My brain is literally mush right now. I've been going crazy getting the house cleaned and between kids napping, or not napping (they are both napping right now though) I thought I needed a small blogging break to clear things from my head.
I've been trying, not hard enough apparently, to get a good system down for grocery shopping and menu planning. My first step was to get a small "grocery" notebook and write on the left sheet my plan for meals for the week and the right sheet my plan on foods needed to make that happen, plus other groceries we need. That way I could be organized and not buy more than we need each week for food. I've been doing that for a few months now, and it works well. Just not well enough. Our food budget is tight, so I knew I had to be strict. Who knew two little ones could eat so much! Seriously?
Here's a few ideas that have come about in the last week:
The hubbs, Josh, thought we should get an app for our phone, a place we could both record how much we spend on food and it will always keep an updated amount left on our phones. I liked how there are apps that can connect our phones and our budget. Hey there's an app for like everything, why didn't I just look. Glad he saw that option.
One of them is called: iXpenselt
Anyone use that? Or one similar.
Another idea I saw on PINTEREST was to make lots of meals ahead of time and freeze them, meats and veggies, with seasoning and whatever else is needed, in a freezer bag ready to throw in the crock pot or oven. Genius! There are so many options out there. Just need the time to do it. So I need to look at my time and see what works and what doesn't. Two kids keeps me busy enough.
And also I could use this:
Which I was just shown today by my bro. And it's made by non other than, DAVE RAMSEY! Haha. Awesome! Any feedback on e-mealz?
So, all in all I think I have a good start. I just need to do a bit more researching, planning, and get the plan going. I'm so thankful to all the resources we have.
How do you plan your weekly meals?
ps. I'll make sure to follow up on how things go.
I use the E-Mealz program. It has been so nice having seven healthy meals planned out, complete shopping list, recipes, which brands to buy, estimated cost tally, etc. The cost in our area is a little higher than what they estimate but not too far off. Also, I never cook all seven meals. We eat the leftovers for lunches and/or one or two "leftover" dinners. Makes plenty of food. In my crazy life, this plan has been worth every penny! Another friend of mine joined a couple of weeks ago and has found it to work great for her as well.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog!! Good luck on your meal plans.
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