What's Cooking?
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Planning meals for the week?
We are expecting our second child and I find that I need to start planning our meals in advance or else we purchase too much carryout!
Does anyone do this and do you have any tips? I'd like to throw in some new meal ideas and I would LOVE to only do the grocery shopping one day a week. I'd love to hear some tips on how to plan, how to keep produce fresh, etc!
TIA!
Re: Planning meals for the week?
I found this on pinterest about berries. This might be a start.
Tip to prevent berries getting moldy - rinse in 1 part vinegar to 10 parts water.
I start off by stocking the freezer with different proteins; chicken, ground beef, steak, seafood, pork, etc.
To choose meals I use my google reader, allrecipes.com, cooking magazines, pinterest, etc. I try to pick one from each protein category plus a meatless meal.
I try to put meals with perishable foods towards the beginning of the week. Then I go through all of the recipes and write out the grocery list (usually Thursday night). On Friday's I go to the farmers market and typically those vegetables will last me until the following Friday as long as I plan it out well.
With some veggies like green beans, I'll buy them in huge bags from the farmers market and blanch them, then freeze them in meal-sized portions.
Married / The Cookaholic Wife
I meal plan and grocery shop once a week.
I start out by taking inventory of what we have on hand. For instance, tonight we had chicken casserole because last week I made a recipe with water chestnuts and had some left over. I kind of do that throughout the week, as well as collect recipes and ideas that just sound good. (i love chili in the winter so lately that's been on the menu every week.)
Saturday I write up the meal plan and make a shopping list. I try to stick to the list with one exception- if meat is on sale (especially after the holidays) I'll stock up. Last year I got a whole goose for $8 that way and I've gotten a pound of ground lamb for $1.
Decide what your staples are- the things that you need in your cupboard at all times. When I first started meal planning it was spaghetti and sauce. Now it is things like what flour and fresh mushrooms. I stock up on staples whenever there is a good deal. If you have time to cook ahead, I try to keep chopped veggies (onions, celery, etc) and browned meat (ground beef, sausage) in the freezer.
I've tried making lists of things that we eat on a regular basis so when I run out of ideas I can refer back to it.
The best thing I've done though is get a good crockpot cookbook. The one I'm in love with is from Taste of Home. I go through and pick a couple crockpot recipes a week.
I pretty much shop on Monday and Friday (to get the staples- milk and fresh fruit/bananas) for the weekend.
I totally agree with figuring out what your staples are. These will be canned goods (for me, different types of tomatoes, corn, beans etc), condiments/sauces, herbs and spices, things like olive or canola oil, vinegars, meat if you keep it in the freezer, and things like rice or beans. I just make a note when I am getting low on any of these items and buy them at Costco or stock up on sale.
Have your go-to recipes organized, and then use a site like Pinterest, your "favorites" tab on your computer, etc. to have them all organized in one place.
I tend to go through the ads for the stores I shop at, write down the best deals on foods we eat, and then browse my go-to recipes. Between what I have on hand and what is on sale I find meals I can make cheaply. I add to my shopping any items I might need to complete a recipe if I don't already have a good substitute on hand.
Example: I have an awesome black bean mushroom chili recipe. I always have beans and the other ingredients in the house. If I see mushrooms are on sale, then I put that recipe on my menu plan. But it also calls for tomatillos. Once I have created my entire menu I go through and add the few items I still need that DIDN'T come from the ad, like tomatillos, to my grocery list.
I usually plan to cook a double recipe of something either in the crockpot or a casserole/stovetop item at least 2-3x a week. I use the leftovers for lunch or freeze them so that every week or two I have at least one night where I don't have to cook because I can pull something homemade from the freezer.