Last year, I thought that menu planning was not for me – I am single & retired  so I can easily adapt to what’s in the fridge. But, I decided to adapt the menu planning habit to my situation. For a couple weeks,  I wrote down what I was eating at each meal and as a snack. There were some common factors so I summarized them and came up with the basic food items needed to make the meal. For example,

Breakfast – Hot cereal (oats, cream of wheat or grits) or eggs (eggs, a “meat”, cheese, muffin) or sandwich (bread, meat, cheese, veggie)

Lunch – soup (homemade or certain canned variety), sandwich (see above), salad (greens, veggies, dressing), leftovers, cottage cheese

Snack – fruit, cheese/crackers, yogurt, cottage, nuts

Dinner – meat/fish, starch, veggie, salad

Seems like a no-brainer, but the effort made me think about what I really eat, should eat, and what I’ll never cook.  Then I took time decluttering the pantry, cookbooks and cooking supplies.  Some things went on the “watch” list and this month, I’ll review those items such as condiments and spices. Other items are becoming more of a seasonal pantry item. I’m dating the jar when I open something to see how long it takes me to use it up.  I may drop the item from the pantry and buy a smaller size only when I need it for a specific reason. By the way, I am keeping my notes on index cards in an old family recipe box.

I also started looking at the ads in the Sunday (big stores and coupons) and Wednesday (groceries) papers. Since Thursday is our trash day, cleaning out the fridge of outdated stuff, wiping down the shelves, and checking out the status of the basic stuff has become a habit  for Wednesday.  Then, I have a cup of coffee, look through the ads and see what looks good and is at a good price.  So, my errand plan is ready.  The KEY POINT is that I am more in tune to what I am eating, so I am actually buying less.  I no longer buy stuff “just in case”.

Concerning cookbooks and cooking supplies – the family and favorite cookbooks are in one place. A bunch were donated and there are some in limbo.  Cooking supplies – again some were donated and some are in limbo, to be evaluated this month. For example, I got rid of an old slow cooker and bought a multi-purpose electric pressure cooker. I got rid of the frustrating plastic containers and switched to a limited number of glass storage containers.

Another major change that I have made is looking at my pantry for emergency purposes – if something happened that impacted my ability to get food supplies and/or cook, could I do it?  If there is a ice/snow storm warning, the stores are crazy and empty out fast. And, most of the time, the roads are clear and life is restored within a few days, but there have been longer days of being cooped up in my home.  The longest I’ve been without electricity has been one week, though more remote areas went without power for 4 weeks.  So, I make sure that my pantry has certain items.  I’ve even switched to having freeze-dried  items instead of frozen or canned. I know I can cook without electricity or gas.

If you decide to use freeze-dried meats and veggies, make sure that you cook with them before you have to cook with them.

Flying in OK…Liz

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Welcome to November – the Menu Planning month. All month long, we are going to learn how to plan our menus to save money and feed our families healthy. This will be a fun habit to learn and to practice.

If you have and recipes you would like to share or a testimonial about Menu Planning Let us know! Send an email to FlyLady@flylady.net with Menu Planning in the subject line.

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