For busy families, dinnertime can be a stressful time. Between finding the time to shop and not having enough time to cook a nutritious meal, our families can get short-changed with either expensive carry-out or less-than-healthy convenience food. Recently one of my Twitter pals mentioned how once-a-month grocery shopping and meal-prep has “saved her sanity” in the kitchen. So, to share her ideas with all of you, I invited Minimalist Mommy to guest post here at Virtually Organized. . .

Prior to embarking on once-a-month grocery shopping/meal planning, I tried everything from a weekly system, menus based on sales, pay periods, whims and the occasional *fly by the seat of my pants* plan. I have been doing the monthly method for several months now, and although small changes are needed, it has been working well.

You see, with one child it was so easy to hop in the car, swing up and down the aisles of the local grocery store, return home with a few items and actually have the energy and the remaining nerve to put the stuff away AND do something with it.

Not so with two kids. It was becoming a chore to find the appropriate time to get out, a time when I was not rushed, I was energized and, more importantly, without kids.

With once a month cooking, I pre-plan the outing, hubby is forewarned and I am raring to go.

Recently, I spent a great deal of time restructuring my meals. I got rid of those time consuming fussy ones, replacing them with easy and freezer friendly dishes. I try to vary them, adding in not only convenient freezer meals but a few crockpot dishes, quick lunch-type dinners and light soups and stews. From there, I made two lists representing two months that rotate with approximately 25 dishes on each one.
As the end of the month nears, I sit with my meal plan for that month and add to my ever expanding grocery list. For anything that will be frozen, I try to make up a few double batches, therefore making subsequent months easier. Anything that can be frozen (casseroles) in addition to side dishes, such as rice or potatoes are made, sorted and frozen. My list also includes breads, sides and some desserts.

For example; one month we had two servings of cornbread planned. In order to make preparation a little easier, I pre-measured the dry ingredients into a Ziploc bag and wrote on the front the remaining required liquids and how it had to be prepared and cooked. Worst case scenario, if I am having a chaotic day and subsequent melt down, hubby could jump in and finish the job of making cornbread. This applies to my pizza dough, bread ingredients for bread maker, and pancake and waffles mixes. The time consuming part for me in preparing meals is the measuring and resulting clean up.  Having these dry ingredients measured out makes it a little easier. 

Initially there was the worry about missing out on sales. To remedy this we now buy the majority of our meat at a local market who will match the price of surrounding chain stores. No more dashes to the grocery store for half-price meat, as I can now get it conveniently, on my own time, for a great deal. There are still occasions when amazing sales come up and I venture out to stock up. For the most part I know the prices around town and get the best deal that way. Honestly, I have been spending less money since switching systems. I know when I shopped often and hunted sales, I would be easily trapped into buying extras. I’m a sucker for sales and had a hard time passing them up. For me, staying out of the stores ultimately saved us  money even if we were paying 50 cents more for a certain item that *could*be on sale the following week.

Most of all this has saved my sanity. Knowing all of the cupboards are stocked, not only with food but personal items, as well, allowed me to focus on family and meal time as opposed to shopping

The two days following my trip are spent in the kitchen preparing and freezing what meals I can. I try to schedule one day for poultry and the other for beef. The thing that keeps me on track is my list. I would be
lost without it. In addition to the master list of meals that are on the menu for the month, I have an associated list outlining the required steps to ensure what meals can be made ahead of time and what meals are complete. Many of these smaller tasks, like chopping veggies or boiling potatoes, are completed Friday night and simply assembled once the meat is cooked the following day.

The key to making this work is ensuring you have enough containers to store your meals in. I keep and reuse tinfoil containers, and also stock up on metal baking pans when I run across them on sale or for pennies at yard sales and thrift stores. If you are short on dishes you could easily line the dish with tinfoil, flash freeze, and simply lift out the frozen dish and store it in a Ziploc bag. When ready to cook you only have to remember which dish you initially used, pop it back in and bake.

I am not going to lie and say the initial prep is easy.  It’s time consuming and involves a great deal of dirty dishes. By working through this for a mere two days, you will be rewarded with a freezer full of delicious dishes that can be popped into the oven at any given moment. I am more than ready to give up two days if it means 28 more with little or no fuss and a piping hot meal the whole family can enjoy with little or no preparation.

The Minimalist Mommy

Related posts:

1. Resources for Organized Meal Planning, Recipe Organization, and Grocery Shopping
2. Take the Stress Out of Dinnertime Decisions
3. 3 Tips for Getting More Done at Home Today
4. How to Stock the Pantry
5. Virtually Organized Giveaway: Mrs. A’s Coupon Organizer