What a great day it's been. We got a great inspection report back on the home that we are buying so things are moving forward, and I went to see Fly Lady! If you don't know who the Fly Lady is, you have to check her out. She is an awesome, everyday, regular gal that will help you, in "baby steps", get your home organized, cleaned, and on a schedule. Check out her website, http://www.flylady.com/.
Thanks to all of you that have been reading this blog. I can't tell you how it blesses me to read your comments on here or have you stop me at church or the grocery store to tell me to get to the next once a month cooking step already! I really had no idea that anyone would really care too much about what I had to say or contribute and it's nice to see that I was wrong. You all have blessed me greatly!
So, let's get on with this once a month cooking thing. By now (especially since it's taken me so long to post this), you should have your shopping list, freezer and pantry inventory, family favorites list, and maybe even a family menu planner. Now, it's time to plan your menu.
Planning Your Menu
Find a printable menu chart online that you like, type one up for yourself or just use a piece of paper. My menu sheet only has 2 weeks on it because I make at least two of each meal, which comes out to a month's worth of meals. I have the days of the week listed on my sheet but I don't follow it. You could, just as easily, number the meals 1 - 14, or however many you want to make.
- Family Favorites: Go down your list from your Family Favorites and choose at least two to put on your menu. In my house, we love spaghetti so we have it every week! So, when I sit down to write out my menu, I instantly write down spaghetti twice. That's 4 meals taken care of already!!! See how easy this is!
- Shop at home: Look over your freezer and pantry inventory sheets. Do you have 4 cans of beans in your pantry? Make soup! Do you have some leftovers in your fridge? Can you make a soup out of it? That's another meal on your menu! Do you have some salmon in your freezer? There's another meal! Shopping in your own kitchen is cheap and keeps the freezer and pantry cleaned out!
- Weekly sales ads: Go through the ads, either from the mail / newspaper or online at http://www.mygrocerydeals.com/. Use what's on sale to help you decide on your menu. Are chicken breasts on sale? Make a few meals with chicken; chicken spaghetti, chicken salad sandwiches, grilled BBQ chicken, crock pot chicken....!
- Check your calendar: What's on your calendar for the month? Are you having a special birthday dinner? Going out to eat? A weekend away? Making food for church or your Moms group? Be sure to account for this on your menu. I have a spot at the bottom of my menu page where I note any special days or special foods that I will have shop for and fix.
- Look through your recipe books: I have a recipe "file" that I use as a quick reference to my recipes and cookbooks. (I will blog on this later.) Is there a recipe that you have always wanted to try? TRY IT!
Shopping List
I hope that you have taken the time to create your own personal shopping list. If not, I REALLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO! I promise that it will save you time and money! Now that you have your menu planned out, it's time to get your shopping list ready.
- Go down your menu and gather any recipes that you don't have in your head. I know this can be a pain to have to get out this cookbook and print from this website and grab that recipe card, but it will be worth it and I will, on a later post, show you a way to organize all of your recipes and have them handy.
- After you have all recipes gathered, go through each one and mark what you need to buy on your shopping list. This is where your freezer and pantry inventory sheets are so awesome. If you have them up to date and in front of you, then you don't have to get up every time you aren't sure if you have an ingredient.
- Check off any other items that you will need to buy, aside from your menu.
- Ad matching? If so, mark all items that you are ad matching. I write an "A" and the sale price next to the item on my shopping list. Then, when you come to that item while shopping, you can check it quickly to see if it's a good deal or not. Remember to keep all of your Ad Match items separate in your shopping basket to make check out easier.
- Coupons? Mark a "C" by any item that you have a coupon for. Keep your coupons in the order of your shopping routine so you won't have to waste time digging for them.
One thing to remember...The grocery stores here in town run their ads from Wed. to Tues. So, don't make out your shopping list on Tues. and then shop on Wed. or they will have different specials and ad items than what you have on your list.
Whew! That's enough for today! Next time I will talk about your grocery shopping trip and your cooking plan. Remember, this is a process. It takes a while to get it running smoothly. Be patient. You will figure out what works best for you by trial and error. Just don't be afraid of the "trial" or the "error"! Good luck and let me know how it's going!
In His Love,
Lisa
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