Every week I spend about 30 mins working out a menu for the week ahead. Thursdays are our usual grocery day so we usually eat out, as a treat, and I don’t have the time to cook.
There are plenty of grocery shopping lists templates available online. None of them work for me so I built one. I have been doing ‘Menu for the Week’ for about 3 years now. Its my little system. Its worth investing a little time, a few thumbing through recipe books and a quick check on what vegetables are in season.
Our grocery bill averaged to about $150 a week before, and most of the time I use to get back from work and stress over what to make for dinner. Additionally, most of the stuff I bought didn’t get used and would start turning a neon colour. Now my weekly groceries average at about $70, this includes some unexpected buys. My unexpected buys are items which are on special that can be frozen (such as meat) or I feel like a treat.
I go by some basics when doing my Menu.
· Choose dishes according to the day/schedule. There are times we might have people come for lunch/dinner, or one of us is out late.
· Usually weekends I will do the cook ups so that there is minimal cooking over the week. Mostly these dishes require more time cooking or dishes that must be eaten fresh.
· Review what I already have in the freezer/fridge/pantry and jot down the rest of the ingredients.
· Check on the what is in season at the shops and base dishes around them (or use as substitute in some recipes). Local seasonal produce is cheaper than those imported.
· Try to use the same ingredients but in a different dish. It works out as when I buy a whole wombok for example and can add it in 2-3 different dishes. I hate only using ½ and then leaving the rest to rot in the fridge.
Below is an example of my Menu of the week last month. This bill worked out a bit more, but the following week I had very little to buy!
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