Pantries and Preparedness. Laines Menu Planning.

First of all thank you to everyone for praying for Kelsey in Texas.  Her husband is home, they are all safe and the house is without damage! She said thank you all so much so is so grateful and very tired!

This week I want to get started with a series on menu planning.  Laine got me going on this in an earlier post when she was talking about how she is learning from The Fundamental Home how to menu plan.
Now I have kind of menu planned most of my life.  I always know what we will be having for dinner and usually a few days ahead at least.  When I am organised I have a weeks plan written up.  And usually I have a back up plan.  But what Laine is talking about is far beyond that.  And it opens up a whole new world of savings!  We are kind of on this journey together as she is new to it too and ahead of me.  This is something that will potentially cut your costs, build your pantry and help you get ahead in many ways.

I began watching The Fundamental Home on you tube and reading as much as I can as well.
This is how Laine introduced the subject to me and it was in reply to asking what new things she might be doing since the days of the original Laine's Letters...

I am still practicing the same things and always trying to learn more. I am trying to implement Amanda at The Fundamental Home's food shopping and menu planning to cut my food bill in half...that is my goal. I am so new at menu planning so this is a new practice for me. Lucy got a big white board for her birthday like the one Amanda uses in her grocery hauls, so we are writing down our savings and menu plan on it like she does. Lucy watches her with me, so she loves that we are doing the same. I can't save as much as Amanda does because I buy mostly all organic vegetables and fruits, grass fed beef, wild caught fish, organic chicken and eggs, etc. But she has sure inspired me! This week I actually cut my grocery bill in half with a menu plan for the week. It was amazing. I went to three stores and the farmers market. My first meal last night for the meal plan was fish chowder which Lucy and Art loved. I am also implementing an entertainment fund like she does, and a budget for toiletries every two weeks like she does. I am so excited to try this. I am speaking in September at our church on growing kids healthy on a budget, so I hope to share what I learn in our town. If it works, I estimate that I can save $140 a month in groceries, have an entertainment fund which we never had before, so a total savings of $1680 a year! I have to get used to the menu planning, which I have never done my whole marriage, but I keep hearing you can save so much this way. I am trying it! It will take me quite a few weeks to learn if this will work for us, but I love saving money while producing healthy meals.

Each letter we have discussed this further... there are tips in here that I want to include....


I have never menu planned in my life, and I thought it wouldn't work for me. But I have nine meals planned ahead right now, and I must say it is pretty awesome. I like your idea of using things up in the fridge. For the past two weeks I have saved almost half on my grocery bill, $20 every two weeks for toiletries, added in an entertainment fund (like Amanda does), and I am still saving $80 a month! (Plus I am still eating organic and healthy. )  I did have to shop 6 stores to realize my savings both weeks, but I look at it as my "savings business" in my home. I had thought I could save more a month, and maybe I will as I get used to this new way, but for now this is where my savings are at. It's really exciting! I am trying to stay one week ahead in my meal planning.

And then here Laine wrote up her tips for us that she has gathered so far...

I have implemented Amanda's saving tactics on my food shopping for 4 weeks now, and I have cut my grocery in half! I am teaching Abbie how to do it as well, and she has gone with me the last two weeks and is saving too! She is pretty excited. My daughter in law called last night and wanted to learn as well. I love menu planning when you get home with your stock, it's so much fun. I also love being a week ahead as I know if I got sick, I have food for the following week. I go to 5 stores to realize this savings, but it is so worth it. I go early in the morning on Monday to get the mark downs on meat, and I am done in about 2 hours. So it doesn't take too much time, and the savings are so good. Here are some of my tips on managing this new system:

1- I keep a notebook with how much I spend at each store and my menu plan. It really makes me feel good to see my savings on paper. It's my little business. 🙂 And I pray to get better and better at it.

2- Once I have four weeks notated in my notebook, I calculate how much each meal cost us per person. This is really exciting, and I feel like a chef/owner running a restaurant. There is no where we could eat this healthy for the price we are paying, and that motivates me even more! 

3- I also keep a running list of my expenditures on toiletries, paper products, and cleaning products in the same notebook. This is a separate budget like Amanda does at The Fundamental Home.

4- I check off the meals in my menu plan as I make them. It also helps me to know what we've eaten in the past few weeks so that I can switch things up a bit and add variety to our dining.

5- I try to have fish, turkey, chicken, and beef in one week's rotation. Sometimes lamb too. Last night we had beef stew, tonight we are having chicken oregano, and tomorrow a fish chowder. 

6- I shop one week in advance, so it helps me to look at my menu plan to know what meat to pull out of the freezer for that evening's meal, or for several meals ahead.

7- I shop early on Monday morning to look for savings on marked down meat, and I shop about 5 stores, pretty much all in a row. So all my food shopping is done in about 2 hours. If I do not have enough produce, I go to my Farmers Market, which is just down the street from me, on Thursday in my town.

I was just sharing with Abbie yesterday a few more things I have learned from Amanda. One is to always go shopping even though your pantry is full. You are consistently building your stock. Also if there is a good deal on meat, use some of your toiletries/paper/ cleaning supply budget. I keep watching her and learning. I am having so much fun with this new budget.  My husband is thrilled at my savings.

Something I note is that all our brains are wired differently!  Sometimes things have to click with us and suddenly we will SEE something we didn't see before.  This is how it has been for me.

These are the steps I have been through so far and some of the results....

First of all I made a list of all my meals in the freezer.  Some are ready to make and others are things I have all the components for. 

Then I made a list of all the meals I can make from the pantry with what I currently have.

I have not included emergency type meals... i.e. I could cook up pasta and dream up all kinds of emergency things to get us through.  I have just counted what I consider regular meals that I have on hand. 

Then I went through the fridge to see what meals I have plus what I need to use up. 

The first thing I noticed is that I did not need to buy anything for the week except for milk and some fresh veggies.  Nothing.  

Seeing my list of meals written up and posted on the fridge I can see what I have.  I really need nothing. Somehow I never realised before how much I have and that I really don't NEED anything.   So shopping is only to see what really good deals I can find and nothing else.  

With the help of catalogues or one of my across town shopping trips, Aldi and the various discount places I have found I just buy the most amazing deals.  I had to really change my shopping to find the deals.  I wasn't seeing them before.  Mostly the big deals I find are not in supermarkets.  I don't need anything else and I keep reminding myself of that.  Being ahead I can be really choosy about the deals I buy.

This for me means things are really different to six months ago.  Instead of heading off to the supermarket I am prepared to go to six or more places for the best deals.  I will do them in groups depending on where I am and what I am doing so I am not travelling around in circles.  I might only get one really good deal in any place, it might be their loss leader that is their one big special to get people through the door! 

At home with my buys I write up my current meals. I work out what I can make with the deals I have found plus what I already have on hand.   I aim to have at least seven meals for the week written up.  On the right hand side I have a list of all the spare meals I have that are in the freezer and pantry.  

The first meals on the list will be using things that need to be used up.  And the fresh things I do not want to freeze. 

Then the list will go to what I will make next. 

If I freeze something I add it to my list on the right. (my spare meals list)

And I have a tally of my meal count as I like to see that go up and currently it is 27. 

(The first weeks it was lower and it is gradually growing!)

It becomes kind of a game to find a way to add a meal to the list.  Sometimes it is by having left overs or finding a way to stretch a meal into two meals.   Some nights Andy has had one thing and I have had another as there is one serve of something left over. 

Each week I try to use at least one freezer meal to keep those rotating and I will do that on a busy night or when I am tired.

The biggest thing that clicked for me is that I now do not have to buy anything unless it is a major bargain.  I am free from having to buy anything just because I need to think of something and fast!   In reality I was already there but I just didn't realise until I saw it all on paper and then the penny dropped!

Last week I found beef, potatoes and tomatoes at great prices.  These are really the only things I bought except milk, carrots and broccoli.  

The beef added many meals to my list as well as became three meals on the immediate plan for the week.  Then from one of these meals  (Beef stew) I got three more meals in the form of beef and vegetable pies.  This gave me two more meals for my reserve list as they went into the freezer.  My list grew again!

I have another spot that I write down any key ingredients I have that are potential meals.  This is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle.  i.e. I had Haloumi.   So when I could I got a small amount of lamb and then I had a complete meal to write into my current meal plan.  Lamb, Haloumi, beetroot and salad was our meal.   Many times we only need one item or a couple of small things to complete the jigsaw and end up with another meal on our list.  I think SNAP! I have a meal! 

I move the Haloumi from potential meals into the weeks plan.   

It really inspires you to get creative! 

The next aspect is to consider your week and your plans when writing up your meal plan.  While I have a roast to have I will not plan that when I know I will be out most of the day.  My meal plan for those days will usually be something that goes into the crockpot in the morning or something super fast and easy.   You have to line up your meals with your life so it is realistic.  It is ok to swap meals on your list too if something comes up.  To be honest if the wheels fall off the day then a toasted cheese sandwich is ok! 

It was an effort to get started and know what I have and to get into the swing of it.  But now it takes only a few minutes a week.   

Being ahead with meals and only buying the best specials is the most amazing saving.  I can just say no to all the ridiculous prices I see and move on! What a better position to be in!

Of course each thing we can learn to make ourselves is another thing we can remove from the shopping list. So the shopping list goes down and down.    One of my latest things is making yoghurt. While the shopping list is reduced the list of new things I can make is increased i.e. tatziti, cheesecake, dips, dressings, toppings, deserts, smoothies...

Anything we have available to us can also further reduce the shopping list. I have parsley, lemons, rosemary, bay leaves, thyme, oregano and spinach... (currently) so I google a multitude of things I can possibly make with these and add them to my meal list.  Since I have been given so many lemons I have made lemon butter, lemon cake, lemon and yoghurt cake,  lemon with chicken and fish. 

As Laine said it is like a game and also like running a business.  Restaurants do not waste anything. If they did they would not make a profit!  So you are aways looking at what you have, what needs using up and thinking of what can you make from it?  Everything is used.  The days of finding "past it"  ingredients in the bottom of the fridge are truly over.  

I do not plan breakfasts and lunches but some people do. We always have the same breakfast and lunches are usually left overs of some kind.  So I only really need to plan dinners. 

This week is like Laine said... I don't really need anything.  I still shop as many big specials are weekly and my aim is to keep ahead so I still do not need to ever buy anything at full price.  Also this builds up the pantry really well.  I am just keeping ahead since I have twenty seven meals on my list now.   My time instead is spent finding a few amazing deals and ignoring the rest.

You might already do this and be far ahead than me.  Please share any of your tips on this!  Most of us are on the look out for ways to save on food, eat healthy and reduce waste.  Wherever we live food prices seem to have risen and this is an area of potential great savings that we really need. 

Once you are a couple of weeks ahead with meals you can really just laugh at normal food prices and just buy the amazing deals.  It is wonderful. And it is fun as you feel like you are winning rather than being forced to buy terrible prices!  

To get started list everything you have and try to get ahead one meal at a time. Once you are ahead by a couple of weeks you are set!  And if you are sick or something goes wrong with a pay or some other problem you can menu plan and eat from what you already have. What an advantage!  

I hope you have a good week! I know I have a big September ahead as our insurance money finally came and the floors will go ahead.  So September will be renovating, spring cleaning, re arranging the kitchen and lounge room and setting up my spice cupboard... and putting in my herb garden. And other stuff no doubt!  
Lets finish off August first! xxx