The email query that I most receive concerns my meal planning methodology (a very pedantic way of saying getting my computer and inserting what I plan on eating the following week into a word doc). I think I may have written about this before, but my system has evolved over time so consider this an update of sorts.
It is not rocket science and this post – bit of an oxymoron - is an overly long overview of what I find works best for me in terms of efficiency, budget and minimizing food waste. It may feel to some as though I work backwards, but I enjoy what I see as a creative challenge by planning my menu this way. And please keep in mind that, because I love to cook, I constantly read about food and save recipes from online to a folder on my computer. Having this file of literally thousands of inspiration recipes helps me (and hopefully you if you cook from my recipes) with meal planning when I get stuck. I am not some culinary virtuoso who comes to her menu planning with everything just ready to be jotted down for the week to come.
A template – even a rather vague one - is truly helpful and keeps you on track
As those of you who read this blog regularly know, I have a template from which I work. It is by no means set in stone, is rather broad in scope, and has gone through many changes over the years (such as my removing "Thursday soup night" as an option when L. put his foot down about "liquid dinners" no matter how delicious the soup might be). I find it helpful to have this guide in order to streamline planning when I irritably think “I don’t know what we should have on Tuesday” and keeps me on track while still allowing me to be creative.
I invest around 15 minutes on Thursday evening to get the ball rolling and shop
Thursday is the day when I place my weekly online grocery order, for arrival Saturday morning. Since I won’t know what vegetables I will be receiving until my CSA box arrives, I usually spend 15 minutes (at most) making a rough menu draft based around the proteins and fish that I want to eat the following week and placing my order for those, staples such as milk and pantry items, and any household items like dish soap that I might need.
I use online shopping because it saves me time, and is good for my budget. For one, the prices are much lower than my local grocery store ($3.99 for a quart of organic milk vs. $8.99 which is $15 in weekly savings right there) and I make no impulse or snack buys like I might in a store should something catch my eye. My online grocery website shows all my staples on the home screen so I don’t forget to buy items and have to go back to the store because I did. It takes a really short amount of time to click on what I need and get back to my life, as opposed to wandering around a grocery store looking for what I need, and then dealing with a backed up line at the cash register.
Thursday evening the weekly template looks like this and my weekly grocery delivery is scheduled:
Sunday [“Raid” Meal; fridge, freezer and pantry item dinner]
Nothing written in yet because Sunday is clean out the fridge day, or a use up a pantry or freezer item dinner, and I don’t know exactly what will be available yet since I live with a teen with a hollow leg and items that I am planning to use seem to disappear in the night.
Monday [Wildcard; a more complex or fiddly dish than usual to test my culinary skills]
Something will be penciled in here, even though I don’t exactly know the whys and wherefores yet because (as mentioned above) I am still clueless as to veggies. I will probably write something along the lines of “interesting chicken stew with white wine base?” or “layered vegetable tourte? Spanakopita influence?” because I feel like eating or making something along those lines.
Tuesday [Pasta]
I will either already know what we feel like “spaghetti and meatballs” and have ordered what I need or have a general idea “finish box of penne – have shrimp in freezer – saffron?” and be thinking through a potential recipe idea.
Wednesday [L.'s choice of an item I have made in the past]
Young Master, having voiced his weekly food decree, that slot is written in and ordered for!
Thursday [Fish]
I base this on what seasonal fish is on sale at the store so know that I need to be thinking of a recipe for “salmon” or “branzino” even if I don’t have the particulars of the meal yet.
Friday [Vegetarian]
Blank until Saturday morning's CSA box unveiling, though I might pencil in “roulade” or “risotto” if I have an idea percolating of what to make.
Saturday ["Picnic" Dinner; something that is easy to assemble and easy to eat in front of a movie]
Again, I may have an idea, or penciled in “quesadillas” and ordered tortillas, or written “L. is annoying me about miso chicken wings again” and invested in several pounds of chicken wings, but this is usually half a meal until post grocery delivery.
15 minutes of final planning on Saturday morning will free up lots of “what to make for dinner” worrying and shopping time the following week.
I am lucky in that the entrance to my building is the closest to where the delivery truck for my apartment complex parks for those of us who have an 8 to 10 am delivery time. This means that I am pretty much guaranteed to get my groceries and CSA box by 8:15 at the latest.
It is a weekly, very comforting to me, ritual: I put the water on to boil while I put away my groceries. I open, unpack, enjoy, and put away my CSA box goodies during the 4 minutes that it takes for my coffee to steep. I then take my coffee and my vegetable list either back to bed or to the couch and finalize my menu with my laptop on my knees while I drink my coffee.
Some people enjoy crossword puzzles or Sudoku, I enjoy slotting the vegetables I have received into my fledgling menu. What can I say, we all have our little foibles which make us who we are. “Hmmm, how to use the most perishable veggies up first?”, “Which of these would work with salmon on Thursday?”, “That would make an interesting salad, I bet, and would work with Monday’s chicken stew; plus I could use the extra stock in Saturday’s risotto and have a chicken sandwich for lunch on Tuesday with the leftovers – done!”, “crap, I have kohlrabi left after checking that I used all CSA items in the menu – a quick visit to my recipe folder will get that sorted” are the sort of thoughts that get the final menu done.
5 final minutes on Sunday, and voilà, set for the week to come
Sunday morning, I reread the menu, make any tweeks that might have occurred to me, ind post it for you.
Basically, all the verbiage above comes down to my saying that by investing under an hour a week you can have your meals planned, shopped for, and unpacked and in your fridge ready to go for the next 7 days. The only other investment of time or money might be a stop for salad greens around Wednesday as those don’t keep and we all should be eating more of them. And since there is a really good Farmers’ market on Wednesday, that works for me.
Comments