I've been doing Once a Month Shopping for a few months now. I slacked off during the summer but I'm ready to hit it full force again and will be adding a Monthly Meal Plan to help me stay focused on what we truly need to buy.
I have 25 days to plan for this month. I don't include Fridays because we always have lots of leftovers. I also only plan for the evening meal (except on Sunday when it is Lunch). Eli takes leftovers to work and Ethan and I eat either leftovers or sandwiches and cottege cheese. I buy a ton of frozen veggies and cook them most nights.
Monthly Meals
1. BBQ Pulled Pork (CP)
2. BBQ Chicken (CP)
3. Pork Chops
4. Tuna Casserole
5. Black Eyed Pea Soup (CP)
6. Ck Mexi Casserole
7. HM Tomato Soup w/ Grilled Cheese
8. Pinto Beans w/ fried potatoes
9. Beef Fajitas
10. Spaghetti HM Sauce
11. BBQ Beef on HM Rolls
12. Hot Dogs w/Chili
13. Hamburgers
14. California Tamale Pie
15. Sloppy Joes (CP)
16. Cajun Pulled Pork Roast
17. Lentil Soup
18. CK Enchiladas
19. CK Parmesan (CP)
20. CK Curry (Box mix)
21. CK Pot Pie HM
22. Velveeta CK Spaghetti
23. CK Asparagus Casserole
24. CK Fried Rice
25. Cowboy Beans
Key
CK- Chicken
CP- Crock pot
Most of my recipes come from A Year of Slow Cooking and her first book. I also have a few other Crock pot cook books. If something on the list looks interesting just leave it in the comments and I'll post it!
I went to Target on the 1st and they had their hamburger meat 1.99/lb. I also found 3 pork roast (2lbs each) for 2.86 each! I need to find some bone in chicken to make shredded chicken and chicken broth. The only canned items I buy are canned tomatoes. I make my own chicken broth and cream of chicken and always use dried beans.
I like this method of Monthly Meal Planning instead of Weekly because I can pick anything off my list to make. I'm not "scheduled" to make a particular meal.
After completing my shopping (it did take me two trips) I have one thing I want to work on for next month. When I plan my meals I will start with the items I already have on hand. This time around I have meat in the freezer from last month that I have no plans on cooking this month. I would spend less on meat if I was using what I had on hand before buying something different.
Here are two blog post that helped me along:
Raising Arrows- Master Grocery List
We Scream Buttercream- How I Meal Plan
Happy Meal Planing!!
6 comments:
How I would love to do this! I use to, but not a month at a time. It was two weeks at a time and I loved it! I don't have a big deep freezer to be able to shop once a month. But it must be amazing!
I like your menu! I'm sure Eli has told you I used to do this a long time ago...haven't done it in years, but I keep planning to. It would be a real asset during the school year when things are so busy. I could use your list.....wouldn't that be sneaky?
Fairlight, Claire, and I used to be able to turn out about 45 meals in 6 hours, and pretty much enjoyed doing it. I wonder if Hannah, Mercy, and I could do as well?
This is SUCH a fantastic idea. I've been working on meal planning lately and I think I may start posting my weekly or bi-weekly meal plans on my blog. It'll make me hold myself accountable a little more AND perhaps inspire others!
Thanks for this post :)
I am with Vivki! Think I'll BORROW your list. It looks so good! I don't know about a month, but bi-weekly sounds good to me. Thanks for a great post! I love you,
Mom
wow - looks fantastic. i need to be better about that.
That all sounds really good! I make my list for the month and shop for all nonperishables at the beginning of the month and then weekly perishable shopping.
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