Kitchen Boycott: Meal Planning

Meal Planning. Meal Planning. Meal Planning....

      Oh what can I say about meal planning?.. BEST DECISION EVER!!!! Before I started meal planning, I was going to the store on average 3-4 times a week just for groceries. No joke! This doesn't include last minute diaper and ice cream runs (my husband has a sweet tooth). I didn't think about dinner until about the girls' nap time and would spend 20 minutes digging through the cupboards to see what I had. Well, no more!  
     Since I've started on my mission to spend less time in the kitchen ("kitchen boycott"), I have noticed that we have saved money in the process. We use up less gas from cutting out extra trips to the store.  We now tend to buy less unnecessary items (yes my husband still wants candy and ice cream here and there). We stay somewhat on budget and we now use up what we have on hand. Yay for less half used boxes of noodles and random canned goods.

    Meal planning has so far saved me sssoooo much time. Not only in the kitchen, but also in the store. Planning ahead forces me to make clear lists, which helps me to get through the store faster. At home there is no guessing what to eat, because I now have a list on the fridge of what our menu for the week is.

    I only do meal planning a week at a time. My goal is to get it up to two weeks, but baby steps. I've read about other women who plan out a whole month at a time (this just blows my mind) and they do most of their prep work in ONE day and use their freezer to accomplish it. They call it "Once A Month Cooking" or OAMC. I hope to do this on a smaller scale and work my way up.


How I do my meal planning:
      -  I first ask requests from my husband
      -  I look to see what ingredients we have on hand.
      -  Next I pick out my recipes (I tend to search pinterest for inspiration and ads to see sales)
      -  I also look for similar ingredients (especially with perishable items).
      - Write out what you need for each meal and how much needed.
      - Write out list for store ( Lists lists lists..I know I'm a list person. Keeps me organized)
      - Lastly, I pick which meals are for what night and post them where both Jeff and I can see :)

I hope this inspires you to meal plan and spend less time in your kitchen :)