Meal Planning

Recipes At A Glance

Recipes At A Glance is a one sheet summary of all your favorite recipes to make planning your meals quick and easy.  Yes, I realize there are two chicken categories. To save BIG money you should always stock up on meat at it’s lowest price. Because there are so many types of chicken (whole, bone in, etc) a great tip is to spend an afternoon cooking the chicken.  Then, let it cool and place in quart size freezer bags.  When you’re planning your meals,  simply look in the “Cooked Chicken” category and viola…you have a very quick meal to put together!

Weekly Meal Planner

Laminate this cute Weekly Meal Planner document, plan two weeks of meals and snacks, and post it on your fridge.  Tip:  Use a Visa-Vis marker so it doesn’t smudge.  Planning your meals is the key element to sticking to your budget.  It prevents running to the store to pay full price for items or that five o’ clock rush that leads you to the Chick Fil A drive through.  Here’s how to make it work:

1.  PLAN YOUR MEALS AROUND WHAT’S ON SALE.  Hopefully you have a stockpile of meat and you can plan your meals from what you have in your freezer.  If not, simply look at your store ad and plan your meals around the meat/items on sale.

2.  PICK RECIPES:  Use your Recipes At A Glance sheet to match your freezer or sale items to a recipe.

3.  MAKE YOUR SHOPPING LIST:  Write any ingredients that you don’t have for the recipes on your Grocery List by Aisle document.  Remember to check a coupon database to see if you have a coupon for the items you need.

Freezer List

Did you know you can freeze milk, shredded cheese, and even popcorn?  I created this Freezer List per the request of my class attendees.  It is a summary of the most popular items found when couponing, along with tips and tricks to maximize your freezer stock pile!

(Small print:  This food storage guideline is not approved by the FDA and is simply my own research findings).

Recipe Calculator

How much do these items really cost to make? Is it worth my time?  What does it cost to make a loaf of bread?

Calculating your own recipe is so easy!

1. Download the Recipe Calculator Spreadsheet (it’s in Excel format).  It may not look as “pretty” as mine if you don’t have my fonts, but the formulas will work just the same.
2. You can choose to edit the Ingredient Costs sheet or just leave the prices I have listed.
3. Go to the Recipe Calculator sheet and enter the ingredient amounts from your recipe.  Your total cost will calculate at the bottom.

I include standard basic baking ingredients on the document.  With basic excel knowledge you can add more products to the list and calculate any type of recipe!

Conversion Sheet

How many ounces are in a cup? How many cups in a quart? Put this equivalents sheet inside a kitchen cabinet and glance at it while cooking. It makes doubling/tripling recipes easier too!