I've been absent from this blog for some time now. I don't think that anyone really noticed, but that's okay. I'm going to try to get back into it anyway. Over the last few weeks, I've been taking serious steps towards regaining my semi-organized life. We hit a few speed bumps in the process - plumbing problems in the bathroom, plumbing problems in the kitchen, a small fire in the laundry room - but I've been able to recover from each rather quickly. (Note I didn't say I did it with a smile and no vulgarity.)
Right now I would consider my crowning achievement to be our meal plan set-up. We are still in the initial phase of roll-out, but I've taken steps to help ensure the plan is easy to stick with. (It always seems to be the stick-to-it-ness of a plan that makes or breaks it, doesn't it?) I'm going to try to walk you through it without creating a post that takes an hour to read.
Step One: We decided on 4 weeks worth of dinner menus. Breakfast and lunch varies so widely around here, it really is easier to wing it. Besides, lunch is a great opportunity to use up leftovers.
Step Two: I gathered together all the recipes for each week and came up with a weekly shopping list. I included absolutely EVERYTHING that would be needed for the week. Even if a recipe called for 1/8 tsp of paprika, I included paprika on the list.
Step Three: I went to Wegmans.com and created 4 master shopping lists. I absolutely LOVE this because with the Wegmans app it doesn't matter who is checking the list (more in a moment) or who is shopping, we can both access it! (If you don't have a Wegman's in your area, perhaps a local grocery chain offers a similar app. If not, you could still use Wegmans' - just pick a store and run with it!)
Step Four: On or before shopping day, I create a copy of the master list for the week. Then we go through the copied list (ever preserving the master list) and delete all of the items we don't need to pick up. This means that I double check all the spices and other little incidentals every week so I won't forget that silly-little-something that always gets forgotten. (At least theoretically.) The truly beautiful part is that once all the items we don't need are removed from the list I have an accurate total of my shopping trip. (Or a price comparison if I decide to shop somewhere else.)
When I finally got from step two to step three (there was a delay in between that we picked and chose some of the recipes and weren't really following the plan yet), I debated where to start. Then it occurred to me that the menu should follow along with FlyLady's Zones. (Insert the Chorus of Angels) While FlyLady sets up 5 zones, zones 1 & 5 typically fall in the same week. If it doesn't, we'll figure it out!
