My Meal Plan

Have you ever been in a food funk? You go to the store hungry & come home with a bunch of junk & feel guilty while eating it (not to mention crummy because it's so unhealthy). So the next time, you go with wonderful intentions, bring home a bunch of fruits, veggies, & cardboard. Then it all goes to waste because you ate out all week. :) This was me. So I decided to make my own meal plan. Here's what I did....

1. I got out all my trusty recipes & cook books. I found 40 meals I know we liked, some healthy, some not as much. ;) I did have to fill in the gaps with some new ones, but they looked pretty safe- not too adventurous. 
2. I divided them all into 10 weeks, 4 meals per week. With only 2.5 people, this is plenty when you consider leftovers. I made sure, on most weeks, that there was one really easy meal, one harder, more fancy meal, a crock pot meal, and a regular, everyday meal. 
3. I also added one lunch item, one breakfast item, and one snack item per week. I also eat leftovers for lunch so that one item doesn't get too old, but this simplifies things SO much.
4. Then I typed up all the recipes for these meals into one notebook, setting it up by week. The great thing about this was I could get rid of those cookbooks & magazines I was keeping for only a couple recipes. 
5. I then made a shopping list for each week out of the ingredients needed for the recipes. I also made a "staples" list of things I need to have on hand at all times. 

This will take me almost through one season. That leaves 2-3 weeks for vacation or to try new recipes.  Then I start it all over again, so we will have each of these meals 4 times a year. So far, it's been a great success. No more guilt. No more rotting food in the fridge that was never used (well, not as much anyway. ;) ) I love it!