When Stephen and I first got married I knew the basics of cooking such as how to boil water, make spaghetti noodles, and a few other easy things, but I didn't yet feel confident enough in the kitchen to cook dinner for him several times a week. After nearly 3 years of marriage I have figured out some tips that make it easier for me to plan out the dinners I will make throughout the week, as well as ways that I can stick to a weekly budget for my grocery shopping. Here is how I plan my weekly meals:
1.) First I decide what I want my budget for the week to be. As someone that is self employed and is a young married I don't have a huge grocery shopping budget, but something that has helped me with sticking to my budget is planning my meals ahead of time, trying to utilize some of the same ingredients in each of the recipes I'm going to make that week, and shopping at a grocery store that is priced reasonably. One of the grocery stores I shop at in my area is a German owned grocery chain called ALDI. Aldi isn't a fancy grocery store and they don't have many name brands typically, but they have very reasonable prices and they are a great place to shop at if you are trying to stick to a budget. Two things to remember with ALDI is to bring a quarter for your grocery cart and bring your own bags. My grocery budget for the week is usually between $60.00-$80.00.
2.) On Monday morning or sometimes in the afternoon I sit down at my computer and get out a notepad. I go to my recipes to try board on pinterest and start browsing through and trying to decide
what recipes to make for dinner that week. I like to stick with recipes that don't require more than
8-10 ingredients and that don't take longer than 45 mins. to make or prep. Stephen isn't very picky, but he does like Mexican food and he usually likes to have some sort of meat for dinner, so I try to
remember these things when planning out our meals. During a typical week I try to make dinner 2-3
times and on Monday nights I always make something simple (like a frozen pizza) because that is the
night I do all my grocery shopping for the week.
3.) The last thing I do is grocery shopping! I am one of those nerdy people that actually enjoys grocery shopping, I am an avid list maker and I just love crossing things off my list. Before I go to the store I make a list of everything I will need for the week! Then I try to make sure that I have had a snack or eaten recently before taking my trip to the store. I have found that going to the store on a totally empty stomach is a HUGE budget buster because when I am hungry I just want to buy everything I see haha. I make my weekly shopping trip and then come home and put all the groceries away! :)
It is such a relief on Monday nights when I know that I have done my shopping for the week and have planned out several yummy meals to make for my hubby and ALL while on a budget we can afford. I am still no Rachael Ray in the kitchen, but through meal planning I manage to make sure my hubby
doesn't starve (HA) and I actually have fun learning how to cook!
