Cooking...Cooking..Cooking

I snagged my gorgeous husband with not only my good looks, dimples, and great style but also with FOOD. After awhile of talking and flirting (he was too cute, I just had to see more of those beautiful blues!) I happened to mention that I love to cook, he challenged me and so I offered to make him lunch and take it to him at his job the following Monday. He loved his lunch and well, I’m still making him lunch five years later! I love to cook and always have, so I try to incorporate new flavors and new dishes into our weekly menu.

A girlfriend and I were chatting last week, she came over and saw me preparing my shopping list and asked me how I plan out meals and such. I really don’t have time to do lots of extravagant meal planning and I thought maybe the way I’ve organized our meals might help someone else. So, here you go!

I have all these recipes for dinners that I’ve got collecting in my files, so I finally decided to slowly put them to good use. A few days before I go shopping, I sit down and write out my list; first I go through my recipes and pick two new dinners and one baked item (I usually cook one new recipe a week and one baked item every two weeks).  I write down the items I’ll need for that week, and then go through my cupboards and fridge to include what other items I need to stock up on. Note that your grocery bill will increase a bit the first few times you do this, mainly because you need to stock up on certain spices or ingredients you don’t already have. The bill goes back down once you’ve got a good amount of regular items in your cupboards.

Now, I don’t sit down and plan menus or anything like that. On any given day our dinner situation can change, I might be not feeling well or have a church meeting. John also works two jobs so it’s just not effective for our family. I only have the two meals planned and then I buy other items for quick homemade meals. I find that if I try to stick to a menu I get overwhelmed and stressed if I can’t keep to it.

What’s really effective about making recipes and trying new things is 1. It usually creates left over’s, so you save money on buying lunch items for the next day. 2. You find new things to take to potlucks or other people’s houses 3. It’s an affordable way to try new things with your family.  Maybe you can only do one new recipe every other week that works; it just takes a little planning.  So, whether you are married or single, I encourage you to try those new recipes you have collecting dust in your desk, on your bookshelves, it will be well worth it!  Every woman needs a pretty little, delicious recipe up there sleeve!!

There are a few yummy dishes and baked items in our recipe section, take a visit and try one this week!

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Do you have an effective meal planning routine? Do you have a yummy recipe you’d like us to share on this blog? Leave a comment below!