So I had this idea. And since I had some time on my hands today I decided to act on this idea of mine. It is no mystery to anyone who knows me that I am cooking resistant. I love food, I love eating, and I enjoy thinking about becoming a fabulous cook…but I hate cooking. Even more than that I hate CHOOSING what to cook. Not knowing is totally discouraging. My Mom has this thing in her kitchen at home that says something to the effect of, “I only have a kitchen because it came with the house.” When I read that it actually resonated with me. Anyway. I’ve decided that I need to cook more. First of all, I’m going to be at home for the next few months. Second of all, we waste a lot of money on non-nutritious fast food. Finally, I want to impart actual nutrients through my breast milk to my baby, and not have to wonder why his first words are, “Welcome to McDonald’s, can I take your order?” later in life. (These being my first words is, by the way, is an ongoing joke in our family. In reality my Mom is a really good cook, she just had me when she was 19. And that was in the days before the nuggets were “all white meat.” One wonders what they were before…)
SO. THE PLAN. I sat down to write down 31 things that I can cook. When I got through all the things I know how to cook, I then had to resort to 29 things I had simply heard of to make the 31. I figure variety is a huge part of the success of this plan. I then wrote out an index card for each meal- not with the recipe (because most of them are too simple to require a recipe, to be honest) but with the list of things I need to make it. THEN I printed out the meals on magnetic paper (John printed them….actually) and cut them into TEENY strips and put them on our whiteboard calendar. That way we have little magnets that we can move around and use to plan meals, and then the cards to let me know what supplies I need to make them. Finally- I pulled out the next few cards (through Monday, actually) to bring to the store with me and put them in a little card holder, and get this, I’M PLANNING ON PUTTING COUPONS IN THERE. TO SAVE MONEY. (Are you proud of me Robin???) After I got my little shopping list box together and made all my magnets, I really wanted to find some coupons, but we had thrown them all away. More will come tomorrow probably.
This is what I’ve been up to while I’ve been at home, but I feel like it’s quite a big thing, actually. I hope I stick to this. I hope I hope. In that spirit, however, I’d love to hear some of your favorite, nutritious, cost-effective meals. I’ve got all the obvious stuff…but if you have anything fun and yummy just comment, I’d love to try it!
Here are some pics of my efforts. I know some might have been more crafty about it…but it works!
Tags: cooking, food, menu, organization, whiteboards
Erin, other than the newspaper you can find printable coupons online, I found quite a few sites for printable, most are free. This is a really good idea, and since you are so organized it should be fun. The trick with them is to make your list first, then check out the ones that you need, do not fall for the “wow that looks good” things. I have been doing this since I am not working, and it is amazing what you can save each week. Also a suggestion is that if you are not planning to eat left-overs get some freezer containers, and freeze the extra stuff, a quick thaw,a fresh veggie, and you have a meal ready. You are be sure to be amazed at how much you can actually save. There are also alot of menus, and recipes online, some for just couples, so that should be a big help. Make sure you give yourself days off,you are still going to need down-time, even super Mommies do. I Love you, and I am very proud of you Auntie P
Oh Erin! Joy of joy, music to my ears! Actually, I am proud of you for having a plan, not the coupon part. Honestly, I don’t use many coupons these days. I do just as good or better with buy one/get one free and with store brands. Of course on my favortie brand name items I still use coupons. Your Aunt P gave some great advice. One thing I do quite often is to have a “cooking day”. I cook a couple of main dishes up ahead of time and then I don’t have to cook for a few days. You can save TIME and MONEY! You can also find some “Cook once, Eat twice” meal plans. Basically it cooking a meat and using the leftover for another meal in a differnet way. Example: Brown 2 pounds of hamb. use 1 pound in your lasanga receipe and season & save the other pound for your taco salad.
PS. the owl is cute!! Love, Robin
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