I have been thinking a lot lately about what I want to share here, what is most useful to others, and what is most motivating to me. While I do love to cook and fiddle with recipes and do have moments where I feel I have perfected a recipe in my own way, I am starting to realize that the thing I am most proud of concerning the food related goings-on in this house is that it works as well as it does.
How do we become skilled at planning what we eat and executing the plan efficiently?
The concept that I am attempting to capture has proved somewhat elusive. This is probably because much of it has become habit, which I believe it part of what makes it work. But I didn’t always have these habits! Not terribly long ago, my grocery expenditures were significantly more, I felt like I was starting from scratch each time I needed to decide what to make, and I was constantly at the store buying ingredients for a particular recipe. And the food I was eating was not better that what I am eating now. So many people tell me that they wish they were better at meal planning, not throwing away perishable foods that weren’t used in time, and not having to run to the store constantly. I remember feeling that way! But I no longer do, so what changed?
I have decided to spend a week discussing what I do each day that makes it all work. Of course I intend to share some tips that will simply be useful, but I am also hoping that what I think I do well will shake out in some way that will allow me to show others how to become more frugal, less wasteful, more efficient, and more satisfied with their own food situations. See? I don’t really even know what to call that, but I mean the food you plan, make, and eat at home.
A snapshot of my “process”
So I am just going to start with yesterday, because: 1) there doesn’t seem to be a place to start that is better than any other; and 2) I can remember that far back. So here are my relevant food-related activities.
Thursday, 2/20:
- My daughter and I ate some banana muffins for breakfast. They were frozen from the last time I made them.
- My husband took a portion of enchiladas to work for lunch. These enchiladas are a wonderful example of it all coming together. I made a standing rib roast for Christmas dinner, which yielded some leftover steak. Our favorite thing to do with this tricky leftover is make these enchiladas.
- I went to Meijer to pick up bacon, a loaf of French bread, and some avocados for the BLTs the husband requested for dinner. I haven’t seen a great deal on bacon in a while, so I ran out. It still happens, but so much less frequently that I don’t mind. Plus it gives me an opportunity to be at the store for surprise deals!
- Avocados were $.69.
- I also found ground chuck on clearance. I don’t have any beef in the freezer at the moment, so I picked up 7 lbs. I loaded a $5 reward with a $30 meat purchase to my mperks account. Between the beef and the bacon, I am $10 away from earning the reward, so as long as there is a decent deal next week on which to spend the remainder, it will be like I got the beef for $1.66/lb.
- Finally, I picked up a 34 cent pack of corn tortillas so we can have huevos rancheros for breakfast tomorrow. I have some ranchero sauce in the freezer, plenty of eggs and refried beans, and I picked up some Monterey Jack cheese at Ultra a couple of weeks ago for $1.25. I try to pay $1.00 per 8 oz block of cheese, but I ran out of jack and like to have it since it is a versatile cheese that melts well, works for latin dishes, and plays an important role in baked macaroni and cheese.
- I portioned the beef into 1 lb packages, sealed them with my Foodsaver, and they went in the freezer.
- I had veggie quiche for lunch, also from the freezer. The little one was not interested, so she had a sandwich. Nothing earth-shattering there.
- I took a whole chicken and a portion of soup out of the freezer. The chicken is for tonight’s dinner and the soup was lunch for me and the kiddo today.
Friday, 2/21 (slightly less action-packed):
- For lunch, my daughter and I had the vegetable beef barley soup that I had defrosted, accompanied by the rest of the bread left over from last night’s BLTs.
- I will roast the chicken for dinner, and save the bones to make chicken stock with the two other chicken carcasses currently hanging out in my freezer
- To go with the chicken, I am making creamed spinach with the spinach I picked up cheap at Jewel last week and roasted red potatoes because the potatoes should be consumed sooner, rather than later.
It seems like a lot when I write it out like this, but honestly it wasn’t. None of these things, other than eating, is an event in itself. I packed up the beef while keeping my daughter company as she ate dinner. We stopped at the store when we were out anyway to for gymnastics. Everything else is just about thinking it through and remembering to defrost, etc.
Now, to get that chicken into the oven….
