Hello everyone! Sorry that it has been so long since I
caught up with you but things have been hectic! However, it is hectic in a GOOD
way for a change!
I started going to the office with Shank this week and I am
learning how the insurance business runs.
I plan to help out when they are short staffed and to act as Shank’s
personal assistant! All I can say is….. I have a lot to learn. I am having fun though. I have also started
going to several different community and business meetings that he attends
including Chamber of Commerce, and
BNI meetings and I have met some wonderful people.
The other thing that I have been working on is how to
simplify my life at home. I
decided to try a new concept of food planning, grocery shopping, and cooking. I
am now into the second month of my plan and I wanted to share with you what I am
doing and hopefully get your feedback and input on how to improve.
I have decided that I spend way too much time and money
buying groceries and trying to figure out what to cook after I get home with
these groceries. Sometimes I get home and wonder why I had to buy groceries at
all with all of the stuff in my pantry. This bothers me on so many levels.
There are so many people who don’t have anything to eat and here I am looking
at so much and can’t put a meal together!
So, after doing some serious thinking and meditating about
this I decided that I would inventory my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer,
make a meal plan, then implement it. You may be asking what is so different
about this? Here it is…. I am only going to the grocery store once a month.
Yep, once a month!
Here is what I did: I inventoried everything in my kitchen.
I admit the first month took a while. I wrote down EVERYTHING in my pantry and
refrigerator. I bet if you aren’t already doing this, you would be shocked at
what you look blindly at everyday and never notice.
Next, I grabbed a calendar and started planning. I took the
ingredients that I had inventoried and began making meals out of them. On the calendar,
I planned out 3 meals for everyday of the month. When I got to the place where
I had ingredients with nothing to put with them, I pulled out cookbooks and
searched the Internet to find recipes to use these ingredients. I am determined
to use everything in my pantry and to not waste any food. Listed below are 2
sites that take your ingredients and turn them into recipes for you!
Once I had 3 meals for every day of the month, I made a
grocery list. I planned for 3 meals because I cook breakfast every day and we
take our lunches to work with us.
I have to admit, the grocery list for a month looked daunting. However,
I went to the store (actually I usually go to 4 stores, I like to get the best
prices available) and I bought groceries.
I stuck to the list, if it wasn’t on the list, I did not buy it! I was
extremely worried….how much would this cost? But would you believe that I spent
the same amount for the month that I usually spend in 2 weeks? I only spent $250.00.
I brought it home and started the plan.
So here I am on my second month and I have to say, it works!
I have learned some things. I don’t always cook what I have on the calendar for
that day. Let’s be honest, some days, I don’t want what is listed for that day,
or the meal is just too labor intensive. So, I pick another meal on the
calendar. As long as I remember to cross out what I’ve cooked, I can go back
and pick up the available meals later in the month. Also, I had meals left over at the end of the month. Why?
Because I did not take into account the days when there were leftovers.
So at the beginning of my second month, I was again a little
anxious. My pantry was almost depleted and I did not know how to estimate how
much the grocery bill would be. I started by adding the 11 meals that I had
left from my first month to the calendar, and then I took a new inventory,
planned my meals and set out to the store again. And guess what? This month, I
spent $273.00! Thirty-one days in
the month with 3 meals a day for 2 people! 93 meals!!!!! I am extremely pleased
with the outcome!
Also, I am ecstatic over the fact that I DO NOT have to
darken the door of a grocery store or put up groceries again for a
month!!!!!!!!
Please let me know what you think and any suggestions on how
to make it better!
Talk to you soon!
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