Meal Planning for 2 Weeks

Let me preface this by saying if two weeks is too much for you, start with a week. We give ourselves Friday and Saturday night off to eat out. That's our treat. Do what works for you.

Before I go to the store I talk with T and ask him if he has any preferences for the upcoming weeks. I nix or agree to his preferences (hey it's what you get to do if you do the shopping). I then check out foodgawker for new recipes and the pioneer woman because she's legit. Seriously, she has my dream life. The woman cooks, lives on a GORGEOUS ranch with two homes sitting on it, has a cookbook, successful website, beautiful children....I could go on, but I won't.

Anyway after this I write out my list. I go through our pantry/fridge to see what I already have and this trip's list looks something like this:

spaghetti:

meat, onion, bread, lettuce (I already had sauce, and pasta)

hamburgers:

meat, cheese, onion, buns, season all (I was out of this seasoning and already had Worcestershire sauce which we also use to mix them up)

tacos:

meat, seasoning, tomatoes, lettuce, shells, and rotel (for mexican rice that we eat as a side with this meal.)

fish night:

at our HEB in the seafood section they sell pre sliced portions of various fish flavored with yummy crusts. These are delicious, easy, and healthy so we do this at least one a two week period, sometimes more. So here I got honey-chipotle glazed salmon, corn, and zatarain's wild rice

chalupas:

corn tortillas, tomatoes, cheese (I already had a can of beans in the pantry)

stir fry:

ground beef, broccoli (already had white rice and soy sauce)

stuffed red bell peppers: This was a new recipe for us so I didn't have a lot of things for it

onion, 1 16 oz jar of salsa, 3 bell peppers, sour cream

skillet tortilla dish: (again, new one for us)

onion, 1 can minced chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, chicken broth, 2 chicken breasts, 1 can of pinto beans, 2 limes, tortillas

honey sriracha beef skewers: (new again)

1 pd top sirloin beef, honey, sriracha sauce (in Asian section), lime

spinach artichoke pasta (new again)

1 box of shell pasta, 1 box of reduced fat cream cheese, sour cream, lemon, 1 14 oz can of artichoke hearts, 10oz frozen spinach, 1 chicken breast

*My list also includes the regulars. This time it was milk, oj, cinnamon rolls, face wash, paper towels, etc.*

Let me say that I always sandwich in the new recipes between two tried and true recipes. That way if it sucks (for lack of a better word, because sometimes it does) we have a night before it that was good and one to follow. In the beginning it was night after night of new ones and that wasn't so fun to sit through. I learned my lesson and now T and I are both usually happy (I say this while he's in the kitchen making homemade chocolate chip cookies-I love that guy!)

Anyway after I come home from the store I unpack all my groceries. I buy my hamburger meat in bulk in the big 2 pound containers because that's way cheaper. It also means I have to section out the meat into freezer bags for each meal. If any of the meats need to be marinated I will do that and throw it in the bag with them then. I label them with a sharpie and then decide what meals I want to have first-those meats go in the fridge and next week's meals go in the freezer. Yes you can freeze meat with marinade in it. It does thaw just fine.

Also, if a recipe ever calls for "minced garlic" use this:

Some foodies say that's not authentic, but I say that's life.

I also pre-dice all of my onions into a Pyrex container so it's an easy go to as I'm cooking. I'll do the same for any strawberries, pineapple, broccoli, etc. I don't like to wash, cut, and clean as I go...that's WAY too much work throughout the week. Also, it makes it more likely that you'll reach for a healthy snack as opposed to chips or cookies. I read about this here back in the day.

I usually go to the store on a Friday or Saturday so I get all the planning/prepping/putting away done then. Then on Sunday T grills any meat that needs to be made and I make all the meals during Emmy's nap time or when T's watching her. I'll post on that later.

I hope this helps give you an idea of how to do it. I've found that shopping for 2 weeks at a time saves a ton of money. I used to spend $70-80 a week when I did it weekly and now I bring it down to $50-60/week. That's pretty significant to me.