How I Menu Plan (something new)


This is new to me. I was never a menu planner or a grocery list maker. I've always just gone to the store and filled my cart according to the meats on sale and the deals going on. I would then make our meals for the week with what I had bought.
However, in the attempt to cut down on stress in my life and simplify I've found that making a weekly menu can be incredibly helpful. I've been doing it for a solid month now and loving it. While we don't eat meals on certain days, I do have an overall list of the meals that we have for the week and then I shuffle them around to the days that we need them to be on (crockpot meals for the days that I'm out, or super busy with work, meals that take more prep time for the weekends when we are at home, etc).
I never thought that I would say this, but so far I've been loving it! It's making cooking so much easier, getting me out of the same-old-same-old rut, and I feel like I've been feeling way more inspired lately.

Here's what this week's menu looks like, and what was on my grocery list:

Menu

Saturday: b.b.q. kielbasa, with rice and steamed broccoli.
Sunday: bacon corn chowder, served with crusty bread.
Monday: meatloaf, potatoes, carrots, and applesauce.
Tuesday: tacos (we almost always have tacos on Tuesday night).
Wednesday (Halloween): white bean chicken chili (it's tradition to have chili on Halloween).
Thursday: homemade fish and chips.
Friday: pizza, grilled cheese, or something else that's easy.

*I did get stuff for turkey burgers, but Adam doesn't' like them. So I might make turkey burgers for me and regular hamburgers for him. That would be either Thursday or Friday night.

On my list I had:

dish soap
cat food
paper towel

green olives
canned white beans
coffee
chips
chicken breast
kielbasa
gr. beef
bacon
broccoli
carrots
lettuce
cucumbers
bananas
eggs
yogurt
cheese
butter
bread
rolls

I already always have the basics on hand and we have a freezer full of meat, so anything you are not seeing on the list we had (fish, gr. turkey, rice, potatoes, onions, applesauce). Some weeks I have to stock up so I buy more. This week I had most of the stuff so there wasn't a very long list.

There you have it! That's how I've been shopping and what's on the menu this week (keep in mind the days that we actually eat the meals may get switched around!).
I'm curious, how many of you menu plan and how many just go and in and grab the deals and plan as you go?

Comments

  1. I meal plan, but I also shop the sales. Example - one of the grocery stores had a nice sale on sirloin tip roast a couple of weeks ago, so I went and got 2 nice big roasts. One I froze whole, I will do it in the crockpot and from that roast we will get a nice roast dinner, french dip sandwiches and vegetable beef soup. The other I cut into 3 portions. One we had a roast dinner and one will be sirloin "steak tips" and one will become broccoli beef. I work from home, so the leftovers are my lunches, too. Another place had pork loin roast - I got a nice one and half will be pork roast in the crockpot for Sunday lunch (and leftovers) and the other half I cut into nice boneless pork chops. Could do carnitas or BBQ pork. So many possibilities.

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