Yesterday was one of our big commissary trips, so that meant that Tuesday night I had to prepare. I always go through my recipe box and write down menu ideas for the next 6 weeks. I try to get a variety of dishes in there: different meats, some crock-pot, some 30-minute quick ones, some soups, etc. I don't designate which day gets which meal, so I have a lot of flexibility, but I can know at a glance what meals I have all the ingredients for. Then I make my list to ensure that I have all the ingredients needed for all these meals (except maybe fresh vegetables, which I get in the other weeks at Sams or a local grocery store).
A few weeks ago, a friend of Michele's inspired me to put my commissary list on the computer. Before, I would always spend forever organizing my list into the order (as best I could remember) of the aisles in the commissary. It was a real pain, but it was certainly better than wandering back and forth trying to get all the items on my list. This time, I had already made a list of 3 columns of most of the things I might normally get there, plus blank spaces for me to write in meats, cereals, etc. I printed one off, circled what I needed, and voila! I was good to go! How nice is that! I should have done this a long time ago!
After we got home from the commissary and unloaded everything (notice I did not also say "and put everything away", LOL), I started on the second part of my big shopping day. This involves meal prep for future meals. I start browning ground beef and putting it in quart-size ziploc bags to freeze. I browned a little more than 9 pounds, putting 2 pounds per bag plus one smaller bag that we'll use for tacos. We never seem to eat 2 pounds of taco meat, LOL. So that's 5 future meals right there. While I was browning, I also cooked up a bunch of boneless chicken breasts (4 packages, I think--they're pretty cheap at the commissary). I just put all the breasts on a big 10x15 pan, sprinkled them with Mrs. Dash, and cooked them at 350 for about 35 minutes or so. Then I chopped those up and put them into 4 bags to freeze as well. Usually this is also when I thinly slice beef for stir-frying and put it in a ziploc bag for marinading in the freezer, but there were no beef stir fries on the menu plan for the next 6 weeks. (Although that sounds good right now, LOL) I also try to put some chicken breasts in Italian dressing or some other marinade to freeze before grilling at some point down the road. This is all tiring, and it does take a bit of time, but it really does save so much time later on, like when I'm deciding what to have for dinner at 4:00 in the afternoon! I haven't been very successful at "once-a-month cooking plans" or things like that, but this is a good compromise for me.
So now you know my secrets for meal planning. I'm sure they aren't anything new and original, but maybe someone will benefit from some little nugget!
4 comments:
It may be no "once-a-month cooking plan" but I'm still in awe! :)
Eric asked me to let Bob know that we are praying for him. I had a liver issue with my 3rd pregnancy which caused horrible itching (on my hands and feet too!). You can e-mail us personally if you need - dannafam@earthlink.net
Thanks for these tips! I've never thought to brown hamburger in advance before. We buy the family packs, and I do separate those into freezer bags.
I can't do the cook-once-a-month plan, either, but I DO plan about 10-14 days of meals at once. Sometimes I shuffle a couple of meals around. I would like to be more organized with my lists...we go to the commissary about once a month (last Thursday was OUR big commissary day!), and I supplement with the neighborhood Walmart just around the corner.
I have a Word doc commissary list, too and I love it. I quick print one off and highlight what I need, write in what's not on there, and I'm off. That's awesome that you go straight into food prep. That takes discipline! I am challenged by your work ethic. I totally need to do that, but making menus for more than one week at a time wears me out. Gosh that sounds wimpy. Maybe having a few more kids will toughen me up. :)
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