Tag: meal planning

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Let's Look

Let’s Look: What’s In Our Grocery Carts

Hello everyone! Happy Wednesday! I hope you have had a great week and are enjoying the spring season. It’s time for another Let’s Look as I link up with Shay and Erika

In January we talked about cleaning our closets.

In February we discussed things we do every day.

This month we are talking all about what’s in our grocery carts.

This topic was a little tricky for me since I still live at home. When I go to the grocery store, I’m not just buying for myself but for other family members too. I typically go shopping with my parents for their weekly grocery shopping trip.

Before I head out to the store, I always plan meals with my family and make a list of meals we plan to make in the week. Typically, we aim to cook five to six meals at home each week and we make a list of what nights we plan to eat them (this may change through the week, but having a list saves stress from figuring out meals the night of and it saves money from eating out.

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to cook a meal for my family each week by trying and testing new recipes, so I will take one night, my mom cooks the other four and then we may go out or order in for the remaining nights. Our meals range from a mix of chicken, pasta, salads, sometimes seafood, and then an easier night of leftovers or soup/sandwich/salad for late or busy nights. 

One of my latest meals, baked chicken tacos!

When we are making a list of what to buy, we take an inventory of things we already have and can use for dinners or lunches. Making a list saves money and it encourages you to use what you have rather than buying new. 

Besides things for meals, we tend to stock up on fresh produce and veggies and any staples we may be low on in the pantry, like bread, milk, lunch snacks etc.

At the store, I also to keep my eyes open for new products to try. For example, I enjoy eating hummus with veggies or fruit, I saw this hummus trio at the store and gave it a try and loved it. You never know when a new item could be a win. I also get inspired by different things I see at the store that I may want to try on my own. 

As far as my lunches go for work, I did a post about meal prepping here. I like to have a variety of easy food options for lunch. I typically have some sort of fruit, veggie, something sweet, and then either a salad (veggies, chicken, tuna, egg etc.) or I will eat leftovers from the night before. I like to use what I have in my home before going out and shopping.

We love a good meal prep!

That’s a look into my grocery cart. Not too exciting or thrilling, but fun to share what things I enjoy buying and making.

Happy Wednesday!

Categories
Fun Ways to Organize Let's Get Cooking

Recipe Organization and Planning

Hello all!

Happy Wednesday! I can’t believe we are one week away from Thanksgiving. This month has flown by. I am looking forward to the bonus time with family next week, the delicious food, and getting into the holiday spirit after Thanksgiving. The older I get the more I cherish the time my whole is together because I know it won’t be that way forever. I’m feeling extra grateful this holiday season. Speaking of the holiday season, it also leads to more time in the kitchen.

One of my favorite hobbies that I have developed over the past year or so has been cooking and baking. I always enjoyed helping my mom in the kitchen as a child, whether it be helping bake cookies or with dinner.  As an adult, I have continued to love to spend time in the kitchen both baking family-favorite foods or trying new recipes.  I love finding new recipes from blogs, Pinterest and cookbooks. However, it can get overwhelming when you find recipes and then don’t get a chance to try them if you misplace or don’t save them. Over the past few months, I have developed a system when it comes to finding new recipes from cookbooks and blogs, saving them, trying them out and saving the recipe in my own cookbook.

I love finding new cookbooks and trying new recipes

Here’s how my system works:

  • Browse and tab recipes- Whenever I get a new cookbook or I’m reading a recipe blog and I see a recipe I like, I immediately tab and save it. I use sticky notes for cookbooks and then for blogs online I will save the page. On Pinterest,  I have a food board that I save all recipes I like. 
Browsing a cookbook
Using sticky tabs for my favorites
  • Add recipes to Notes in my phone- When I am done browsing a cookbook or after I find a recipe I want to try online, I add it to a note on my phone. I have a note saved of a list of all the recipes I want to try divided up by season and where I can find them.  For example, a hearty dish from one of Jessie James Decker’s cookbooksk would be under the winter or fall sections. I only keep meals on this note, not drinks or desserts. I only use this for cookbooks and blogs, not Pinterest, I will check that occasionally for specific recipe ideas. This way when I am looking to try a new recipe, I have a list of things I want to try and I know exactly where to find them, whether they be in a cookbook or online.
Some of the recipes I was to try and where I found them.
More recipes to try!
  • Time to Cook or Bake- Once I have settled on my recipe, I get my ingredients and cook or bake it and (hopefully) enjoy it!
The final result
  • Save the Recipe- If the meal is a success, I do a few things. First, I took it off my notes list since I have already tried it. If I found the recipe in a cookbook, I was replace the sticky note with a new color, so I know for future reference that I have tried it, and it was a success and I want to cook it again. If I find the recipe online whether it be on a blog or Pinterest, I will type up the recipe, with a photo of it and add it to my own personal cookbook. I got this cookbook from Simplified, and I love it. I have it filled with family recipes and recipes from blogs or Pinterest. I have each recipe typed up and in a protective cover and organized by course of meal (appetizer, breakfast, lunch, dinner etc.) From there, recipes are organized by the type of meal (for example under main courses, I have a section for chicken, pork, pasta, beef etc.) This keeps all recipes from family members or online in one spot that’s easy to find.

This system has worked great for me over the past year. I love how I have a whole slew of recipes at my fingertips and then I have a place with them all saved to make again in the future. Although this system may seem complex and tedious, it has become second nature to add recipes I want to try to my list and then type them up when I am done. I keep my personal cookbook with my other cookbooks in one spot, so they are all easy to grab and cook.

If you love being in the kitchen as much as I do, what are some of your tips and tricks when it saving and trying recipes? I would love to hear them! Enjoy your time in the kitchen!

Categories
Fun Ways to Organize Let's Get Cooking

Meal Prepping and Planning

Happy Wednesday all!

It’s the first week of April, every day I feel like we are closer and closer to the consistent warmer weather. I can’t wait for sunshine, clear roads and blue skies.

The morning sunshine gives me hope.

Today we are talking about one of my favorite topics…planning and more specifically meal planning!

I’ve done posts in the past about outfit planning and getting your planner organized, you could say planning is one of my passions. My latest planning area is with meal prepping.

I pack my lunch every day for work. I packed my lunch all through grade school and high school and in college I ate lunch in the cafeteria, you could say I’m not big into spending money on lunch. When it comes to eating when I’m at work, it made the most sense to pack my lunch. Every day is different and I never know where I will end up, so always having my lunch with me works best. I always try to eat healthy and balance meals when I can.

If you pack your lunch like me, I have a few ideas for different meals that are affordable and healthy and keeps lunch time interesting.

I always like to eat a variety of things for lunch to keep it fresh and exciting.

In my lunch box, I typically have something substantial (my main meal), a fruit or veggie, something sweet and sometimes something salty. I don’t always eat all this stuff every day, but I try to have a variety available. For example, I may have pasta and veggies, pretzels, and trail mix. Some days, I may eat it all, other days, I may just eat pasta and veggies. I like that these meals are balanced and will satisfy me.

 I keep things for my lunches or snacks organized in a bin in my pantry. I like to keep back stock for different dry snacks. Right now, I have peanut butter crackers, pretzels, trail mix and goldfish all divided up. I shop when needed, but I typically buy things for meals once a week and then grab things for dry snacks as needed. This also gives me choices of things to put in my lunch.

A look at my snack bin. I divide up the pretzels or trail mix into like reusable containers for portion control.

When it comes to fruits and veggies sometimes I will buy bulk and separate them into reusable containers (one of my New Year’s resolutions was to use more reusable products and I’m so happy that I’ve been using less wasteful products). I will cut up carrots, peppers, celery or broccoli and store them and bring them in to eat. As for fruit, I will enjoy clementines, grapes, apples or even a banana.

For more substantial meals, I like to enjoy salads, either pre-made from the store or I will make a big one at the start of the week and I will bring dressing to add each day.

I also enjoy making baked chicken with seasoning (everything but the bagel seasoning from Trader Joe’s is my favorite.) I just add that with some salt and pepper and bake the chicken and then refrigerate it and divide it up as needed. I also often make frozen veggies to add on the side.

A look at meal prepping of chicken and veggies and then chicken salad. I will cook them and put it all in one serving container and then I have a smaller one that I will use to bring into work.

Pasta and veggies is another go-to for me. I will boil a large pot of pasta and then add some butter and garlic and then make frozen veggies (often mix, but sometimes I’ll just choose a specific vegetable.)

Sticking with the veggie theme-Making rice with vegetable is always a tasty win too! I will boil brown rice and stir fry vegetables and add some soy sauce and then seasonings to add flavor. Sometimes, I will add chicken or shrimp, but other times, I just will go with the vegetables. 

A look at a veggie stir fry for this week.
The whole meal goes into one large container and then I divide it up into a smaller container.

As far as other alternatives, I often will enjoy a chicken salad, tuna salad, or egg salad and enjoy that with cracker or pita.

A look at my tuna salad in a large container and then separated out for each day.

In the winter, soup is always an easy go-to for me, especially with getting easy to go soup containers.

I typically will make all my meals during the weekend and then add snacks each day. I always get my meals organized the night before work so I can just grab and go in the morning.

An example of my lunch for a day. Tuna salad, crackers, trail mix, an orange, ad some peanut butter crackers.

I always like to break up what I eat and what I pack for meals. I find that having a variety of tastes and things in my lunch helps keep things fun and tasty. 

For those of you who pack your lunch, what are your go-to lunches? I’m always open to suggestions.