Do You Meal Plan?

Source: thepeacefulmom.com via Sharon Halimah on Pinterest

One thing that I started doing last year was meal planning. Honestly, this started because of blogging. Yes, I admit, the blogging community changed my life .. for the better! I hadn't even heard of meal planning before. I must have been living under a rock. Maybe it's because my family growing up and my current family consist of two people, and there wasn't much need to plan meals, we just eat whatever we feel like. Or maybe because my mom (and me, now) don't know how to cook (sad, but true).

Source: 9gag.com via Dani on Pinterest

Usually, when I see meal-planning posts, it's by women/wives who have families to feed. And the burden falls on them to create dinner that everyone will like, or at least eat. Since living with C, on my way home form work I was always asking, "What are we gonna do about dinner?" We usually have a meat and some sides in the house as staples, but our list of daily eats seemed very limited. I wanted to branch out. I wanted more! And then, I saw a post about meal planning, and a little light bulb went off in my head... "Hey! I could DO that!" But did I want to? Well, the reasons seemed pretty obvious:

1. It saves money

2. It saves time

3. It's easy

4. I was tired of asking "What's for dinner?" every.single.night.

5. I wanted to expand our repertoire of easy, yummy meals

So I decided yes, of course I want to! The harder part was getting C on board. He likes to cook, but he's used to eating the same things over and over again. (I'm pretty sure his mom had a schedule, meatloaf on Mondays, Roast chicken and baked potatoes on Tuesday, etc.) I was ok with this for a while, but I wanted some variety. But where to find recipes? 

I started with recipes I found in the newspaper and magazines. C liked the idea! WOOHOO! I moved on to Pinterest and recipes on cooking blogs, and viola! I made a recipe binder! Every time I see a recipe that uses foods we normally use in a way we wouldn't normally eat it, I would cut it out (or print it out). I found that we were usually just sitting around on Sunday afternoons, so that's when we plan. We go through the week, and literally write out a schedule. If someone wasn't going to be home, that would automatically be YOYO (Your On Your Own) night. I got C involved by having him write it out, and then I would go through the binder and pick out a few recipes that we had at least some of the ingredients on hand. 

For some reason, I can't turn the pic... sorry!

1. Go through circulars and see what's on sale

2. Go through cupboard/fridge/freezer and take inventory

3. Pick out some yummy recipes via Cookbooks/Magazine/Pinterest/Food on the Table
4.  Grab glass of wine or drink of choice, turn music on 
5. Cook it!

Here is our menu for this week:
Monday: YOYO (your On Your Own!)
Tuesday: Beef Stew
Wednesday: Italian Sausage with Bow Ties, Spinach and Cherry Tomatoes
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: stuffed shells
Saturday: Date Night

I have to say, this is one of the best money-saving ideas I've come across. And we've actually eaten healthier due to planning! We were majorly slacking in the summer, but now we're getting back on track. This has also been a bonding experience for us, because not only do we pick the meals together, but I am also (slowly) learning how to cook (with his help of course)!

Source: wanelo.com via Jeri on Pinterest