Meal Planning

Dinner time had become somewhat of a challenge around here. 5:30 pm would roll around and I would be looking in the pantry thinking, "What can we have for dinner? What am I going to make the boys for dinner? Will they even eat that?" etc.. and so forth. We were having a lot of easy microwave items and the boys would always get something different that they most likely would pick at anyway. With a 3rd kid arriving in 3 months, something had to change. Lots of things had to change actually.

I would end up either going to the grocery store 3 times/week and buying $100 worth of crap or going once every 3 weeks and still buying a cart full of randomness. I started to do a little research on meal planning. I didn't want to be a crazy coupon lady, but saving money on groceries and saving time and headache at meal times seemed like a good idea. There are numerous blogs and articles out in Internet land on the subject. I also turned to the trusted women in my Moms Group on-line. Between them and Internet land I was ready to start. I grabbed a notebook that the boys haven't yet managed to draw all over and started a list of meals that I have made in the past with success. I also got about 4 of my cookbooks and jotted down recipes that seemed easy enough, but still nutritious.

I guess I should list some goals I am hoping to achieve with this new experiment into meal planning.

• Save money on groceries. If I only buy what I need and use what I buy then I should ultimately save. 
• Make fewer shopping trips throughout the month. With a meal plan I hope to have 2 major grocery shopping trips per month with maybe 2-3 small trips to get what I may have forgotten or ran out of too soon. 
• Get the boys away from filling up on processed snacks in between meals. I have stopped buying cereal bars, protein bars, and processed sugar filled snacks. If they are not in the house, then the boys cannot eat them. Instead, I have found recipes to make my own granola bars, cereal bars, and other healthier snacks
• Granola Bars
• Cereal Bars - I added flax and a dollop of fruit spread on top then baked them in muffin tins. 
• Not having to stress about what to make for dinner. I have a calendar on the fridge that has all our meals planned out for 1/2 the month. No guesswork come dinnertime.
• I want to make one meal for the whole family. No more short order cook. Sometimes the boys don't like what is on their plate, however, with less snacking in between meals they have been more inclined to try what is on their plate. Archie gets a timer set as well b/c he lollygags at meal time. What he doesn't eat in that allotted time he just doesn't get. However, he also only gets his dinner leftovers if he complains about being hungry later. Basically, if he doesn't eat his dinner then he doesn't get anything else before bedtime. 
• Buy more fresh fruits, veggies, and bulk items and less prepackaged, processed foods. 

So far I have been working in this experiment for 1 week. I spent around $240 between 2 stores for 15 days worth of meals. I do not plan what we will have for breakfast or lunch, but I was sure to include some of the usuals on our shopping list so we would have enough for 3 meals/day. My lunch usually consists of leftovers, sandwiches, salads, and soups. The boys will also get some leftovers, but they typically get soy dogs, yogurt, cheese, mac 'n cheese, quesadillas, etc.. with fruit and veggies. 

I found this great template online of an easy way to create a menu plan calendar for the month. You can actually edit it before you print, but I chose to hand write our meals. I prefer pen and paper. I am hoping that I get into a good meal planning routine before #3 arrives. 

cereal bars

a lunch I made with leftover quinoa