How This is Going to Work

So each week I plan. (I'm a big planner, I'm sure you'll get that as we go along.) Anyway ... each week I plan my meals for the following week. This usually happens somewhere between Tuesday and Thursday, it all depends on when I'm hungry, because of course there's nothing better than browsing food sites and/or cookbooks when you're starved (sarcasm). But by Friday I have a pretty good idea of what I'll be cooking.

Saturday is my big grocery day. We're a family of three right now, well, right now we're a family of four because my oldest is home from college, but most of the time we're a family of three. My husband and son are the guinea pigs for all of the recipes that I try and it's a challenge to please them consistently. My son has all of these weird food aversions (I mean who doesn't like cheese or potatoes, right?) so I have to cater to him specifically. My husband will usually just eat anything I put in front of him.

Soooo anyway ... Saturday is my grocery day. My goal is to get in and out of the store in about $100. That works about 25% of the time. Realistically if I get out of the store in under $150 I'm doing a happy dance in the checkout line. I just saw a really good post that said plan your meals to be around $10 each, so that's what I'm trying to follow. I use a calculator, I eat before I go, but sometimes I've just got to have those garlic stuffed olives.

Saturday is also my meal prep day. Each week I make at least one salad that can last all week and be a side dish if necessary to anything I'm making; during the summer when we are a family of four, I usually make two or three salads for the week. Sunday is most always crock pot day (I love my crock pot), we have at least one day of leftovers and one day that we eat out. So I'll be posting menus for the week with four or five meals on them. You'll find that I have staples that I throw in a lot, like pasta or breakfast for dinner, but I'm usually busting out one or two new recipes a week. I'll try the new things, drink some wine and blog about them.

That's the plan at this point. Let's see how it goes, ok?