of the groups but now that I've used it for awhile, I know where I put things) and it has front pockets where I keep my menu/recipes until after I shop and the ad for the week.  Yes, I carry my menu/recipes with me in case I'm going over budget and need to make a quick switch.  I can actually see what ingredients to put back and what I also needed for another recipe.  Don't let coupons deter you from planning, though, it is just one more tool I happened to have in my basket.

Second, look at the weekly Ad.  I only really shop one store, Meijer, and that is dictated more by my location.  If I had others like Aldi's, I would probably try to save more and shop there for most things.  Or shop at Super Target, Meijer and others if they were all close; the cost in gas currently cancels out any sales the other stores may have.   I use the ad to match to coupons and also to try and plan meals - especially meat - on what is on sale.

Third, plan your weekly menu.  Mine runs from Saturday-Friday because I normally shop on Friday night.  To plan you menu you need to plan all things.  Look at your calendar - are there nights that you will be gone or the family will be gone? Are there plans on a certain night that will dictate dinner?? Once you have done that, than start with which ever meal is the easiest and plan all things - the sides, the main dish, etc.  This includes snacks for you and the kids - it is hard to snack when there is nothing in the house! 

Fourth, take your recipes and fill in the grocery list, double checking your pantry so you don't over buy or assume you have something you need.  After years of having a random list, I finally created a master shopping list in order of my store.  This has cut my time in the store down because I don't have to backtrack all the time.  Make sure you get everything on there you need - even if you have made a dish 100 times, double check it to make sure you haven't forgotten anything

Fifth, shop :-)

So, how does my menu work?  It's simple.  First, each day is assigned a "theme" that I use for dinner:

Saturday: Fun, Appetizers, Eating Out, Grilling (Pretty broad because I don't like cooking on Saturday's)
Sunday: Crockpot or a long cooking oven meal to cook during church; Sunday night I try to plan something "fun"
Monday: New Recipe Night
Tuesday: Ethnic - Pasta, Pizza, or other ethnic based meals
Wednesday: Chicken or Beef
Thursday: Breakfast or Pork (I added breakfast meals here since most breakfast meat is pork)
Friday: Seafood, Grilling, Family favorites, or out - which is normally Pizza or Taco's from our favorite place in Grand Rapids)

This might not seem like a big deal but it really makes picking meals easier and I don't end up with beef 7 days in a row!

Here's a Sample Menu:
Saturday:
B: Toast or Cereal (keep breakfast simple but still plan)
L: Cheese slices, crackers, apple, tomatoes
D: Pizza or Tacos (I'm not going to the store until Saturday night!)

Sunday:
B: Toast or Cereal
L: Stuffed Pork Loin, Baked Potatoes, Green Beans and Rolls
D:  Hot Broccoli Dip, Cheesy Bacon Bites, Chocolate Chip Cheeseball and Crackers

Monday:
B: Cereal and Fruit
L: PB and J Roll ups, Gold Fish Crackers, Apple
D: Sweet and Sour Crockpot Pork, Rice, Salad

Tuesday:
B: Aunt J. Breakfast Entrees (they were on Sale!)
L: Quisidilla's, black olives, tomatoes, apple
D: Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, Salad

Wednesday:
B: Toast with Cin and Sugar and Fruit
L: Meat Sandwich, Pretzels, Apple
D:  Chicken Pot Pie, Salad

Thursday:
B: Cereal
L: Cheese and Crackers, Tomatoes, Apple
D: Breakfast Casserole, Banana Sour Cream Bread, Sauteed Apples

Friday:
B: Toast
L: Leftovers
D: Taco Bell

Snacks: Pretzels, Gold Fish, Graham Crackers
Sweets: Chocolate Chip Cookies, Strawberry Pie

It's that easy :-)  I will say that our breakfasts generally stay the same - it is just Josh and I so we have cereal, fruit, toast with jam or he likes Nutri grain bars.  My downfall is still planning my lunch - the lunches you see are more for Josh (I don't like some of them but he does!!)  This was actually last weeks menu - some of the items I didn't end up fixing so I carried them over to next week.  That's part of the plan - sometimes something comes up - just move that item to the following week and part of your planning is done!

Hopefully this didn't confuse you but rather inspired you to maybe even plan just one or two full days worth of meals.  If you have questions, please feel free to ask too!  I'm still working on this process but am more than willing to help. 

"The Love of the Lord Endures

This weeks song is "The Love of the Lord Endures" by Joy Williams.  Several years ago, I drove to the Detroit area for a wedding of a dear friend.  I had a small part in the wedding so I went over for the rehearsal and stayed the night by myself since Darryl had to work.  On the way home, I heard this song and fell in love with it.  As soon as I got home, I looked it up and ordered the Soundtrack so I could sing it.  It was over a year later before I had that chance.  It wasn't long after I got the Soundtrack that we found out we were expecting Joshua and than I went on bedrest for the last 17 weeks of that pregnancy.  I continued to practice it though and it eventually became "Josh's" song.  Why?  Because at 13 weeks old, he was struggling to go to sleep . . so I held him close, sang a a few lullaby's to him and finally sang this at the top of my lungs over and over until he fell asleep.  The next night, I sang some lullaby's and than sang this . . twice and he was out.  That became our routine - I would sing a full misc. songs and end with this - often he was out before I hit the last chorus.  When I was finally able to sing at church again, I was practicing this song while Josh was in his jumparoo - he stop jumping as soon as I started singing and just sat there and listened - smiling the whole time.  It was too cute!!!  

Beyond the cute memories, this song has some powerful words:

The verses:
In all that I have found,
Your evidence abounds
I've always sensed your fingerprints
If I just look around

And yet this grand display
Will all soon pass away
So I hold on to the mighty truth
That your love is here to stay

Life has let me down
In wealth, joy can't be found
I've searched for peace in all of these
But I have always found . ..


And the Chorus:
The Love of the Lord endures
The love of the Lord endures
If there's one thing I can be sure,
Its that the love of the Lord Endures

Even though it has been at least a year since I sang this song, I still find myself humming the tune or singing in the words and it is one that I keep "in my back pocket" always ready to go. 

I hope you enjoy it :-)  It is currently # 1 on my player; I wish it was a better recording but I think you'll get the idea.

31 in 31 - Day 23

One of the "events" we've been waiting for with our boys is for them to actually start to play together.  That is one of the many nice things about them being so close.  The playing together has not been going well - Josh likes to play his way, and Nate . . well Nate just doesn't understand what Josh expects.  Today however, I saw a this:

Yep, they are playing legos together.  Josh also played hide and seek with Nate today - he would hide wherever, behind a basket, around a corner, and when Nate would start coming toward him, he would stick his head out and just start laughing which in turn made Nate laugh.  No, it isn't perfect yet because Josh still likes the game to be played HIS way and if Nate doesn't follow those secret "instructions", he gets a gentle push and tumbles over (yes, we are working on this!) But I couldn't resist this picture as the picture of the day!!

Labor Day "Laborings"

(Updated 09/6/10)

What are your plans for this upcoming Labor Day Weekend?  It always seems like Labor Day weekend is the last big push to get everything done outside that we can before fall sets in.  It is even more the case this year since we actually get (are you ready!!) a TWO day weekend!!  Yes, you read that right.  I know, you are thinking . .. but you should have three or even four days but Darryl will work Friday and Saturday giving us a full two days off!  Since January, he has worked two jobs, 6 days=80 hours a week so we haven't had a lot of time to do things around here.  We enjoy these "long" holiday weekends immensely!  Needless to say, I've been working on "our" to do list for about a month!  It keeps changing though so I finally had to nail it down this week so we could plan our supplies.  We will be working and playing - doing some projects around the house and taking some time out for family time as well.  So here's our list:

My husband will be:
1) Painting the outside of our garage - this is a project that we started LAST Labor day - but after labor day it rained every weekend and than got too cold to paint so there were two sides left undone.  This WILL be done this weekend . . .if it doesn't rain!  Completed 09/5/10
2) Re-hanging our front storm door - one of the terrible summer storms we had ripped our door off the house; it has remained in the garage all summer but has to get put up now that fall is coming so I can actually open the door and get a breeze! Completed 09/06/10
3) Pulling out two bushes - neither of us our outdoor people but I have made it my goal to do some minor landscaping over the next few years.  My project next summer is the bed near our main entrance - so to prep for spring, he is pulling out the two of the ugliest bushes I've ever seen.   On a side note - I got $25.00 worth of free bulbs from a flower company and I can't wait to plant them this fall!

I will be (or at least my goals are)
1) Finishing this years landscaping project - I started on the flower bed by our garage area and have been laying pavers ALL SUMMER LONG or so it seems!  I only have a a small section to finish plus some more major weeding.  I really need to lay some mulch down but that might have to wait for a few weeks Didn't even touch this - not enough good weather this weekend.
2) Finishing the inside organization of my garage - This started about a month ago while doing my garage sale.  So I need to get the last of the stuff to Good Will and Once upon a Child or on ebay; get rid of the trash that is left in there from our bathroom "re-do", and just make sure everything is picked up and organized so we can park in there again This is half done - everything from the garage sale was either taken to Good Will or moved to the basement.  The garbage is still in there though - that's up to my husband.
3) Vacuuming my living room - Don't get me wrong, I vacuum 3-4 times a week at least but it's just the "middles".  I can't move furniture while I vacuum because I have two little ones that are literally directly under my feet wanting to be part of what I'm doing.  So I will be taking time to move everything in my living room and vacuuming from baseboard to baseboard :-) (While my husband entertains the littles!)
4) Finish Deep Cleaning my Kitchen for the week - each week I deep clean one room (it isn't as bad as it sounds) but because of the heat this week and the fact that my kitchen is not Air Conditioned, I have not gotten through my list.  It is supposed to be very cool this weekend so this task will be easy and should be done in about 45 minutes tops! Completed 09/05/10

If we can get that all done it will be amazing!  There are only so many hours in a day :-)  Plus we plan on spending some family time out - not sure if we will go to Lake Michigan for the day or just to a local park but what ever we do we will have fun!

31 in 31 - Day 22

Ironically after having so much trouble yesterday getting a photo - I got one first thing this morning!  Josh goes into the kitchen with me when it is time to refill his drink cup.  It's something "special" since the gate blocks the kitchen from normal access.  Today, he walked to our door, pointed outside and told me in his own little language that he wanted to go outside, than he walked over and pointed at his shoes.  So, we gathered up Nate and went outside despite the hot, sticky weather (at least it was cloudy and there was a breeze!).  Than, as is the norm, we had to drag all of his toys outside (his outside toys that live in the garage) but today, we weren't done until we pulled the wagon out.  He than pointed at Nate, and started climbing in ready to go for a wagon ride.

So, off we went :-)  They enjoyed it soooo much!

31 in 31 day 21

I did take this picture yesterday but ended up without time last night to post it so I'm posting today.  Yesterday was a just a regular average day - I keep looking for picture ops and saw none so by 7:00 last night i knew I had to just start snapping!  So here it -

What is it?  My house just before bath time LOL  Notice my dog - she is saying "I used to have free reign of this house and now, I can't even get to the couch ;-)  Yes, we have fun, and hopefully it shows.  Don't worry - part of our bedtime routine is picking up all of those toys and Josh is a huge helper. 

Freebie! from Kashi

Check out this link: http://kashi.com/ to get a free snack!  There are three different chocies - I just ordered mine today and am looking forward to trying one of these Kashi bars.  I've never bought anything by Kashi and have wondered what their stuff tastes like.  Their commericials always make it look good and healthy!