Meal Planning...Saves You $$$

About a month ago, Colin and I did a budget and found out we were spending FAR too much on groceries and eating out. Something had to be done. We are frugal! We can't overspend!!

I was reading a post in December on American Girl in Canada's blog called Mrs. Domesticated and she mentions that she always plans out her meals for the month to save money on groceries. So using this as a cue, I got working. And thanks for that suggestion, by the way!

I printed out a monthly calendar and planned out every meal 2 weeks or more in advance. I keep it on the fridge so it's easily accessible.

Here's how it's helped us in the first month:

1. I don't have to go through the daily struggle of "what am I going to make for dinner"

2. Expanded variety of meals! We don't eat the same 5 or 6 meals over and over. We've only eaten each dish twice at the most.

3. Your grocery list is easy to prepare.

4. Your grocery bill is WAY cheaper.

5. We try lots of new recipes, most which have been sitting untouched in various cookbooks. Others we find together in http://www.allrecipes.com/

6. I don't think I've thrown out even one expired piece of produce.

7. It makes making dinner enjoyable.

8. We only eat out when we PLAN for it (not when I don't feel like cooking). Saves a lot, and I eat less fries.

I've passed this on to one friend who now does it, and she says it has the same benefits for her.

This it's too structured? Don't want to have chicken florentine for dinner tonight? So swap 2 nights this week. You've got all the supplies in your house already! It seems like it would take too much time, but in 5-10 minutes I've planned half a month or more. It's way faster than peering in the fridge, freezer and pantry every day with a question mark hanging above your head.

Give it a try, I HIGHLY recommend it.

And I'll share some new "gem" recipes I've found soon, as well as some other grocery bill cutting tips I've learned.

Herbed Potato Soup

I'm all about cooking cheap lately. I wonder WHY....

I realized that Colin and I eat about $5 in soup over the weekend so I made this soup from scratch (gasp) and it lasted the whole weekend!

Who knew homemade soup was SO MUCH MORE DELICIOUS and CHEAP (and quick)!?!?

Here's the link to the yummy potato soup!

I added carrots (add them with potatos) and I added red pepper (with the onion).

I will never buy soup again.

Hawaiian Pizza

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Open pizza box and remove ALL PACKAGING (even the cardboard disk....this is VERY IMPORTANT)

Cook for 18 - 22 minutes.

Nap while it's cooking.

Cut.


Eat.

Stuffed-From-Sushi

Ingredients:

Cereal of your choice
Milk


1. Eat a TON of sushi for lunch (preferably at an all-you-can-eat place).

2. Have a bowl of cereal at 9:30pm since that's when you'll start getting hungry.

Beef Fajitas

Ok, so all of you must think that we only eat food surrounded by a tortilla shell! This is not quite true. Just happens that we're running out of ingredients in the house and don't want to go shopping, so the meals choices are somewhat limited. Plus, if you eat it "neatly" enough...you don't have to do dishes! Just kidding.

So here's a classic of ours that we have eaten once per week for the last, oh, 5 years at least. Partly because it's good, and partly because it takes less than 10 minutes to make!

Ingredients:

TORTILLAS!! (yariba!)
Ground beef
one pepper
taco seasoning

Fillers (same as always):
avocado mashed
grated cheese
spinach
salsa
sour cream
refried beans (optional)

1. Brown the beef in frying pan.

2. Get fillers ready while beef cooks.

3. Add chopped pepper and seasoning.

4. SERVE!

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

Tortilla shells
Rice
chicken
taco seasoning (buy the clubhouse taco mix spice jar, it lasts a long time.)
1 cup frozen/canned corn
1 cup canned kidney beans (i don't actually put these in)
1 pepper
1/4 onion
1 cup salsa

fillers:
more salsa!
sour cream
grated cheese
spinach

1. Start the rice (1-2 cups raw, depending on if you want leftovers for lunch)

2. Cube chicken and cook in LARGE frying pan with a bit of oil.

3. Add 1 tbsp seasoning, chopped onion, chopped pepper, corn & beans. Cook until veggies are done.

4. Get yer fillers ready and wraps defrosted while it cooks.

5. When the rice is done, add it to the LARGE frying pan and mix 'er all up. It's ready!!

Lemon Pepper Linguini

Ingredients:

Pasta
1/2 tbsp oil
4 chopped garlic cloves (i use canned minced garlic cloves...so much quicker)
1/4 cup white wine (I use apple juice)
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp lemon juice
lots of pepper
salt
optional veggies (zuchinni and asperagus go well)
1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp dried parsley (3 tbsp fresh)
1/2 tbsp dried basil (2 tbsp fresh)
Shrimp (I used chicken last night but shrimp or crab is better)
spinach
1 avocado
several cherry tomatos

The "to do" list:

1. Put pasta on. Shapes work best for this.

2. Heat oil in large frying pan. Add garlic, cook for a minute.

3. Add wine, broth, lemon juice, salt & pepper and cook until liquid has reduced by half (4 min).

4. If adding veggies, add them while liquid is reducing.

5. Add butter, shrimp & spices. Cook until shrimp is done (3 minutes).

6. Add 2 or 3 huge handfuls of spinach! You have to counteract the "badness" of the butter with the "goodness" of the spinach! Also add cooked pasta and cook about 2-3 minutes all together.

7. Chop fresh avocado and tomatoes and serve these on top of the pasta dish.

***

Extra notes:

I take NO credit for this recipe. It's from http://www.allrecipes.com/. Well, it was my idea to add the avocado and tomatoes on top so I guess I can have SOME credit! But anyways...this is a restaurant quality meal, folks. We LOOOOOOVE it.

I'm eating leftovers as we speak.

Do not add an entire cayan pepper. Actually, do not add even 1/2 of a cayan pepper.