Meal Planning - How's it going?

I'm curious to know if anyone's tried to meal plan since my series of posts earlier this month? I'd like to know what you think and steal your tips and give them a try...

I came across this article about Meal Planning by Helen Jane on Offbeathome.com during my weekly catch-up-with-the-internet Friday afternoon session and thought I'd share. :)

Self-inflicted Ass Kicking

My goal for 2012 is to “do shit and stick to it”. Ironically enough it, has been kinda demanding to stick to but so far so good. I’m holding on for dear life to the last shreds of hope at this point but it’s better than nothing at all. Everything just seems so simple when there’s no accountability for how little productivity is expected. I just gotta keep reminding myself that I’m doing this for me and I’ll be successful. I think.

To help restore some self-awareness that I felt had been slipping away from me over the last few months (read: 8-10 months), I decided to take up some Yoga classes at our base gym.

I actually quite pleased with it. It’s reminded me of how important it is to totally suck at something and how fun it is to stick to it. I suck, not gonna lie. This girl is not the most flexible or graceful – ask anyone. I do feel some progress though which is really inspiring. I’ve even found some pretty decent youtube channels with some instructors that I like so I can do some at home during the weekend.

I also took up another fitness class which is totally more kick-butt-wanna-puke-hope-for-a-quick-and-merciful-death type of physical activity. I totally hated my instructor the next day but totally loved her at the same time. I forgot how much I love pushing myself.

I’m lazy and that’s one of my main issues with ... well, pretty much anything. That’s what self-awareness mixed in with some fitness classes and lifestyle changes has thought me in the first month and a half of this goal focused endeavour.

I’m kind of excited for the next few months to see what else I can take on, suck at and then kick butt in.

Namaste bitches.

Meal Planning – Week 1

Now the fun begins! You’ve listed everything in your house and now you’re ready to start planning. It might seem like a daunting task but trust me; it’s about one third as complicated as it sounds - even less than that, actually.

 

If you’re a big breakfast family, then you might want to plan for your breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Otherwise, you can stick to planning lunch and dinner like we do. Because our schedules are so different and vary so much day to day breakfast sort of became a “you’re on your own” kinda meal which I rather enjoy because I don’t have Js breathing down my neck telling me it’s chocolate is not considered a “breakfast food”. I can just munch on my granola bar in the car and ingest insane amounts of coffee.

 

Again, this is another situation when you have to do what works best for you and your family. If you have a hard time the first week sticking to your plan, don’t give up! Figure out what didn’t work; talk it out with your partner (boring, I know), rinse and repeat.

 

Our planner has a section for lunch and dinner every day, and then there is a small box on the bottom of the page for “breakfast stuff” and “snacks”.

 

Start by looking at your inventory and priority list of what needs to go first. During the first few weeks, you want to try and use up as much as possible from your own personal “grocery store” (aka pantry, fridge and freezer). The first week we went from spending at least 90$ at the grocery store to a wee 35$ - if you have a lot of food stashed in your house, this can represent significant savings.

 

Tip: For fun, you can add up the approximate cost of items on your inventory lists to see how long you can go and how much money you can save eating from what you already have. All this money is money you’ve spent in the past that’s been sleeping in your pantry. Think of it this way: the only can of soup you should keep this long in your house is on a very expensive painting. Don’t buy something unless you intend on eating it in the next few weeks otherwise it turns into very bulky house décor.

 

For the first week, you want to start right on the next day you write out your plan. We found it worked best if we planned the day before we did our shopping. This week, we did the planning on Monday so we went shopping on Tuesday. This way, we figured out everything we needed for the entire week to save us a couple trips.

 

Also, stick to basics. Especially at first, you’ll want to give yourself a little bit of time to get accustomed particularly if you’re used to eating out a lot. As much of a time and money saver meal planning is, it can get a bit overwhelming if you plan a three course meal every day.

 

Here are a few more tips to keep in mind:

1. There are awesome websites that can help you combine some ingredients and find recipes to use up the odds and ends.
2. Don’t get caught up in the complicated. Stick to basic foods and recipes that you know.
3. Try to spread out your frozen stuff – if you make a stir fry to use up some frozen veggies, toss in a few fresh ones to give your stir fry a bit of texture and also to eat through your fresh stuff and save it from the garbage can doom.
4. If you’re planning on eating out – include that in your plan. Give yourself a break!
5. Don’t freak out if things don’t work out perfectly the first week – you’ll get the hang of it I promise.

Here’s an example of what our meal plan looks like with notes:

 

Monday Lunch: Tuna Sandwiches 
Monday Dinner: Stir-fry with shrimps

 

We normally do our shopping on Tuesday evenings, so by Monday, we’re all out of the fresh stuff so canned tuna and frozen shrimp it is!

 

Tuesday Lunch: Stir-fry left-over
Tuesday Dinner: Chicken Fried Noodles

 

We buy the BBQ cooked chicken at the deli counter so it’s quick and ready after the grocery shopping is done and put away.

 

Wednesday Lunch: Left-overs Chicken fried noodles or salad with cranberries and chicken
Wednesday Dinner: Breakfast for dinner

 

Thursday Lunch: Soup and veggies
Thursday Dinner: Chicken breast with rice or potatoes

 

We like to give ourselves options sometimes. It’s still easier to figure out “do you want potatoes or rice?” than “what’s for dinner?” and also gives you an easy option if you run short on time or supplies.

 

Friday Lunch: Left-over chicken or Chicken salad sandwiches
Friday Dinner: Home-made pizza and oven fries

 

Saturday Lunch: Left-over pizza or falafel wraps/salad
Saturday Dinner: Beef roast and rice

 

Sunday Lunch: Pancake brunch
Sunday Dinner: Tacos

 

You can see that by the end of the week, we’re giving ourselves a few more options and we’re figuring out meal preparation times in our schedule. Like Saturday, if we hang around the house all day, we’ll make a roast or lasagna but if we’re going to be running around, we’ll make a roast in the slow-cooker. Both very similar ingredients but two totally different dishes. Plus, we ALWAYS have supplies to make pancakes on hand – as every household should.

 

Now make your plan, using as many items from your home as you can and get crackin’. I’ll keep up with the posts for tips and tricks and menu ideas but by now, you should have most of the tools you need to successfully plan a week’s meals.

 

Keep track of your savings and menus and feel free to share with me! I’m curious to see and can’t wait to read all your inspiring ideas!

Meal Planning 101

As promised, a detailed step-by-step process of our meal planning initiative that’s absolutely exceeded all our expectations both financially and in saving our sanity.

First, here’s a bit of back story. We’re always trying to find ways to simplify our lifestyle I wasn’t entirely convinced that planning out our day-to-day meals would simplify anything. What if we’re in the mood for something else? What if we run out of something and have to run to the store? How about lunches and breakfasts and snacks, are we going to have to plan those also to make it worth our while? Js wasn’t too convinced either. He’s more of a “spur of the moment” and “steak and potatoes” kinda guy so I didn’t envision our meal planning endeavour to last us very long.

One faithful day, while we were out grocery shopping and talking about our finances, we realized we spend way too much money on groceries and time trying to figure out what we’re in the mood for. I took up the challenge to stretch out our current groceries until the end of the month as much as possible.

Meal planning was my only option to make sure we didn’t:

A) Run out of food.
B) Run out of money.
C) Run out of patience.

We’ve been meal planning now for about 3-4 weeks now and it looks like we’ve got a nice rhythm going so I’ve come up with these step-by-step instructions for those who’d like to give it a shot. To make it easier for everyone, I will be posting a series of entries for each step so that you can figure out what works best for you before moving on to the next step rather than giant post.

Here are the basic things you’ll need before you get started.

Pen and paper;
Calculator; and
A book, binder or box would work just fine.

Freezer bags are not necessary but nice to have handy if you normally use them.

Relay for Life

Js and I participated in the Relay for Life this year for the first time and it was a great experience. I couldn't stay all night because I had to come back home to Nova and get ready for today's Base wide garage sale. Js got home this morning at 7am and he really had a good time.

For the time I was there I did okay. I had a little moment as we left but otherwise, I took in the experience for all it's worth. I thought it was kinda sad that so many people on Js' team didn't really seem to care all that much about the event and what it stood for. I didn't let that affect me though and did what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it.

Neglect

Lately, I feel like I've neglected some of the things that matter most to me and I'm not exactly proud of myself. Over the last months I've neglected friendships, I've neglected to recognize my emotions, my projects and my health.

Spending all this time by myself, I came to the conclusion that I've allowed neglect to take over my life and I want to move on and change that - hopefully for good. Neglect can be devastating but it can also be a good thing in the sense that it helps you see what matters - what can't really go on unless you put in some effort. I think this blog has been the clearest example and really brought the reality home for me. It can't go on unless I sit here and reflect on my life, my values and beliefs or work hard to find humor in the simplest things. These are all things I cherish - why can't I seem to gather the strength to do it regularly anymore?

That's where the hard work comes in. I know, deep down inside, that it's mostly because I don't want to see what I have to deal with. I don't know what to post about anymore because I've neglected everything around me and it's hard to admit.

I've neglected friends and relationships and I'm not really proud of it. I have to work harder, care more and call often. I also have to work on myself. I have to make healthier choices even if it's harder in the long run (and means more dishes), I have to be honest with myself and reconnect with my values and what I stand for.

It seems like a lot of work but I think once I get one of these aspects under construction, the rest will just fall into place. No one can help me but myself so I really have to suck it up and get crackin'.

Curve ball is curved

You remember about a week ago, I posted about Js' deployment opportunities... well things changed twice in that same day. And then twice again since then.

I'm at a point where I don't want to know anything until he's packing his bags.

Happy New Year!

2010 has been a pretty intense year, good for the bloggin'. Here's hoping 2011 brings equally, if not more bloggin' but on more positive terms.

In 2010 we got married, I got a new job that I love, I lived and I learned. Without a doubt, 2010 had it's ups but it also had it's downs over the last few months. I lost my mother in early October and my grand-father two days before Christmas so I'm anxious for the year to end.

As I've said before, I don't believe you can go wake up one morning and everything changes just because you get to use your new calendar. But I do believe that it means spring and summer are coming back and it also means time is moving on.

To me, this year, the New Year is a reminder that time always moves on, no matter how much we wish it didn't. I wished I could stop time when my Mom was sick to keep her with me a bit longer but time passed and what was meant to happen, happened. Life goes on and we have to make that extra effort to keep moving with it.

Thanks for being there for me, dearest reader(s) in 2010 and hopefully I'll have tons to blog about again in 2011 so you'll stick around. All the best to you and yours for the New Year! :)

Day 04 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day.

I thought long and hard (!!) about this one all day and I seriously can't think of anyone I'd want to trade places with for a day.

Sure, my life isn't perfect but it's what I made of it and I love it with all it's ups and downs. Parts of it sucks (a lot - especially lately) but parts of it are still beautiful and I've learned to enjoy even the simplest things that make me so happy.

I know this is only a writing exercise and I tried to get a different perspective but I couldn't think of anyone. I mean sure, I wonder sometimes what it would be like to be rich and famous or what it would be like to be Mother Theresa or something... but life's a matter of perspective and I'd rather see the people I admire from the outside and be inspired by them. Imagine if you "became" Mother Theresa (in her "alive" days, of course) and discovered her deepest thoughts were all selfish and evil and you'd have to smell her old lady farts all day. I don't know how I feel about that.

My answer sucks but that's what I've gained from it.

Hard

A lot of things in life are hard. Like rocks or the table's leg against my pinky toe.

I consider myself a pretty strong person. I have my moments of weakness but overall I keep a strong face and cry in the shower like everyone else.

This past week's been quite testing. With my Mom at the hospital, I've had to face some very unexpected situations and put on my game face for the rest of the world. Yes, I know I'm allowed to be sad and upset and fed up. Yes, yes I know.

Today, I added a couple notches to my strength belt. My Mom being drugged up and unable to string two or three words together, my Dad and I had to answer the Doctor's questions when it came to her wishes as far as efforts to keep her alive should anything happen while in ICU. To look a total stranger straight in the face and share something so intimate, so devastating.

It's scratching away at the very last and very thin layer of denial that I have left. Exposing the wound in all it's magnitude and pouring in the salt.

and it's only the beginning.