Meal planning and grocery shopping

I am writing this post even though it may provoke some intense teasing from people, however, if you know me you really shouldn't be surprised.

When I first started doing meal planning it took me A LONG time to do each one. Honestly, over an hour. But each week it got quicker and quicker to the point where it now takes me just a few minutes. I do two week rotations because I find that groceries are cheaper than doing it once a week and I don't really want to be bothered to grocery shop every week. I do however get fruits and veggies once a week.

I like to be very organized and I like things simple. Especially now that I am grocery shopping with a baby in tow (most times) I like to be efficient. I don't like to go to more than two stores -- I go to a cheaper store like Wal-Mart, No Frills, or Food Basics for the regular stuff and then I go to Superstore or Remark to get my produce as the produce from the other stores doesn't last very long and is not high quality. I don't get everything from Superstore or Remark because it would double my grocery bill. 

So to start I skim the weekly flyers to see what is on sale. If there are items I like then I build them into my menu plan and I also go through my freezer to see what items I already have on hand. The great thing these days is most places ad match so if there is something that I like in one store I can still get it at other stores for the same price. For example, last week I bought a box of chicken burgers at Wal-mart for $4 something even though Wal-mart's price was $10 because they were on sale in the No Frills flyer. When I plan on ad matching something I note the price first and also which flyer it was in so at the store I can check the price there. Sometimes it is just cheaper to buy it without ad matching. I know this sounds like a lot of work but honestly it is very simple -- remember I don't like complicated things!

So once I note what is in the flyers I go through my calendar to check what is on the schedule for each day before I make my menu plan from a template that I have in Excel (I love that program and use it whenever possible). By adding events from the calendar I can plan the meal around what we are doing. If I don't have time to make a full meal I will make a quick one or make a crockpot meal. If I have more time I might make a more in depth dinner. Once I make my meal plan I print out two copies, one for the fridge and one to make my grocery list from. 

When I make my list I have it broken down into sections so that I don't get to the other side of the store and realize that I forgot a produce item that was hiding at the bottom of my list. I cross off each meal one at a time on my spare copy once I have added what I need to my list so I never miss anything. If I don't know if I already have something I put a ? next to it and check before I leave. 

Then when I am at the grocery store I can focus on getting my items and getting out of the store. I have tried using my phone for a grocery list to reduce carrying extra paper but honestly I really like the paper. I have had it happen more than a few times where I have accidentally erased half my list on my phone then have no idea what I needed. By having the paper there is no way to erase part of my list!

I also leave some wiggle room so that I can buy things that are on sale (not necessarily in the flyer) to put in the freezer for a later date. You can also see that on my menu plan Thursday nights are listed as Flex nights. Since I don't always feel like eating what is on the menu that night I can pick a different nights dinner and make it that night instead. Or if we end up eating out on a night that I had already bought the groceries for then they don't go to waste because I will have it Thursday night (hopefully that makes sense).

The other thing I keep (also in excel) is a meal data base. I have different categories of meals and I can mix and match especially when we are looking for some new ideas. I also use a board on Pinterest (can't get enough of that site) so that I can keep new recipe ideas handy. I try to add in one every two weeks. 

Maybe this all makes me a nerd, but hey, I'm okay with that. This makes my life much simpler and it helps me to save a lot of $ that is often wasted at the grocery store. What makes it even more simple is that my breakfast is delivered right to my door, no grocery store needed! If you are going to give it a try remember that it will take some time at the beginning. 

If you want a copy of my menu plans send me an e-mail or inbox message with your e-mail address so I can forward it on to you.  

Until next time!

My Birthday and my 25-before-25 list

Well, today is the day! Not only is it my 24^th birthday, it’s also the start of my 25 before 25 list. Essentially I picked 25 things that I want to complete before I turn ¼ of a century old. Some of the list is complied of ideas I got from other peoples lists and some of these are unique to me. Some are simple, some are more challenging, but I have 365 days to complete them and of course write about them to share with you! I’ve been working on compiling the list for a while now (just over a month) and I’m really excited to complete it.

1. Throw a fancy dinner party

2. Get a grown up bed set

3. Try one new recipe a month

4. Spend one whole day doing nothing

5. Do something spontaneous

6. Lay in the grass and watch the stars

7. Eat a decadent dessert and be in control

8. Reconnect with an old camp friend

9. Buy $100 grocery gift card and leave it with the cashier for someone

10. Donate blood

11. Go fishing

12. Find out my credit score

13. Pick a movie series and watch them back to back

14. Go garage sailing

15. Start a retirement savings plan

16. This one is personal ;)

17. Get my belly button pierced

18. Not use my credit card for one month

19. Start, and finish editing my wedding video

20. Play in the rain

21. Go berry picking

22. Get in the car and drive with no destination planned

23. Not buy house cleaner for one year (with the exception of dish soap)

24. Pay off 100% of our debt

25. Get back to my goal weight

Today Sean made me pancakes for breakfast at my request:

That’s peanut butter and raspberry jam on them, with. They were so good! Then for lunch I had a salad, and Sean came to meet me because he has to work tonight.

After work I am going to get my hair cut, rent a movie, and then my sister is coming over for quesedillas and a home spa night (because going to a real spa is just not in the budget!).  I am quite looking forward to it!

I plan on ending the evening with a cup of tea, a mint smoothie (my favourite chocolate ever that I bought on the weekend to have on my birthday) and snuggles with my little Levi <3.

A long weekend

Since the last post was from the past few days, luck you, get a second post!

It's a long weekend here in Canada and both Sean and I get Monday off. I decided that the best way to spend that extra day would be to cook ahead a bunch of meals to stock up our freezer, that and do my taxes.

I worked on my taxes last night and this morning, and they are mostly done (just have to go over them and double check my numbers.

The rest of the day today I have spent figuring out what I am going to make to stock the freezer and put together a grocery list. I am going to make the following:

- 2 loaves of banana bread
- 2 loaves of meatloaf
- cranberry oat muffins
- veggie soup
- hamburger patties
- sloppy joe mix
- hamburger surprise
- meatballs
- zucchini risotto (I'm going to try this in the slow cooker since it does take a long time to make normally).
- homemade tortilla shells
- burritos
- ginger cookies

I was only planning on using Monday to cook, but I am making more than I thought I was going to, so I am going to start on Sunday afternoon.

This morning we had our usual weekend breakfast of pancakes. Sean went to mix the batter and realized that we didn't have enough pancake mix, so we got dressed and went to the grocery store. While we were there we decided to get some bacon too. When at my parents house earlier in the week I had tried bacon that had been cooked in the oven, and it was so good, so naturally I wanted to try it.

It was an epic fail, but at the same time a great success...

This part was the fail - it was on the top rack:

This part was the tasty part - it was on the bottom rack:

I think next time I will switch the top and bottom rack cookie sheets half way through to make it a little more even. But I still consider breakfast a big success. * Side tip - if you have left over pancakes put them in the fridge, then when you are ready to eat them put them in the toaster to heat them up, and they won't be soggy!

Tonight we are going to be going to the states since we need a bunch of items that we can only get there, so we might as well do all of our groceries at the same time. The list is quite long since I'm going to be doing all of the extra baking but it will cut down on cost and time over the next little bit.

Anyways, my laundry is done, so it's time to fold it and then take a short rest with Levi who is sound asleep and Patches who is snoring away (we are watching her this weekend while my parents are away - and of course using their washing machine!)

Until next time...