On Sunday, I plan my meals.  I take a list of what’s in my freezer, have my calendar up in another tab on my browser, and have paper and pen next to me for a grocery list. I also grab all of the sales papers I can get together. Before I start, I look at the weather. If it’s going to be hot, I don’t want to be baking, and if it’s colder, I can do more stews, chili, and soups. This week, it’s going to be warm on Monday, with a cold front on Tuesday and cooler on Wednesday through the rest of the week.  It says we’re supposed to be warming for Sunday, but I’m crossing my fingers.

I need to know what I have, what I have going on, and what we already need before I go into the store. If I want to save money, I can’t run to the store every day.

This week, we don’t have anything going on during the evening. So, I can cook whatever I want, without worrying about taking Kid A, B, or C anywhere. We have pork loin, chicken, and I know I can get cheap cube steaks from our meat market. I also have a pound of sausage in the freezer. Those will be our main proteins. I also have beans that I can cook, and close to 25 lbs of rice. We’re low on sides and veggies, so I already know I need to go to Sellers Bros or Foodarama for cheaper veggies.

Sometimes I ask for input from my family, and other times, I remember that I’m not a short order cook. 🙂 I also refuse to cook every night, so I plan for leftovers to avoid wasting food, and Saturdays are usually lazy days.

Here’s our menu for this week:
Monday:  Pulled pork, homemade mac and cheese, and carrots.
Tuesday:  Beans with sausage, rice, and cornbread.
Wednesday:  Gravy steaks, mashed potatoes, corn.
Thursday:  Baked chicken with white sauce and rice, and broccoli with cheese.
Friday:  Leftovers
Saturday:  Sandwiches/Fend for yourself
Sunday:  Lasagna, garlic bread, and salad.

For this, I need buy buns, carrots, buttermilk if I can find it on markdown, potatoes, and fresh bread for Sunday. I’ll also need to buy milk, sandwich bread, snacks, and lunch stuff. Chicken is on sale at Food Town, so I’ll probably buy another 8 lbs, since it was really good quality. That will net us 3-4 meals at a reasonable price.

This takes me about an hour, at most, and saves me a lot of money.  It also leads to less waste.

Kristin