Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Home Management- Food.

(I wrote this post a long time ago and it's been sitting in the dock waiting, staring at me every time I logged in. I have conflicting thoughts about publishing it, but I finally decided to do it. I didn't want to do it because people judge each other way too much, myself included, and I don't want to appear by posting "home management" posts that I have it all together, because I don't. But, I do take pride in how I "manage our house," especially now that I stay home and Norah and household stuff is my full time job, so I thought I would share what works for me.) So here goes:


One of my friends encouraged me to do some "home management" posts, so I will. I didn't ever think of doing it before because I didn't feel like I had amazing or blog-worthy tips to share, but my friend told me she thought I should, since she thought I was good at it. Encouraging words are always so nice to hear!

So, my first home management post is about food.

I usually make one bigger grocery run per week, with occasional quick trips if I need something else or forgot something, but usually only one trip. Since we live in a small town now, Norah and I walk a lot of our errands, and the grocery store is close to us, so it's nice to be able to quick pick something up if we need it. (When we lived in Des Moines and I taught, I made one grocery trip a week and that's it.)

Meal Planning
I don't meal plan for every day of the week, because there are times where something comes up or you don't know exactly what the plan will be. However, I do meal plan on a smaller scale. When I go to the grocery store, I usually get ingredients for 3-4 meals for the week, and then plan from there on when to eat those meals depending on what we have going on. I usually plan for 2 that take longer or more preparation, and maybe 2 more that require less.

Breakfast- I never make breakfast during the week, but will usually make something bigger on Saturdays or if we have company. Kley loves big breakfasts, so I should do it more often, but I don't because I consider breakfast my slide meal where we fend for ourselves. I usually have granola bars, cereal, toast, or frozen waffles on hand. My favorite breakfast is probably a frozen waffle with nutella and berries or a banana on top. Sometimes I will make muffins or scones or something during the week to eat for breakfast each day.

Lunch- We usually have a sandwich or leftovers for lunch. Sometimes we have something quick and easy like canned soup, chicken strips, or microwaveable pot pie if we don't have a lot of time. (I know those things aren't the most healthy- I guess I'm not really trying to talk about health here, but it's the truth.)

Supper- As talked about above, I usually plan for 3-4 meals per week and go from there. I usually have some sort of skillet meal in the freezer for nights where we are really pressed for time. I do enjoy cooking, so I do like to make meals and usually don't find it stressful. I also like to have some ingredients regularly on hand to make go-to meals to make up for the other nights I didn't directly plan for. I like to have things on hand to be able to make regular dishes rather quickly, like spaghetti, tacos, or some sort of chicken/rice/beans/veggies dish.

Meals for others- I really enjoy cooking for others, whether that's inviting people into our home, or taking a meal to their house (for a big life event like a baby, surgery, etc.) When I plan for that, I always make double- one for us and one for them. It's so much easier to do it that way because why not tackle two birds with one stone? Then I have a meal for us and a meal for others. I have a few dishes that I regularly make/are easy to make that don't require a lot of work to make double portions.

So, I don't know how helpful that information is, but that's what works for us! I like to plan for 3-4 meals per week and also have ingredients on hand to make regular favorites to make up for the other nights, as well as something really quick for those nights we are busy. I like the flexibility of having planned meals ready, but not feeling like I HAVE to make this today because it's on my list or feeling like things were thrown off if I thawed meat and then wasn't able to go through with the plan if something came up.

Also, I wouldn't call myself a coupon queen or anything, but I do check the local paper and use coupon saving apps when I can to save money. (I like to stick to a fairly regular grocery budget, but I will buy things I didn't originally have on my list if they are on sale and I know I will use it eventually.) I would really like to get another freezer for our basement so I can make more freezer meals. I have read about people doing that and know there are lots of good recipes out there. Both in our apartments and our house now, we have had the small freezer on top of the fridge, so we haven't had space to make many freezer meals before. Hopefully someday!

2 comments:

  1. This is so great Kelsey! I still haven't really found a groove with meal planning (how much to plan vs. how much to wing it during the week) and I haven't really found a good groove with work and at-home life and finding time to get it all done. You've inspired me to plan just a little bit more than I have been lately. :)

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    Replies
    1. Glad you can find it helpful! I'm sure planning will be so much more fun once your kitchen is finished!

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