Meal Planning

Once upon a time, I was really good at meal planning.  I had my handy binder full of our favorite recipes, a stocked pantry, an iron-clad budget, and a well thought out grocery list.  I shopped once a week and everything was beautifully streamlined.

Yeah.  I fell off that bandwagon quite a while ago.  But recently, I have started to realize how lack of meal planning can cause stress and some serious over spending.  I have been trying hard to get back into the game.  I also know that with our super busy schedule this semester, I am going to be very dependent on my crock pot.

The other day I ordered the cookbook Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook.  I also downloaded some cute meal planning charts from www.theprojectgirl.com  Although, since then I have seen a deal from Mamasource to get super cute meal planning (and other planning!) note pads for a fraction of the regular price!  Either way, cute paper helps keep us moving!

Here is the secret to my meal planning plan:  I handed that cute paper, a pen, and the cookbook over to my husband.  HE filled it all out (complete with "Chef Andrew" in the Sunday spot!) along with the information in the "grocery list" section.  Now my job is simply to execute.  And that's the easy part!