'In the Kitchen' Archive Fridays: Meal Planning 101

Welcome to the second  installment of 'In the Kitchen' Archive Fridays!  Today I'm featuring an article on Meal Planning written by Jessie from Vanderbilt Wife!  Make sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for an update on Jessie's blog! 

Enjoy!

"Welcome to Everything 'In the Kitchen' Up Close's very first guest article! Today, Jessie from Vanderbilt Wife will talk to you about her experience with meal planning. Jessie has created a six step guide to help get you started!  Read her words below to find out the tips and tricks she uses to plan meals for her family:

My mom rarely planned meals. When I was in middle school and high school, she would often call me and ask me to defrost meat, get out stuff for meatloaf, or throw together her pineapple chicken recipe. Sometimes it was a stop at Ukrop’s, our local grocery store, on the way home from her full-time job. They had a great selection of prepared foods. Or maybe Dad brought home Chinese food or Taco Bell.

If you have the funds, it’s not such a bad way to eat. But I got married at 22 and became the wife of a graduate student. We didn’t have the money to eat impulsively. So, out of necessity, I started meal planning.

Over the years, I’ve discovered there are two real methods of meal planning: the cheapskate and the non-cheapskate [way]. It’s just been in the past few months (since I had my first baby and then went back to work) that we’ve moved to the true cheapskate plan. It’s not quite as fun or easy, but it works. If you don’t care about saving money, just skip the first two steps here (although in this economy, it certainly can’t hurt to pinch some pennies).

So when I sit down to meal plan, here’s the process I go through:

1.) Cut coupons from Sunday’s circulars. I only cut out the coupons for items I think I would use—IF the coupon made the item cheaper than a generic (or if I am partial to that specific brand … our dishwasher rebels if we use anything but Cascade Complete, for example).

2.) Scour the grocery store ads. I make a list of the great deals as I go through the ads for the two grocery stores I frequent (and occasionally Aldi, if I need a lot of staples). Usually the ads will remind me of a coupon I just cut, and I make sure to make a note of the coupon by the sale price.

3.) Create your menu. If you’re going the cheapskate route, use the best deals from the ads to make your meals. Ingredients might remind you of a favorite dinner, or you can use the ingredient search on AllRecipes.com to find a new creation! If you’re not as worried about saving money, you can start here by making our your menu list for meals you’d enjoy that week. I plan 5 meals a week, because it is just my husband and me eating real food and I know we’ll eat leftovers some nights. I try to limit waste of food and time. Can you make rice for a side dish on Monday, and then have fried rice on Wednesday? If so, make it all Monday and set aside the extra to refrigerate before you serve it. Extra baked chicken can be cubed or shredded for a casserole. Leftover vegetables can all be thrown into a bag in the freezer and brought out later for soup or to make vegetable stock.

Some people use the same tried-and-true recipes all the time; I am crazy about trying out new recipes, so I am constantly looking through cookbooks, magazines, and food blogs for new ideas.

I sketch out which day of the week we will eat each meal, but if I don’t feel like eating the meal assigned to that day, I just make something else I have the ingredients for instead of getting take-out or having to run to the grocery store again.

4.) Make your grocery list. Look at all your recipes and make a list of the items you don’t have already in your pantry or fridge. I sort these out by section of the grocery store, so I don’t find myself wandering all over the place once I’m there. Note to yourself if you have a coupon for an item. If you’re cheapskating, you need to sort your list according to stores as well. I usually end up going to two stores to get the best deals. Add anything you need for lunches, breakfast, snacks, and toiletries to your list.

5.) Shop! For me, shopping once a week works. I would advise you to try to narrow it down to once or twice a week, because you will save money.

6.) Prepare. If there are items that will take a long amount of time to prepare, and all the adults in your household work, go ahead and make those items on the weekend or when you have time.

Menu planning is such a habit for me I can’t imagine ever going without it! It saves us time, money, and sanity, and gives me more time to spend with my daughter because I’m not running out to the store or a restaurant every night. If I’m not going to get home from work on time, I can direct my husband to the recipe and ingredients so he can start preparation or get dinner in the oven. If you aren’t menu planning now, give it a test run one week and see how it works for you! "

Update:When Jessie wrote this article, she was mother to 4-month old Libbie.  Now, two years later, there is a new addition: a darling little boy named David born in December of 2010 (Congratulations Jessie!).  Jessie is still keeps busy writing her tales of being a stay-at-home-mom and housewife on her blog: Vanderbilt Wife.  On Mondays, make sure to head over to Vanderbilt Wife for 'Meal Planning Mondays' to see what Jessie has planned for her family for the week.  She also shares yummy recipes with her readers on a regular basis!  One recent recipe that looks amazing is the Blueberry-Lemon Ricotta Muffins.  You can find Jessie's complete compilation of recipes in her Recipe Index.  I also suggest checking out her Chocolate Avocado Cake post, which contains a whole bunch of great recipes from the bloggers of the Secret Recipe Club.

Vanderbilt Wife is a great blog that I definitely recommend checking out!  Jessie offers many great articles on both cooking and motherhood.  This blog is a must read for anyone who likes to cook or bake, or has small children!  Being interested in both topics myself, I found myself reading article after article at Vanderbilt Wife (and I have a ton bookmarked for later!).  Hopefully you'll find yourself doing the same during your visit!