Yet I continued to struggle with making things last-minute for dinner.
At one point, I'd tried doing it one week at a time, but it just didn't seem to work. *frustrating*
I *think* I've been able to find a happy-medium. I will sit down and go through the recipes we like and ask Erik what he wants to eat over the next 2 weeks. If he has a special request, I'll make it happen. A little direction is helpful. Then I'll fill in.
Oh, and when Erik is off, he takes care of dinner. And I don't plan for Saturday nights either. So I usually only have to come up w/ about 4 meals/week. Or 3 if I want to make something big and plan for leftovers. :)
(no, the colors don't mean anything, it's just me going through post-its).
Here's the MAJOR up side to things: It has VASTLY simplified grocery shopping.
I'll put meals with fresh ingredients, or ones that will wilt/expire more quickly in week 1. If I have a partial ingredient left over from the first week, I'll find a recipe to use the rest of it in week 2. AND it means we have 2 "big" grocery trips/month. Ahhh, bliss! We will usually have to go for milk on the 'other' week, but it's a quick in-and-out dash and it's over. :)
Previously, we'd go for groceries about every 10 days or so, and would just sort of dawdle. No real plans. With a list of what we're eating, I can be sure I have the specific ingredients which is WAY nice.
Now, here's a question for the peanut gallery. I put the main dish on a little sticky note tab thing and stick it on the day. I do this so I can move it around if I need to. If I write it on the actual calendar, I'd end up moving things around and erasing and using arrows ... it'd get confusing.
Because we have a few favorites/staples, I re-use some of the stickies. But they're starting to lose their stick. Or peel or whatever ... I'm looking for a solution to this. Help? I'd like to be able to put on/take off the tag. I really only need to write on it once, but I'd like to be able to move it around as much as possible. On paper.
Anyone have a good idea/solution for me?
4 comments:
Great post. I try to plan a week at a time, so we know what to pick up at the store and I can defrost things in the fridge as needed. Then when I think of other things that sound good, I stick them on the calendar further down the road (I usually keep 6-8 wks of calendar on my fridge at once). I write in pencil so it can be flexible, and Aaron almost always cooks on his days off. This seems to be a very good fit for us. Glad you've found a balance as well.
You could put your calendar on the fridge and then asign a magnet to each dinner (by taping a label on it, or coming up with a key - such as The Poision control number = chili, the pink kitty magnet = meatloaf, etc). If you don't have a bunch of fun magnets like us they are pretty cheap to buy - or you could make your own by buying magnetic strips and cutting them up. Then you could stick them on each month as you desire. Brilliant, yes? Maybe I should try this, but I just can't get motivated. I used to do a month plan and shop to suite but then I would change my mind and not use what I bought. So I'm more of a plan-a-few-days-at-a-time girl. I usually know what we are having for dinner the next day AT LEAST the night before. Sometimes I plan the whole week, but not usually more than that. It does not really affect my shopping as most of my meals don't require fresh food - sad, now that I think of it, but that's how it is. Way to go and depress me, Karen :)
I second the magnets idea. You can buy magnets in rolls or sheets, I believe, that have sticky glue on the back. Just cut to the size of your sticky notes, peel the tape off the magnet, affix your sticky note, and there you go. Maybe stick a little piece of clear packing tape over them to help keep them usable longer (cheap lamination).
I really need to get back into this. But with menu planning, decluttering tasks & a chore sheet I'd all like to do, I think I need to paint one whole wall as a calendar!
Oh, and I have a running list of all the meals that we like (with side options as well) in an Excel spreadsheet that I pull up when I need some inspiration. Honestly, we don't try a lot of new things really, at least not very often. We have our favorites (and that is probably 30 or so different meals) plus some special stuff we do a few times a year but aside from that we really don't deviate just a whole lot.
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