Meal Planning

I'm sorry if this post is a complete snooze-fest, but I have nothing going on besides mounds of homework and I love talking about organization. So here's how I prepare for our monthly grocery shopping trips:

• Recipe Arsenal. For months, I would leaf through my recipe binder to figure out exactly what our meal options were and what ingredients were in each recipe. It was annoying and time-consuming. So, I eventually created two Google Docs to makes this process easier. One document is just a simple list of all my tried-and-true recipes, divided into beef, chicken, pork and meatless categories. The other document expands upon the previous one by listing every ingredient in each recipe. I only have a few baked goods on these lists - things we make all the time like blueberry muffins and oatmeal cookies. Since we have such a variety of desserts, I just look up those recipes when they're needed.

• Recipe Searching. I try to make between two and four new recipes every month. Throughout the month, I find inspiration from blogs and magazines. I also just think about what I'm craving {& ask Adam too} and then search on Real Simple, Martha Stewart, Food Network, All Recipes, and Tasty Kitchen. What we have coupons for and what we already have on hand play a role in recipe searching as well.

• Coupons. I started seriously couponing in February and so far we've saved $25 off our grocery bill each month. Once a week, I check coupons.com, smart source, and red plum. I only print out coupons for items we actually use. We recently started getting the Sunday paper because we found a Groupon to get a year's subscription for $14. The newspaper circular has a lot more and a lot better coupons, so I'm sure we'll increase our grocery savings even more. When we're out shopping, we always make a stop at Target for cleaning supplies, toiletries and other miscellaneous items. We have a Target credit card which knocks 5% off every purchase. Over the course of the year, we'll save at least $60 just from using that card.

• The Menu. Once I've found new recipes and got all my coupons collected, I open my Google calendar and click to the menu tab. First, I figure out which days that we won't be eating at home {church functions, date nights, and vacations}. Then I start plugging in recipes, week-by-week, for the remaining days. I try to keep a few things in mind as I'm figuring out each week:

I want a variety of protein sources {chicken, eggs, black beans, etc.}
I want a variety of cuisines {Mexican, Italian, Asian, etc.}
I want to factor in how much meal preparation time I've got each evening.

• The Shopping List. Once I've got the menu planned, it's time to make the shopping list. First, I write down:

Breakfast and lunch supplies.
Vegetables to have with dinner.
Just-in-case dinner supplies {pierogies and spaghetti}.
Dessert ingredients.

• Then I just plug in the recipe ingredients, from my handy list, for all the meals on that month's menu. I put a star next to every item that I have a coupon for and make sure I note what size/quantity the coupon specifies and how much the coupon is worth {because sometimes the store brand is still cheaper than the name brand, even with a coupon}. It saves me from having to dig through my coupon file at the store. I also organize my list based on the design of the store, just to make things easier.

So, that's my meal planning system. I know it seems really complicated, but I really only spend about 30 minutes a week couponing and two hours a month planning the menu & shopping list.