I absolutely love the idea of planning plans and menus. I get super excited when I think about how "stress-free" my days will be because I have supper planned, somewhat cooked ahead, or ready for a crock pot.
I began over a year ago, sitting down with a spreadsheet, sheets of paper and a sharp #2 pencil and trying to jot down what we usually eat, how frequently we eat it, and what I use to make those meals. Then I started filling in the upcoming month with those meals. Then I tried to equate that into a shopping list. OH. EM. GEE!! I think my head will explode!
At some point, I became overwhelmed, depressed, and felt like somewhat of a failure. Sure, it was 'nice' to know what was on tap, but what if I did not want "Minute Steak and Gravy" for supper on that particular night? What if I was tired and all I could muster was browning some ground beef and making tacos or sloppy joes? My calendar looked like a toddler's drawing with scribbles, scratches and erasure marks....And maybe even a few tear stains.
I am too much of a 'rebel' to follow a list line for line. My tastes differ from what the calendar says and some days, I'm just too tired to do whatever it is that I am supposed to do and other days, I just feel rebellious.
So, I kind of kicked the "meal planning" to the curb. But, I have not given up completely. I have found some success in making "freezer bags" of meals that go into the crock pot. Now this is an idea I can get used to! There are several resources online - blogs, Pinterest, etc. Now, these ladies still are way too organized for my likes, but I have learned to adjust their concept to me.
Basically, anything you toss in the crock pot, can go in the freezer bag. Hello! It is that easy!
All those recipes floating around cyber-space! If you would toss it in the crock pot, then toss it in a bag and put it in the freezer!
What I do is pick several crock pot recipes we like, grab the ingredients on one of my shopping trips and come home and make my bags. Now, the hard-core, super-savers will wait for sales, coupons days, etc and really go to town. I just cannot do that with our current situation, but back to the topic.
A few things I have learned doing this -
1. "Everyone" talks about flattening bags, stacking neatly, etc. There are pictures of pretty, neatly stacked bags filling a freezer...Not mine! It is just not practical when you think about pulling the bag out of the freezer and trying to fit a large square block of frozen food and liquid into the proverbial round dish of your crock pot. The block sticks out the top and the lid will not fit. So, my freezer does not look very "neat", but I can drop the block of frozen goodness more easily into the crock pot and forget about it.
2. Seriously, anything you put in the crock pot on a 'normal' day, can be packaged up and frozen. Chicken dishes, savory beef dishes, soups, etc. I started with meals from one blog, but then realized that the stack of "other" recipes I use in the crock pot would work too.
3. The ladies on the various blogs talk about how they spent 4 hours in the kitchen chopping, dicing, slicing and packing to get 100 meals in bags...Do not let this overwhelm you. Start small, try a few new things. Make a list of ingredients to buy for say 10 meals or even 4-6, (Do not forget the bags!) and try it. If it works, then increase or decrease based on how it fits into your family's schedule and taste.
My favorite recipe so far is the Santa Fe Chicken from SkinnyTaste. Another site with great recipes is Six Sisters Stuff.
So, if cooking "once a month" or planning a month's worth of meals "scares" you, give this a try.
