When Kirby and I were first married I went grocery shopping ONCE A MONTH and got ALL of my groceries for the month. (at that time I was still working in town, so I stopped by the store a couple more times in the month to get fresh produce and milk) It worked out great and I was pretty consistent with it. Then we went to Branson for a year, then I got pregnant, then we had kids, then I had a home daycare and it all just kept going downhill until I was a stressed out mess at the end of every grocery shopping trip. I usually had no plan, no list and I ended up spending WAY too much money and came home with more sugar and junk than actual food!
I had to come up with a new plan. My first plan was to go once a week. With kids in the cart, I didn't have room for tons of groceries, so I thought the once a week thing might work out because I wouldn't need to get a lot each time I went. I thought this plan was working....but it was not. I would end up splurging on things we did not need and that were not good for us and that cost way too much. Our grocery bill kept creeping up until I was spending over $150 a week on groceries for a family of four. YIKES!
Moving on to plan B. Back to making one trip a month. On Monday while the kids were napping I did an inventory of what we already had on hand and then went to town "liking" and "pinning" tons of recipes on Pinterest. It was a little daunting but well worth it. It was the 13th by the time I had time to do this, so I actually only planned about 3 weeks worth of meals not the entire month. My goal is not to have to buy any more grocery items at all until September.
I went shopping that evening (without kids, Kirby and I have decided it's worth me taking time to do this one evening a month to save some money and reduce some stress) I made two trips in and out of Aldi and one trip to HyVee. I spent $240.00, that averages out to $80 a week (for three weeks). I didn't not buy ANY snacks, no cookies, fruit snacks or any of that junk that adds a ton to our grocery bill each month, not to mention turns our kids into sugar addicted brats. I bought four gallons of milk and froze three of them. We're now on a milk ration, milk is ONLY for breakfast, it's not necessary for them to drink milk all day long when water is much better for them anyway.
So....Here is the list of meals I bought ingredients for:
1. Meatloaf (I've started making mini meatloaves in a muffin tin, the kids like them much better that way)
2. Tater tot casserole
3. Lasagna
4. Spaghetti
5. Tacos - Ground beef, shredded beef and chicken - I used the chicken recipe for shredded beef too and it was really good.
6. Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice
7. Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken
8. Teriyaki Chicken and Savory Chicken
9. BBQ Beef Sandwiches
10. Crockpot Chicken
11. Bagel Pizzas (for lazy nights or nights were in a hurry. I usually keep frozen pizzas on hand, but I tried not to buy anything premade)
12. Beef and Noodles
13. Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken (instead of making the fried rice I just bought a box of Rice-a-Roni fried rice)
14. Dinner in a Crockpot
15. Tilapia with Lemon Cream Sauce
16. BBQ Pork - I don't like BBQ sauce from a bottle so I make my own with Ketchup, mustard, worchestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and a little brown sugar.
Some of these are an entire meal, some require veggies and sides. I got canned and frozen veggies for when the fresh ones run out. I got some rice packets, cresent rolls, mac and cheese and some simple things to have for sides.
I did not buy any cereal or pop-tart type items for breakfast. We have toast and fruit almost every morning. If my bananas get old I'll make banana muffins. I also make little egg cups: mix eggs, ham or sausage a little milk and cheese, pour the mixture into a muffin tin, bake for 25 or 30 minutes. Put them in baggies in the freezer and microwave them for a minute in the morning. Simple and we all love them.
I spent the next two days after my shopping trip cooking meat and mixing things up to put in the freezer. I now have several meals that I can throw into the crockpot in the morning or meat ready to heat up in the evening and put on a bun or tortilla. It took me three days to prepare three weeks worth of meals, hopefully it will eliminate a little bit of stress!
One more little tip: after I cook my meat, I put it in quart freezer bags, write the date and what it is on the bag, freeze it flat and after it's frozen I store it in one of these cheap bins from wal-mart. It's like a little filing cabinet for my freezer!
I hope I covered everything. If I forgot something or left anything out leave me a comment and I'll get your question answered.
