Putting Together Your Meal Plan

Ready to plan your meals for the week? Grab a pen and paper, and let's get started.


Kitchen Stock Inventory: Freezer

What's lurking in your freezer? Are there items that need to be used? Take a couple of minutes and write down what you have.

How do you get your freezer stocked? Purchasing meat when it's on sale is the way to go! (see related post) This helps keep your cost down and keep variety in your meals. If you don't buy and freeze meat when it's on sale, you're limited to what's on sale each week... or you're forced to pay full price, which is no fun.
Here's my freezer list.

• Ground lamb, ground beef, and meatballs
• Italian sausage links
• Boneless, skinless chicken breast - always kept in stock!
• Pork Chops (From whole boneless pork loin at $1.99/lb that the grocery store butcher cut into chops for me.)
• Shrimp (40-count size)
• Bison burgers
• Porterhouse steaks
• Frozen peas and corn... though I'm saving the corn for when I can no longer get it fresh. In fact, I've intentionally bought fresh corn and frozen it for future use. It's far superior to canned corn.
• Black beans... saving for use in a couple more weeks. I made a big batch on 7/22 and we just had some of the frozen extras two weeks later, on 8/4. I'll wait a bit before serving them again.
• Shredded chicken... to be used in burritos with the black beans.   

Kitchen Stock Inventory: Refrigerator

Find those items you need to use before they go bad! One of the most-often neglected ways to save money in your kitchen is using what you have. Food thrown out is money thrown out; it's that simple. This week, I need to use these items.

• Plain yoghurt
• Heavy cream
• Cucumbers
• Tomatoes
• Carrots

Kitchen Stock Inventory: Pantry

Look through your cupboards for those items you may have forgotten were tucked back there. Like I explained above for meat, it's a great idea to purchase items when they're on sale, saving them for future use. But you have to be sure to use them, too! Take a quick look through your cupboards. What's in there that you've been meaning to use but keep forgetting?
In addition to my standard kitchen staples (that do receive regular use), I found these neglected items:

• Instant brown rice
• Packaged saffron rice
• Arborio rice
• Lasagna noodles... how long have those been hiding back there?
• Corn muffin mix 
• Dried apricots 
• Dried cranberries 
• Vanilla wafers - these really need to be used, or they'll go stale

  

Current Sale Items 

What's on sale at the grocery store? What produce is in season (thus less expensive)? Take a few minutes and check out the grocery fliers. Most stores have their weekly ads available online. This week, I'll be receiving these items from The Produce Box.

• Muscadine grapes, 1 quart basket
• Field tomatoes, qty 3-4
• 4 ears corn
• Bell peppers, qty 2-3
• Red potatoes, 1 quart
• Pickles - 1 pint spicy, sweet dill pickles

Your Schedule

Think about your schedule - which nights do you need the least prep time? Be sure to have an easy meal those nights. Are there nights you might change your plans and not be home for dinner? Plan a meal that you can drop from the menu without consequence, one with ingredients that can be saved for later.

• Fridays are hard for me: I appreciate especially low-maintenance meals then. 
• Lunches: I'm home every day for lunch, so meals that produce leftovers are appreciated.
• Changing plans: We may be away one night this weekend.

Ready? Let's Get Planning!

Now that you have your list, let's plan some meals.

1. Assign a main item to each day. You don't have to center meals around meats; maybe you want to have a stir-fry day, or pasta, beans, or lentils and rice... just go through your list of what's on hand and start assigning ingredients to different days.
2. Pick a potato/rice/pasta starch side to serve with each meal. Not necessary, just trying to give you a starting place.
3. Eat your veggies! Pick a vegetable you'd like to have as a side or center the meal around. Keep in mind, you'll want to use the more delicate veggies close to the day you bought them.
4. Start looking for recipes, drawing from your own knowledge as well as books and websites.

Another way to get started:

1. Assign a genre to each day: Mexican, Italian, Mediterranean, Crock-pot meal, Casserole, Easy Meal, Fancy Meal, etc.
2. Pick a meat or other main item that goes well with that genre.
3. Eat your veggies! Pick fresh summer veggies that go well with each genre. 
4. Start looking for recipes, drawing from your own knowledge as well as books and websites.

Having this much written out in front of you may provoke all the ideas you need. But, if you need some more help, start checking out recipe sites. Search by a main ingredient or a genre if that helps.

Another idea: I just spent 15 minutes and entered pretty well every ingredient I have into supercook.com. It suggests recipes using what you have on hand, sorted into entrees, sides, and desserts. I'm really, really impressed with this site. You can ask it to center the recipes around a certain ingredient, or choose more than one ingredient to focus on, too.

Armed with the list of what you'd like to use and/or supercook.com, you can put together a meal plan pretty quickly.

Check in Wednesday for this week's menu!

Please let me know how I can help you. What sort of menu plan would you like help with?

Friday Flashback:Plan Your Meals!

Newer readers of Meals with the McRackans may not have been exposed to the older articles, so I thought I would highlight this one from January 2009 on the benefits of meal planning. Even if your life is not so predictable that you can plan dinner every night, just planning a few meals a week can really make a difference! 


Benefits of Meal Planning:

• Healthy Mind – no more last-minute stress of what to make
• Healthy Meals – plan healthy meals and avoid last-minute unhealthy options
• Healthy Bank Account – keep your grocery budget down by not buying what you aren’t going to use


Healthy Mind

Frequently, I’ve heard complaints of the mental stress that comes on the drive home, rushing to figure out what to make for dinner. Then, just when you have it figured out, you get home to find an ingredient missing. Planning meals means you don’t have to worry anymore – just drive home, decompress from your day, and then start making dinner, never having worried about what to make.

Healthy Meals

Planning meals allows for healthier choices. Unfortunately, the easiest last-minute dinner choices are not typically healthy choices. Pizza, mac and cheese, hot dogs, pre-packaged meals, frozen dinners, and take-out are easy as can be … and they will work against your weight loss plans!

You don’t have to become a chef – many healthy meals are easy to make, too. It’s really about making small changes, choosing healthier options. And having a plan enables these choices, because you’re not pressed at the last minute. Steam, broil, or bake your foods – don’t fry. Use fresh ingredients. Choose lean meat. Drain off the fat. Opt for light dressing instead of regular. But most importantly, have a plan. Take the time to choose healthy meals for the week, then stick to that plan.


Healthy Bank Account

You’ve probably heard it said, “Never go to the grocery store hungry.” Well, I’ll add another rule, “Never go to the grocery store without a plan.” We’ve all been there – slimy, scary produce in the refrigerator, bought and never used. Or meat defrosted and then forgotten. Deli meat/cheese you never used up before it went bad. If you plan your meals, these kinds of events will happen less, guaranteed.

Maybe you already use a grocery list – good for you! That’s a great step to take. Just be sure what’s on the list is really what you’ll need – and then stick to it. Don’t purchase perishable items that aren’t part of the plan. And don’t purchase unhealthy snacks! This will help you toward a healthier body and a healthier account balance.


Another Benefit of Planning

Have you ever had a recipe call for just one tablespoon of tomato paste, just a bit of cream, a single stalk of celery, or just a portion of any fresh vegetable? What do you do with the rest of it? Some items can be frozen for future use, but not all. When you make your menu plan, you can plan multiple meals using that same ingredient so none goes to waste.


What if my Plans Change?

If you frequently have to change your plans, causing you to not have dinner at home, be sure to plan at least one meal per week that can drop off the menu without repercussions.

For example, have a pasta meal planned at least one night per week. I think the easiest “droppable” meal is pasta; the unused dry pasta & jar/can of sauce will keep for another week just fine. What about the meat? Well, hopefully you'll know the night before not to take it out of the freezer. If it's still fresh, just go ahead and freeze it. 


Need Ideas?

There’s many websites dedicated to helping you find new recipes. My own site, justrightmenus.com, has a category for “easily removed from the menu” as well as for "easy," “healthy,” and many other categories of recipes. Feel free to add your own recipes to the site, too!



If you have meal-planning advice to share, just leave a comment so others may benefit from your experience.


This article was originally posted January 30, 2009. 

Baby Preparation

Once I reached about 7 months into my pregnancy, I realized it was time to start planning meals. After all, I'm the cook here. My beloved husband, Dinah, can manage on his own, but why not make things easier on him?

Here's what we did.

In order to maintain variety, I chose 14 recipes that would freeze well. By cooking & freezing at least a double batch of each, that would allow a month of meals, ready to go. However, in my classic style, I went a bit overboard. We ended up with 60 frozen meals (each serving 2 people).

Pear-Stuffed Pork Loin, from Taste of Home
- - I didn't bother to put the recipe on justrightmenus.com, as it turns out we don't like it very much.
- - Serve with microwave-baked potato & canned veggie

Lasagna
- - It's the classic about-to-have-a-baby freezer food!
- - Serve with salad and bread (can send someone to the store for bread and bagged salad, to make it easy).

Chicken-Sweet-Potato Soup
- - I got the recipe from a crock pot book.
- - Serve alone or with grilled cheese sandwiches.

Cashew Chicken
- - Be sure not to over-cook the veggies before freezing, so they don't just end up squishy. Also, I recommend *against* adding the cashews at the time of freezing. They got REALLY soft after being frozen, and I ended up adding fresh cashews anyway.
- - Serve with rice cooked fresh at time of serving... but you can cook ahead and freeze it. I just find that doesn't save much time.

Stuffed Chicken Rolls
- - These turned out great as a frozen meal! Although the recipe says to slice them into rounds before serving, they stay much hotter if left whole, so I now go that route.
- - Serve with pasta and salad or canned veggie.

Chili
- - I canned about five quarts of chili, but it freezes great. Just make your favorite chili recipe like you normally would, pour into freezer bags, and you're ready to go. If you're up for the adventure, the BEST site to learn to can is the National Center for Home Food Preservation site.
- - Serve with cornbread. I bought some corn muffin mix, to make life easier.

Roasted Chicken Thighs/Quarters
- - The only thing I did here was prepare the spice mixture and pour it into the freezer bag with the chicken. That way, when you're ready to make it, all you have to do is dump it in your baking dish. It saves some prep time and makes the meal more approachable for someone not used to cooking (i.e. my spouse).
- - Don't forget to write the baking instructions on the package.
- - Serve with microwave-baked potato and veggie.

Spaghetti w/ Meatballs
- - Originally, I planned to cook the pasta and meatballs, pour the sauce over it, and freeze it like that... but then I ran out of freezer space and just put the meatballs in the freezer in packets containing enough for 2 people.
- - Serve with salad and bread.

Chicken Pot Pie / Chicken and Dumplings / Chicken and Biscuits
- - I made the innards of chicken pot pie and froze it. We don't actually make pie with it, though (I don't know what else to call it. I bought frozen biscuits to be served with it.
- - Serve with frozen or canned biscuits.

Chicken and Risotto
- - This was a one-pot-meal out of the Mediterranean cook book. It actually came out pretty bland - it's just risotto made w/ chicken broth, onions, chicken, and some spices. There's a different chicken one-pot meal I FAR prefer frozen: Chicken and "Chorizo." I have frozen the leftovers from that meal MANY times, and it comes out great.
- - Serve with salad or canned veggie.

Spinach-Cheese-Bacon Stuffed Pork Loin
- - This is definitely my favorite frozen meal. I made three of these and froze them. From now on, I plan to make several every time I make this and freeze the spares for future use.
- - Serve with microwave-baked potato and canned veggie.

Chicken Tetrazzini
- - I used a recipe from Taste of Home, and it came out GREAT. This is another one where I will make extra from now on, freezing more for later. Just like when freezing lasagna, follow all the instructions except baking it at the end.
- - Serve with salad or canned veggie.

Minestrone Soup
- - I canned four quarts of Minestrone, but it would freeze just fine. Again, for canning instructions, I highly recommend the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
- - Serve with deli sandwiches.

Enchiladas
- - These have been great not only for dinners but also for lunches while I'm at home during the day. Again, follow all the instructions except baking them at the end of the recipe. I just found a recipe online and went with that. I bought canned enchilada sauce to put in the cupboard for use at time of serving.
- - Serve with canned corn.

Some notes:
- - When freezing lasagna or tetrazzini, line your pans with tinfoil before filling, allowing enough to cover it up as well. I put foil in the pan like a + sign and seal the meal up like a package. Then, once the meal is frozen, I remove the pan and put the tinfoil-wrapped meal in a big freezer bag.
- - I listed really easy sides, but as I began to recover more, I have been cooking fresh vegetables and making some more interesting salads and sides to go with the entrees.
- - We have a side-by-side refrigerator/freezer unit, and I was able to fit the following: 2 pear-stuffed pork loin, 3 lasagna, 4 chicken-sweet potato soup, 5 cashew chicken, 6 packs of chicken rolls, 8 packs of chicken thighs/quarters, 6 packs of meatballs, 2 chicken pot pie, 4 chicken and risotto, 4 spinach/bacon/cheese pork loin, 3 chicken tetrazzini, and 6 packs of enchiladas. Combined with the chili and minestrone, we set ourselves up for meals for two months at least.

I'm really getting won over to this Once A Month Cooking thing!

Happy cooking!

Meal Planning as Part of Weight Loss

Rick has been my mother’s Weight Watchers buddy for the last several years. To date, he has lost 110 pounds.

Any amount of weight is difficult to lose, yes. But when you have hundreds you need to lose, it can be very discouraging – and very difficult. I’d like to lose ten, twenty pounds… and to do so, I can go walking, I can go running. Rick can’t do that, though. He became so overweight that he cannot do those things. He’s had to find ways to make small changes – stand when he used to sit, move around a bit more, take the stairs instead of the elevator, make better menu choices. Over time, those small changes have added up. For the first time in fifteen years, his weight now begins with a 3, not a 4.

Hopefully, his success will bring encouragement to you.

From Rick:

“Something that has helped me to lose weight is Weight Watchers (WW). WW works; there is no doubt in my mind. For those who say it doesn’t work, I say that they didn't try it, I say that they didn't give it a chance, I say that they didn't follow the program - because I know if you do, there is success. Forget about dieting - WW is not a diet. It is a way of life. WW teaches you how to eat the right things in the right portions.

“Enough of the WW commercial.

“One thing I think helpful is to partner up with someone. I think you should have someone you can turn to, someone who will hold you accountable as well as support you for those times when you say 'I feel like I'm going to over eat' or 'I did over eat,' someone who knows you and has the same weight issues as you, someone that can turn to you as well.

“Something that used to drive me crazy was hearing about people who had reached their goal weight, how they had lost 15, 20, 25, or 30 pounds, and that it took them only a few weeks to do it. I had over 300 to lose, so goals like that would be just a drop in the bucket for me. Then I realized my goal was set too high. I needed to make more realistic goals. I thought, Yeah, I can do what they did - why not make my goal 15 or 20 pounds at a time? I could reach the same success they did. I was so busy looking at the total weight I had to lose, that it was overwhelming; it almost defeated me. So what I'm saying is keep it realistic so you won’t feel defeated and give up.

“I have heard some say that you need to not think about food so much, stopping thinking about it would make it easier to lose your weight. I think that is all wrong; I think you need to keep thinking about food, keep it in your face. You need to keep thinking about what to get at the store, what's for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and how you’re going to prepare your meals. You need to plan snacks to help you stay on track. You need to keep track of what your eating - and that means everything you eat, good or bad. Keep a journal on how you feel when eating or when overeating, because feelings can be triggers to overeating. Triggers can be even having a good day – know your triggers so you can make better choices when they come up.

“My WW partner shared this thought with me from another WW person and I have it posted by my desk so I can see it daily. I hope it will inspire you as well.

I tell people that it sometimes it feels like food is an illicit, abusive lover. I've snuck around to be with it, I've lied for it, I've suffered for it, I've sacrificed my health for it, I've struggled for each breath to be with it. I've planned my days and nights around it, I've given up opportunities for it, and I've thrown my money away in pursuit of it;
I've cried over it.

I have lived years of my life in physical pain and mental anguish over the love of it. I've spent more time, tears, money, and heartache over it for YEARS-- all for the love of something that CANNOT LOVE ME BACK.

I finally had enough.

It's been a tough breakup, and it still shows up every now and then--- but I'm getting better at not answering the door.

I hope this helps you in your weight loss journey. Good luck."

Purchasing Meat on Sale

Meat-Packing Time!

We pretty well never buy boneless, skinless chicken breast that's more than $1.99/lb. When it's on sale, if our freezer stock is low, we buy as much as will fit in the freezer. That day or the day after, we freeze the meat in 2-serving portions, in freezer bags. In trimming breasts down to one serving each, we end up with a lot of small pieces that were cut off. These pieces are chopped even smaller and frozen in 2-serving portions for stir-fry. Each bag is labeled with the date & contents and put in the freezer.

My husband and I work together. I trim the chicken to serving-size pieces (a.k.a. the icky job) & he labels the bags & brings them to me one at a time; I drop the chicken in, and he seals the bag. That way, I don't have to figure out how to keep one hand clean to hold the bags. The whole process takes about 45 minutes. Having a child label the bags is a great way to keep them involved & busy while you're trimming meat, too. Pick up a couple colored permanent markers & let them decorate the bags!


Is it worth the effort?

Cost of a kitchen scale: $49.99
There are cheaper ones, but let's see if it's worth it even for one this expensive.

Cost of freezer bags: a box of 40 is $4.99 at our local market - that's 12 cents a bag.

You'll need permanent markers to label the bags - let's add $8.50 for those.

Let's say 2 people have chicken about 5 times a week.
2 servings x 5 meals a week x 52 weeks in a year = 520 servings
At 4 oz per serving, that's 130 lb per year.
((Note, this is the same as a family of 4 having chicken 5 times in two weeks))

What's the cost of 520 servings at $1.99/lb?
130 lb @ 1.99/lb = $258.70

2 servings per freezer bag = 260 bags
260 x 0.12 = $32.44

Add in the cost of a scale and markers, and your yearly total is $349.61

What if you bought chicken each week, whether it was on sale or not?
If it were never on sale and you always paid $5.39/lb, one year of chicken would cost you $700.70
But in reality, it is on sale sometimes. Let's say it goes on sale once a month.
Now, your yearly spend on chicken is $590.20


You save $240.60 by buying it on sale and packing it in the freezer.
AND you only have to buy a scale once. So, the following year, you'd save almost $300.
In two years, I've only had to replace my scale's batteries once, too. We've had the same markers for a couple years, too.

We spend about 45 minutes once every two months to freeze chicken in portions.
4 1/2 hours a year saves $240 the first year and $300 every year thereafter.

And keep in mind, this is only chicken. We buy pork on sale the same way, $1.99/lb.
Worried about freezer room? Hey, all we have is a typical refrigerator w/ freezer - and we can make it work. You can, too!


Benefits:

1. Portion Control. You can be sure you're eating correct portions of meat. I can guarantee that at each meal, we each only have one serving of meat.

2. Less Time in the Store. When you have a well-stocked kitchen, your grocery trips take less time in the end. You'll only have to visit the meat section every couple of months - what you need for your meal plan is already in the freezer.

3. No Last-Minute Worries. You're prepared for last-minute meal plan changes. Need to add servings b/c friends are coming over? No need to run to the store! Just pull out another packet of meat from the freezer. You will always have meat on hand. And packets of frozen chicken cut up for stir-fry defrost *very* quickly. I'll microwave defrost it just until I can break it apart, then into a hot pan it goes.


In the end, I find that taking the time to buy meat only when it's on sale & freeze it in serving-size portions is well worth investment in tools, time, and effort.

Plan Your Meals!

Benefits of Meal Planning:

• Healthy mind – no more last-minute stress of what to make
• Healthy meals – plan healthy meals and avoid last-minute unhealthy options
• Healthy bank account – keep your grocery budget down by not buying what you aren’t going to use

Healthy Mind

Frequently, I’ve heard complaints of the mental stress that comes on the drive home, rushing to figure out what to make for dinner. Then, just when they have it figured out, they get home to find an ingredient missing. Planning meals means you don’t have to worry anymore – just drive home, decompress from your day, and then start making dinner, never having worried about what to make.

Healthy Meals

Planning meals allows for healthier choices. Unfortunately, the easiest last-minute dinner choices are not typically healthy choices. Pizza, mac and cheese, hot dogs, pre-packaged meals, frozen dinners, and take-out are easy as can be … and they will work against your weight loss plans!

You don’t have to become a chef – many healthy meals are easy to make, too. It’s really about making small changes, choosing healthier options. And having a plan enables these choices, because you’re not pressed at the last minute. Steam, broil, or bake your foods – don’t fry. Use fresh ingredients. Choose lean meat. Drain off the fat. Opt for light dressing instead of regular. But most importantly, have a plan. Take the time to choose healthy meals for the week, then stick to that plan.

Healthy Bank Account

You’ve probably heard it said, “Never go to the grocery store hungry.” Well, I’ll add another rule, “Never go to the grocery store without a plan.” We’ve all been there – slimy, scary produce in the refrigerator, bought and never used. Or meat defrosted and then forgotten. Deli meat/cheese you never used up before it went bad. If you plan your meals, these kinds of events will happen less, guaranteed.

Maybe you already use a grocery list – good for you! That’s a great step to take. Just be sure what’s on the list is really what you’ll need – and then stick to it. Don’t purchase perishable items that aren’t part of the plan. And don’t purchase unhealthy snacks! This will help you toward a healthier body and a healthier account balance.

Another Benefit of Planning

Have you ever had a recipe call for just one tablespoon of tomato paste, just a bit of cream, a single stalk of celery, or just a portion of any fresh vegetable. What do you do with the rest of it? Some items can be frozen for future use, but not all. When you make your menu plan, you can plan multiple meals using that same ingredient so none goes to waste.

What if my Plans Change?

If you frequently have to change your plans, causing you to not have dinner at home, be sure to plan at least one meal per week that can drop off the menu without repercussions.

For example, I like to have a pasta meal planned at least one night per week. I think the easiest “droppable” meal is pasta; the unused dry pasta & jar/can of sauce will keep for another week just fine. The veggie for the night is typically salad, and I always keep salad ingredients on hand anyway, so nothing is wasted. What about the meat? Well, hopefully I’ll know the night before not to even take it out of the freezer. But just in case, I’ll be sure that there’s another meal on the menu that uses the same meat.

Need Ideas?

There’s many websites dedicated to helping you find new recipes. My own site, justrightmenus.com, has a category for “easily removed from the menu” and for “healthy” recipes. Feel free to add your own recipes to the site, too!

If you have meal-planning advice to share, just leave a comment so others may benefit from your experience.