Welcome back friends! Thanks for coming back and joining me for part four. It really means a lot to me that you are here. I'm sorry for the delay but it has been a busy week for Team Yearley. We are celebrating both mine and Winnie's birthdays this weekend and I have been busting my butt getting stuff done. I feel a little frazzled, but have managed to get a lot done. For that I am quite pleased. (: This blog is one of my favorites because it encourages me to be creative in a different way. Feeding a family of four has been quite a task, but I enjoy the challenge. This particular blog may be lengthy if I'm not careful and I know what you're thinking, "Not you Alex. You don't like to talk." I know... but despite that very [false] statement, I am going to attempt to break things down in three sections: meal planning, grocery shopping and meal prepping. I want to note ahead of time that there are so many different methods to all of this. I am not, nor will I ever be, here to tell you that it's my way or the highway. I hope by now you've seen that. I am merely here to share what has been working for me during this season of life. I say this because my methods have changed drastically over the years... heck, week to week in some seasons #momlife. Now without further ado... Let's plan!
Meal Planning
First, I want to share about this app that my lovely friend Rebecca shared with me as it is an absolute GAME CHANGER when it comes to all things meal planning and grocery shopping. (And a neat little aside about this handy app is that they are a Colorado based company, which is where my husband and I were born, raised and are now raising our children. (: ) Plan to Eat is both a website and a mobile app that allows you to import and/or create your own recipes within the recipe organizer. You can then drag and drop the recipes into the meal planner and/or create weekly menus that can also be added in bulk to the planner. Amazing right?! It doesn't stop there. After you've assembled your planner, this handy service GENERATES YOUR GROCERY LIST. You can add different stores and it's all broken down by categories (which you have the power to edit if you so desire) and it clearly depicts exactly what you will need and where to find it for whatever date range you want. It's absolutely majestic and has the ability to make things SO easy. I am not even scratching the surface of what you can do with this thing because you have to try it yourself to really understand the absolute brilliance of it. If you aren't already mind-blown, this is where I'm about to knock your socks off - you can try the app for an entire 30 days without ever inputting a credit card. It's absolutely wild how this app works and I'm certain you won't be disappointed after you've tried it yourself.
Prior to knowing about this handy method, I exclusively utilized Google Calendar for my meal planning. I still use this and sometimes resort to using just Google Calendar when the schedule is really full. Plan to Eat is fabulous, but can take some time to use initially. Over time I'm sure that it will balance out and become easier to use, but because I'm still getting used to it, if the schedule just doesn't allow for me to sit down and fill things in on Plan to Eat, I will hop over to Google Calendar and use that for the week. I like using both because both serve me in different ways. Neither is the better option, it's all just dependent on what I have space for in that particular time frame. Google Calendar obviously doesn't have the bells and whistles that Plan to Eat does, but it is a great way to see the week quickly and know what is next on the menu. It's also nice because I can set reminders and if I need to pull something out of the freezer or throw together a crockpot meal, I will be notified ahead of time and won't find myself at dinnertime saying, "Oops... peanut butter & jelly anyone?"
For me the key to meal planning anything is having an idea of what I already have in the kitchen and tailoring my menu around that. If I just hop onto Pinterest and search for 7 days of brand new dinner meals, the likelihood of having the ingredients at the ready are slim. I'm also potentially setting us up for having a bunch of meals that we may not actually like. With kids, it can be hard enough to come up with enough meals in the week that they actually like. Top that with dietary restrictions and it can be next to impossible to feed everyone. Especially if I'm coming up with the latest trendy dinner according to the Pinterest gurus with bottomless pantries. It's just not realistic for us to try new meals every single day of the week. This is where I attempt to stick to one or maybe two new meals during the week. The rest of the week is either meals we're accustomed to, or leftovers. It takes the "Will everyone be full and happy?" question off the table... haha... #punalwaysintended.
I also plan meals based off of the schedule for the week, which is where Google Calendar is far superior to Plan to Eat because I can easily toggle the schedule for the week and plan meals around whatever is going on. This changes significantly during the winter as most of our schedule stays consistent to work and school since sports wrap up for Luke by November (at the latest). For this week, I planned chicken & fish sticks for Jesse and Luke because I was going to be at bible study and wouldn't be home for dinner. It makes it easier for Jess to have something simple for dinner than to have to worry about cooking with both kids after getting home from town. I then had leftovers when I got home. (: I also planned leftovers for Wednesday because Luke usually has gymnastics and it's easier than trying to rush home and prepare dinner before Survivor starts (we're obsessed!). He decided he was too tired to go this week, but the leftovers still worked like a charm and it gave me time to clean out my car instead of rushing over to gymnastics. It's the little things, I tell ya!
Meal planning really is key for us for dinners, but I also meal plan breakfast and lunch for the baby and I since we are home during the day. Jesse isn't one for breakfast and Luke eats breakfast at school with his friends. I make lunches for both of them and with the exception of a few alterations each week, they both stick to the same lunches during the week. Meal planning for them stays consistent and doesn't require too much thought, which I appreciate in my often scattered state of mind. This piece is where Plan to Eat wins because you can create weekly menus that stay the same. You can easily drag and drop that menu in for the week and you don't have to worry about adding in the same things over and over again. Takes the work out of it, which is fantastic. Did I mention my scattered state of mind? Ha!
Grocery Shopping
I am a massive fan of the grocery order pickups. Even before the pandemic demanded that we all utilize this service, I have been on the bandwagon. When Luke was really little shopping with him wasn't as bad because I just wore him in the carrier. As he got older, it got increasingly more difficult because he was so handsy and wanted to touch literally everything. This is still an issue now, but he understands the consequences of those actions more than he used to, so it's gotten a little easier to handle (ha) that piece of it. The issue now has moved from his hands to his eyes. The child has eyes for everything. He needs all the things. It's vital to his life function. Or so he thinks. And says. Dramatically, in a huge display of emotion, EVERY SINGLE TIME. It's a nightmare. There are very few shopping trips that he doesn't have these kinds of outbursts. Hence, grocery ordering. Also... let's talk about the elephant in the room, Luke gets his eyes from someone... Jesse and I will inevitably buy things we don't need if we are in the store. Grocery ordering reduces that possibility because I literally have to go out of my way to search for extra stuff and I just don't have the energy to do that when I'm at home. Now don't get me wrong, there are times where I have to go into the store to shop because I can't always place a grocery order. 95% of the time though, that is how I do my grocery shopping and I'm so grateful that the option is there at nearly every store we shop at!
In this section I also want to note that putting the groceries away is a tedious task for me and often takes well over an hour to accomplish. I am a person that has containers in the cabinets for easier storage. I love my containers and I'm not the only one. Jesse has said on numerous occasions how nice the containers are and how useful they have been. It's just a different kind of ball game when you have containers. I know what things need to be replenished as I can easily scan the cabinets and fridge and see into the containers. Most packaging isn't see through and it makes it much more difficult to know what you have and what you don't. I find that I am able to utilize what we have fully and not waste what we do have or overbuy things that we don't actually need. I got my containers and fridge organization on Amazon and they are truly the best ever! I have these ones for the cabinets and these ones for the fridge. I also got this Lazy Susan for the fridge so that our regularly used items, like milk, creamer and tea are easily available with a quick turn of sweet Susan. When I bring groceries home, I refill all of my containers and rotate stock so that I can be sure that we are using things in order and not having items expire. It's a much longer process, but it is absolutely worth it! (:
Meal Prepping
This is a task that will vary week to week. It's not typically the same every week because the menu changes. Our needs also change week to week in terms of scheduling. A more full and hectic schedule calls for more planning ahead than one of the rare weeks that we don't have as much going on. My goal is always to work smarter and not harder. We leveled this up last weekend and it was AWESOME! On Sundays, as I'd mentioned in part 3, Jesse has encouraged our team to work together to get ready for the week. When he got home from mowing, he helped me make 4 freezer meals. I've always been intrigued by freezer meals but I didn't understand how they worked exactly. In my mind you made the meal and then just froze the leftovers for later. While that is absolutely an option, you can partially make many meals and freeze the entire thing until you are ready to bake it. I did some research and talked to my mom. After that I decided on 4 meals that I felt like we could make ahead and freeze until it was time to bake. Jesse and I then worked together to get them made and it was SO helpful. We started with the lasagna and the enchiladas. We each took a pan and made the filling for our respective meals. We then each took an aluminum cooking pan and assembled our meals. We covered both with these plastic covers and foil and popped them into the freezer. Then we moved to baked ziti and baked pesto. We each took a pot and boiled our respective noodles. While we waited for them to boil, we were able to clean up the dishes that we used for the first two meals. After they were done and drained, we were able to mix the sauces in and dump into the aluminum pans. We topped both with cheese, covered with the plastic and foil and added them to the freezer. It was SO simple and really came together well. We ate the lasagna this week and it was absolutely delicious. We still have the other three meals awaiting us in the freezer which makes meal planning a breeze for the next week or even two depending on what our needs are. Each of these freezer meals can serve our family for two or even three nights depending on how hungry everyone is.
Because we don't regularly make freezer meals, my typical meal prep consists of making overnight oats for the baby and I. I cannot describe enough my love for overnight oats. They are absolutely DELICIOUS. And the easiest thing ever to prep. You can also prep some fruit topping to mix in when you're ready to eat. Mmmm! I personally like crockpot cinnamon apples or crockpot peaches. SO GOOD! I will also prep lunch ahead for both of us, to ensure that we have something ready to go when it's time for lunch. I never know what my days will look like, so it's super important that I'm ready for whatever. Lately I've taken to making dairy free mac and cheese for the baby and some form of rice bowl for me. The key to any of these preparations is the containers. An unpopular opinion for the meal prep containers for the baby are these reusable plastic containers from Amazon. Personally, I quite like them. The only thing that isn't great is the lids are quite difficult to take off. For me, all that that ensures is that they aren't going to leak. The lids provide a very solid seal and I have not had an issue once with a leak or spill. I really like these containers for my overnight oats because they have a little insert that allows for me to put my fruit topping in for when I'm ready to eat. I also like these containers for my lunches. They have worked well for me, but if you're looking for more separation there are several different options to choose from!
Phew! Thank you for making it through. I hope that some of these things are beneficial for you guys. I know that there are a lot of ways to do things and at the end of the day, just like with the cleaning schedule, you have to tailor things to what is going to work best for you. You are the only one that knows your schedule, your needs, and your overall abilities. Utilize things that are going to make it easier for YOU. Again, working smarter and not harder is the best way to go. What works for me, may not work for you. Trust yourself! Next week I will take you guys inside my method for finances. It's the best way I've found to maintain all of the bills and keeping an eye on our finances to ensure that we are staying out of the red. (:
Have a blessed weekend friends!
Xx,
Mama Yearley
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