Planning Strategies

Yesterday I sat down at the computer for about 15 minutes to plan out the week's recipes. I will tell you that I promise this can be done this quickly. Now, I admit to having a bunch of recipes on hand between cookbooks, Cooking Light magazine (a true favorite), recipes stored in MacGourmet (my recipe software on our computer), and other pages torn from a newspaper or bookmarked on a website. I usually go into it knowing what I have in the freezer (and keep in mind I have the smallest freezer known to man).

This week I knew I had baby-back ribs that I got on a sale a few weeks back, a whole chicken that I got for 99 cents a pound, some frozen cooked chicken that I had chopped up from a rotisserie chicken (I love them for flavorful chicken to use in dishes that call for cooked chicken!), some chicken legs that have been in there a while, and I knew that on Friday I wanted to not eat meat for lent.

So I got out my spreadsheet. It's an excel sheet with 2 columns, and 15 areas with headers, all on one page. I'd be happy to email a copy of it out if you'd like to request it, or you can make it yourself.

It has the following headers:

• Fruits & Veggies
• Meat
• Bakery/Bread
• Canned Foods
• Pastas & Mixes
• Condiments
• Baking (like flour, sugar, etc.. unlike the bakery one above)
• Snacks/Beverages
• Paper Products
• Pets
• Dairy
• Frozen
• Cleaning
• Pharmacy
• Recipes for the week

I have this up on my computer and I get out usually 5 recipes to make that week. I like to print them out (much to the dismay of the environment, and my printer ink supply). That way, I can just have them in the kitchen when it's time to cook.

I go through each recipe, adding what I need in the appropriate column. I'll make some substitutions when I can (like last week when I used proscuitto I had in the freezer instead of buying pancetta). And I always have a pen in my purse when I'm at the grocery store. You can't follow a toddler around and remember if you just got that clove of garlic you have here on your list.

My pantry usually has items that are for other days, like spaghetti & sauce or chicken breasts & my favorite Bakin' Miracle breading, etc.

This week, as I wait to hear about jobs, I'm quite lucky. I'm making several dishes that require something from the freezer, and I really just need to buy produce today more than anything else.

I'd like to say that I'm so organized I also base my recipes off of what is on sale that week... but I don't. I wish I could though, and sometimes I'll see that steak is on sale and I think of a recipe that I really want to make with steak and it works out. However, I believe that is my downfall, and if I could somehow link that in, I'd save us more money. But, that might require "super mom" or possibly a mild case of OCD.

I've also tried apps for my iPhone for meal planning as well, and a grocery store app too. But after dropping my iPhone one-too-many times while fumbling to cross off an item while reminding my son not to poke a hole in the saran wrapped meat items that we aren't buying, I always end up using this spreadsheet and a good ol' pen.

I will post tonight's dinner & such later today! Happy Monday all, and here's to a good week!

~M