Part XIV: Meal Planning

In a way, this entire blog is about meal planning.  It was started to work through the food my mom left behind after she died.  I've spent the past 12 years adjusting how I store and use what I have on hand to avoid waste.

Meal planning doesn't have to be a chore.  Once a week or once a month, you sit down with the calendar for a few minutes to decide what you're going to have, and then make a grocery list so you can make it.  That's it, less than ten minutes of your time, and you can ignore "What's for Dinner" for a while.

My idea of meal planning is on the uncomplicated side, since it's just me.  Breakfast and lunch are simple and routine, unless I'm inspired.  For dinners, I started actually writing what I plan to cook every 3 to 4 days on my kitchen calendar for an entire month.  It's in pencil so I can change things around if my schedule changes, a recipe makes more or less than I was expecting, or I go out instead.

If you don't keep a kitchen wall calendar, there are meal planning calendars you can download from Etsy.  You can even get whole house management binder downloads.  Some are dry-erase magnet boards that you can stick to the fridge.  All of these are reasonably priced and will teach you how to organize your inventory to reduce costly waste.  These are fantastic for households with more than one person.  You can note who will be home for each meal, who needs to take a meal with them, what kinds of snacks should be provided, that kind of thing.

My high-tech grocery lists

What meal planning does is free you not to think about what you have to eat on a daily basis.  It makes you more aware of your inventory and what will spoil if you don't serve it soon.  It allows you to make a grocery list that will reduce waste, limit impulse buys, and take advantage of sales.  I recently scored a huge coup on ground beef for $2.44/lb, so burgers went on the meal calendar and the other pound was sealed for the freezer.

Inflation is all around us, and we're probably heading into another recession.  That doesn't mean what you put on the table has to look like an economy meal.  You can use what you have on hand and find on special to create meals everyone will enjoy.