Happy Tuesday everybody! I love having Mondays and Tuesdays off because it gives me time to catch up with things around the house. Yesterday was such a productive day, i finally unpacked all of my clothing, got rid of the boxes that were lying around the house, cleaned out our spare bedroom, put dinner in the crockpot at 1pm. Yup, i’m pretty proud of myself. I even sat down and enjoyed my morning coffee while starting a 1000 piece puzzle that G got me in Tokyo last month! Plus i started to read Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell! A great monday in deed. The goal today was to meal plan and go shopping for groceries, although it is not my favorite part of the week (let’s be honest i dread it) it still needs to be done.
When we made the big move to Okinawa, not only were we moving overseas, but G and I were finally moving in together. Lets just say it was a time of lots of changes. At first i followed my mom’s grocery ways, which were shopping on Sundays for two weeks worth of food and during the week wipping things up with what was on hand. After a while i realized this was not for us. Why? For one the produce that is imported at the Commisary (military grocery store) doesn’t seem to last much because it spends so much time getting here and our grocery bill was pretty hefty because we would wander around buying everything that caught our eyes.
Now we I prepare a weekly meal plan for us. Once a week i sit on my computer and search Pinterest for delicious looking, easy to make, healthy(ish) recipes. This way we only buy the ingredients that are needed for each recipe, instead of buying everything that looks good at the moment. Another plus of meal planning is that we do not have to come home from work to figure out what to whip up, instead we look at the list and choose which meal we feel like eating that day.
At first i would just use notebook paper to write my meal plans until i got a new printer and found this awesome printable by Michelle Lea Designs! I usually have one up on the fridge, so it’s easy to circle things we’re out of as the week goes on. If i had any Photoshop skills i would love more than anything to design a meal plan page customized to our needs, but until that moment comes this will do.
Where was i? Right, meal planning. Another thing people have asked me is if i budget. Well, yes and no. My weekly goal is always $100 but i’m not strict about following this, in reality we usually spend around $120 and that’s okay. (Fun Fact: I’ve realized that if i go shopping alone i spend less money than if G comes with. Let’s just say his cravings always make us spend more). I was telling a new friend about my meal planning and she told me she hadn’t met another meal planner here in Oki and that people usually look at her strangely when she tells them she meal plans!
Q: Do any of you meal plan? If so, tell me all about your strategies ;).