Menu Planning

  I love the word 'planning.'  Since I am slightly prone to anxiety, I keep this in check by planning. When I first considered menu planning, I was excited to learn something new.  What I found, however, is that I already do this.  The basic idea of menu planning is to plan what meals you are going to make for a designated amount of time, then go to the store to get all the items you need.  This helps you avoid making a trip to the grocer every day or every other day, and saves money.  I thought that's what everybody did.  This is what I have done for as long as I have been grocery shopping.  So I was kind of disappointed when I thought I was getting a new system, when all I really got was a name for what I already do. 

  I am finding benefits of belonging to a site, though.  It has recipes.  I need recipes, as I don't have the creative mind to say 'Alright, what can I do with these ingredients I have?'  It also puts sides with the main dishes.  Great for one with an inexperienced palate.  Once you pick recipes, it generates a shopping list. I can chose how many servings I want to make, and it will adjust the shopping list accordingly.  Brilliant!  It also has freezer meals, which is great because we recently acquired a large freezer for our garage that currently houses ice packs and some ground beef.

  I am finding the recipes a little overwhelming so far, so I need to start slow and pick just one at a time for now.  I picked three last week and it generated a grocery list longer than my usual list for the whole week including household goods.  I can't just buy a ton of stuff to make one dish, especially if I don't know if we will like it, and the point is to not throw food away.  So the other thing is usually do is if I know I am going to make a dish with fresh parsley, I will also plan to make lasagna or something else with parsley so I can maximize my fresh ingredients.  This is not easy to do.  And I am not finding the site helpful with that.  In time I may be able to make this more feasible.

  I cut a lot of coupons and shop meats that are on sale.  I am on a budget, people!  I am not finding the site helpful with that, yet, but I can see there are features that can help me maximize my savings and make new, healthy dishes. 

  In summary, week one of menu planning involved just the menu planning I normally do.  I guess keep up the good work!