meal planning & grocery lists

MissyOlivePants · January 2011

Am I the only one that it takes HOURS to make? I've been working on this since I got up this morning (with, of course, a few distractions!). It's almost 11am and DD & I are still in jammies & no where near ready to go to the store.

uluvfranke · January 2011

I can never even figure mine out so I buy when I get there and waste money

papagena · January 2011

DH is generally the instigator of ours, which means there is a fair amount of frustration and he always wants to do it when I have the least interest in doing it. We often end up just eating the same rotation of 5-6 meals because of it. It always takes more time than I'd like, and often more stress.

We used to do it over breakfast out at our favorite breakfast place. It was nice. However, now that we have a toddler in tow, that's not nearly as relaxing.

Lotte134 · January 2011

Yeah it takes me quite awhile as well though I don't generally try to do it with DS around because he likes to steal the ads and 'read' them. ;-) I have an easier time taking an hour after he's in bed and getting it put together.

emathis2 · January 2011

I get so overwhelmed with the whole meal planning thing!! I want to start doing it though. My moms group is about to have a class on it if you want to join us?! It's going to be at my friends condo in Ybor. Kind of a moms night in/cooking demo/wine night.

emathis2 · January 2011

papagena:

DH is generally the instigator of ours, which means there is a fair amount of frustration and he always wants to do it when I have the least interest in doing it. We often end up just eating the same rotation of 5-6 meals because of it. It always takes more time than I'd like, and often more stress.

We used to do it over breakfast out at our favorite breakfast place. It was nice. However, now that we have a toddler in tow, that's not nearly as relaxing.

That's great that your DH attempts to help though! My DH is no help in that department. He won't even suggest meals for me to make. Just always says anything is fine.

papagena · January 2011

emathis2:
I get so overwhelmed with the whole meal planning thing!! I want to start doing it though. My moms group is about to have a class on it if you want to join us?! It's going to be at my friends condo in Ybor. Kind of a moms night in/cooking demo/wine night.

....jealous....

satreece · January 2011

I check out the publix add when it comes out on wednesday, make a list of the stuff we eat that's on sale and then over the next few days, I look at the list w/ Simon and come up with some meals. Sometimes without his help... just whenever it's convenient for me. I try to do grocery shop on Saturday or Sunday morning because that's what works for my schedule (I'd way rather go during the week)... but I like the idea of doing it at the start of the week or the beginning of the weekend.

And yeah... I usually do it in the evening so I don't have as many distractions...

Good luck, mama!

veggiegirl528 · January 2011

I don't even have a LO yet and it takes me forever! It usually takes at least an hour, sometimes 2, because I can't decide on what to eat. I've contemplated putting all our recipes into a spreadsheet then marking the last date we ate them to keep from eating the same things over & over, but decided that would be a little crazy. I make my grocery list based on what I want to make for the week, so that part goes fast once I know what I want to make for meals, it's the picking the meals that blows :P

MissyOlivePants · January 2011

veggiegirl528:
I've contemplated putting all our recipes into a spreadsheet then marking the last date we ate them to keep from eating the same things over & over, but decided that would be a little crazy.

That's actually a fabulous idea!

Unknown · January 2011

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aspade · January 2011

Ugh, I wish I could get my act together to do it again. I've only done it for one stretch, last fall when my kitchen redo was finally done and I was excited about cooking. Now my store's ads come out Tuesday night and our organic box comes Wednesday morning, so it's clear when I should meal plan, but somehow I'm just not getting around to it. I am being more creative, though!

MissyOlivePants · January 2011

*MrsChad*:
I have a menu spreadsheet. I have a tab for each meal. I do a week at a time. Each box gets a separate dish for the meal, that way I can hyperlink to either my recipes or something online if we are trying something new. If we did try something new and liked it, I use my recipe template and add it to my recipes.

That's great! Would you mind sharing your template with me?

heatherglen814 · January 2011

if you're in a publix area... use iheartpublix.com to help you. they have the ad out like 3-4 days early.

1ht

Unknown · January 2011

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Tonya_G · January 2011

We usually sit down as a family on the weekend and talk about what we'd like to eat- I should probably check the ads and see what's on sale, but we tend to buy ahead on things like meat when they go on sale, so they're in the freezer to use when we need them, and all we have to do is buy the extra stuff. Once I have a menu for the week, I do a quick once over in the fridge/pantry to make sure I have what I need.