A few years ago I came to the delayed conclusion that if I actually PLANNED what we would be eating for the week, making dinner each night would be so much easier...amazing. The amazing this is that I am such a planner by nature, and that fact that I was cooking on almost a meal-by-meal basis is something that I can't figure out to this day. But, I did eventually figure it out, and the difference it has made is tremendous.
Every other Sunday I print out one of the sheets pictured above (You can click on the image above and print out a full-sized sheet for yourself), grab a pencil, my recipe box and sometimes the laptop, and decide what we'll be eating for the next two weeks. As I'm going through the recipes and filling in the spaces, I can check my pantry and freezer to make sure I have everything I need. If not, there is a handy grocery list at the bottom of the sheet. When I'm finished, I'm left with two weeks worth of planned meals as well as a completed grocery list.
Easy as pie. Or should I say "Easy as Pot Pie"? A delicious dinner that I'll post a recipe for later in the week.
I also found that when I do this, I save $ at the grocery...
ReplyDeleteFiguring out "what's for dinner?" is my east favorite thing to do every night....I've tried planning ahead before and it worked, and then I fell back to my old ways of being disorganized. I'm printing your page (thanks!) and I'll give it a try again!!
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