Why mealplan?

I used to think meal planning was for THOSE moms. The ones that took their mom job a little more seriously than I do. I could just imagine these moms sitting at the kitchen table, at 11pm with coupons sprawled all over the table. They'd be clipping coupons and matching their coupons to what they had in the cabinets and to the store ads to carefully plan meals. Every now and again they'd reference their food pyramid to make sure their lovely family was getting the right nutrients every day.

And now I'm one of them. Except my little eyes won't stay open past 10pm and I don't clip coupons. It's hard to do when you're planning such a restricted menu. I gave up trying years ago. Sure there may be coupons out there for brown rice pasta, rice cakes and corn free frozen fruits (which is harder to find than you'd think!). But I cook about 80% of our food from scratch. I mill our flour (I have yet to come across a coupon for brown rice in bulk bags), we buy fresh fruits and veggies and my spices and other odds and ends are usually inexpensive off brands anyway.

I also look at store ads. Not to find the cheapest store that week to buy my strawberries, but because there are 5 stores I go to. And several I refuse to step foot into. Yes, I'm a grocery store snob. Safeway is closest to me and their produce is my favorite. Plus they deliver and I do take advantage of that every now and again. Like when I have 3 fussy kids and it's 105 degrees outside. Costco is my favorite for meats. I also buy my mommy snacks there. All the goodies I buy for myself and hide in the cupboards away from the prying eyes of my kids. And a huge sack of potatoes is always a must!
Sunflower is great for many items and Trader Joe's is good for one thing and one thing only: Sunbutter. I rarely hit Whole Foods. Takes too long to get there and their stuff is crazy expensive. But they have Wellshire ham, which is corn free. About 3 times a year I will make the trek to Sprouts. It's 40 minutes away. Too far. But I heard that they bought out Sunflower and that makes me sooooo happy! :)

I digress. I'm a meal planner. I tried it once. For no other reason than I was sick of asking the kids "What do you want for lunch?" "What do you want for a snack?" Yadda, yadda. And they'd never pick the same thing and they'd end up fighting and I got frustrated. So I made a menu one day. It was like the gates of Heaven opened and I saw Jesus smiling down on me. I did something good. Really good and it made this allergy life much easier.

The benefits of meal planning?

1. Grocery shopping just got easier! I plan my meals on Sunday afternoon. I grocery shop during the week. I typically plan my meals mostly based on what I have already in the beginning of the week and then meals where I might have some of the ingredients but not all, at the end of the week. So when I go grocery shopping, I have a list. And the meals I plan for in which I have to go shopping, I look at the sales!

2. No more complaining! I am at no fault if you don't like your dinner. The menu says it's liver and onions night and there isn't a darn thing you can do about it. Because the menu says so. If you want to know what we are eating, please don't ask. Refer to the menu. You can't read yet? Ask your sister.

3. No more scrambling! I sometimes get busy. Do you have kids? Have you ever been busy? And before you know it, 4pm comes around and there is NO dinner planned! This is ok for some families. Most families. The local pizza place's phone number is on speed dial. Or maybe we can meet daddy at a restaurant after work. Yeah, we can't do that. It's not an option. If I don't have something planned, I make some noodles. Fun, no? So now the night before, I read my menu. Is there any prep work I can get done now? Do I need to take meat out of the freezer?

Now that I have reviewed the basics, I am going to start posting our weekly menus. And as time goes on, the recipes. Steal all my idears if you want.