Tag Archives: grocery shopping

The Long Lost Meal Plan

Posted on October 20 by Jillian416 • 1 Comment

Though, I’ve been absent, making our meal plan is STILL just as important!

So, even though I haven’t been around all that much the last few weeks, Seamus and I have continued to meal plan. For us, it is a necessity. When we don’t, chaos ensues, which leads to us eating out WAY too much – which is never good for the wallet or the waistline.

Meal planning has never been one of our favorite activities, because we will tend to go back and forth on what to eat. I’ll suggest something, then Seamus will and the other one won’t want that meal. We would go back and forth and tend to just get overwhelmed with the process. We’d dread Saturday nights!

After WAY too many annoyances when making our meal plan, we decided to change some things up.

We started making the list earlier on Saturday, instead of after Emmett was in bed. This allowed us to avoid the times when we both like to do our own personal work. This is probably the #1 reason why meal planning isn’t such a chore any longer.
We both want “our” meals to be the ones made. However, that sometimes just isn’t feasible – now, instead of pushing for our meal to be the one chosen, we both take it in stride if it isn’t, and we decide to make it the next go round. Because of this we now have more meals in our “master list” and it makes next week’s planning easier because we already have one meal queued up.
We focus our attention on making the list. Previously, we would sit at our desk with our computers open and would BOTH be distracted. It would take ages to the get the meal plan done and we’d just get annoyed. Now, we do it either at the table or on the couch, while Emmett is watching some of his TV. Don’t get me wrong, we do occasionally still have our computers or phones around to look for recipes, but we aren’t doing other things during this time.
We aim to have an arsenal of different recipes or food ideas ready, before sitting down to make our list. It doesn’t always work, and can backfire, if all of the meals you have in mind are turned down by the other person, but this has helped at times.
Institute one scrounge day a week! This is so important, in my opinion, it is one less meal you need to plan for. It leads to savings at the grocery store and savings of your sanity. 😉
And finally, easing up and not taking the whole experience so seriously. There are people who LOVE to meal plan and I am sure that is because they view it as a very relaxing activity. So far, with this new method, things are going A LOT better, and while I cannot say I enjoy making a shopping list, it isn’t quite so unbearable.

Now, on to this week’s meal plan

Sunday: Rotisserie Chicken & Asparagus

Monday: Pork Tacos

Tuesday: Cornell Chicken (Seamus has shared this recipe with me in the past and it is OUT OF THIS WORLD!)

Wednesday: This is our 3 year wedding anniversary, so we’ll be going out for a family meal, since it is a work night. Not sure where we’re going yet

Thursday: Homemade Pizza

Friday: Scrounge Day

Saturday: Fetticini Alfredo Spaghetti Squash (recipe to come)

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs & 2 slices bacon

Lunch for me: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (recipe to come)

If you’re looking for more meal plan tips & tricks you can check-out My Recipes, Week Night Dinner Arsenal or Cooking Light’s Meal Planner (this one is awesome, you drag and drop your meal choices).

I’m linking up with Laura from Mommy, run fast! and Jill from jillconyers.com – you should join us, there are even MORE meal ideas over there!

Your turn!

Do you enjoy meal planning? What are your tips, if you do? Share in the comments below!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Tips on Making a Meal Plan

Posted on September 7 by Jillian416 • 12 Comments

Let’s talk Meal Planning

It’s been a couple weeks since I join in with the Sunday Meal Plan Link-up, but I’ve decided to join back-up. Really, the only reason I hadn’t posted my meal plan in the last few weeks was laziness. Seamus and I always make a meal plan! It’s our way of attempting to save money and not worry about what we’ll eat each night of the week.

On Making a Meal Plan

As I flip through other blogs and even other bigger sites around the web, I am noticing what a hot topic meal planning is right now. It’s something that Seamus and I have been doing since we started shopping together 6 or so years ago, so it’s really nothing new to me. We haven’t always written it down, but, as with all things, time progresses and improvements are made. Our system works really well for us, and the bickering that used to occur when we’d meal plan, has pretty much ceased to exist.

It’s because of that, that I decided to share our method with you, in hopes that it will help someone else who is struggling to meal plan, or just doesn’t know quite how to get started.

Our Step by Step Meal Planning Process

Make the Meal Plan when You are not in a Hurry – This might seem like a given, or maybe it doesn’t, but my biggest most important piece of advice is to NOT meal plan when you are in any kind of a hurry. That just leads to frustration and irritation when one or both of you can’t come up with ideas or are slightly distracted. Seamus and I do our meal planning Saturday evenings (we shop on Sundays), once Emmett is in bed. We’re not in any hurry and there are few distractions
Choose a Meal Plan Template – There are SO many options out there for meal planners. Heck, if you just use google images, and search Meal Plan templates, thousands will come up. Flip through them, choose your favorite, but as your meal planning evolves, so might your template. So, don’t feel stressed if what you originally chose doesn’t continue to work. This is the link to the one we use, I am a fan of having the days of the week at the top and the meals on the side.
Have a Few Standby Meals – Almost every week, we have one or two meals that we make. These are meals that are quick to throw together, and help to easily fill in the gaps on your empty menu.
Try Out a Few New Recipes – Not every week, but almost every week, we try to find a new recipe to make. Sometimes these are wins, but sometimes they’re EPIC fails!! Either way, it helps to make meal planning go quicker.
Plan For at Least 6 Meals – We always plan for 7 meals, but I recommend doing at least 6. This will allow you enough options to rotate, in case you don’t feel like eating something, or just don’t have the time.
Don’t Assign a Specific Meal to a Specific Day – Our meal plan is very open – we have 7 meals chosen, but none of those are tied to a specific day, unless it’s a more complicated meal, and then it gets saved for weekends. We love having the flexibility to make whatever we want on whatever day we want.
Make a Grocery List – Once you’ve made meal plan, the next step is putting all of the items that are needed in a list. I prefer using apps because then Seamus and I can sync them up. That way we can both add to the list, or delete as needed. Wunderlist is our current favorite for making all of our shopping lists!
Be Consistent! I’m sure you won’t enjoy every moment of meal planning (though, some people do), but do it anyway. You are bound to save money, eat healthier and lose weight by default. And if one way doesn’t work, switch it up and try another. I promise you that after about 6 weeks of meal planning, it will be old hat and you will just do it.

Good Luck!

Here’s our Meal Plan for this week!!

Monday: Steak, Chick Pea & Tomato Salad

Tuesday: Burgers in Romaine Lettuce & Cauliflower “Potato” Mash

Wednesday: Polish Sausage & Asparagus

Thursday: Fish Tacos

Friday: White Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Saturday: Chicken Shawarma

Sunday: Marinated Chicken and Corn on the Cobb

It’s a week full of tasty eats, that I cannot wait for!!

Your turn!

Have you ever meal planned? If you have, do you like it or loathe it?

What’s on your menu this week?

I’m linking up with Laura from Mommy, Run Fast! and Jill from jillconyers.com.

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Filed Under: All About Me, Family, Tips and Tricks

Mighty Handle – Happiness in a Hook

Posted on September 3 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

I’m not lying when I say that the Mighty Handle is happiness!

If you’re anything like me, you hate making more than one trip to your car for bags of groceries, your dry cleaning or any other heavy items, you want to collect it all and get it into the house all at once. The problem is that when you grab 4 or 5 bags (or other items) at once, your fingers start to ache or go numb from the heft of the items and the uneven distribution. The Mighty Handle can fix all of that! It might sound like an infomercial, but I assure you it lives up to it’s name!

When Bloggy Moms contacted me about trying out and reviewing the Mighty Handle, I was thrilled but I had my doubts. I’ve lived in the city for about 14 years and have never been able to find a way to make one trip into the house with all of my groceries, and that’s not for lack of trying. However, I kept an open mind, because anything is possible.

I wasn’t about to take it easy on the product, I wanted to put it to the highest test possible. Guess what!? It passed and with flying colors!

The first time I used it was for groceries. Seamus typically will take the heavier bags and run them in the house quickly, this time I grabbed them all. Bags with 3 or 4 bottles of Polar Seltzer, bags full of veggies and fruit and bags full of jars and cans. I loaded up the hook with the bags sitting on the floor of my car and then lifted, it was still heavy (obviously the Mighty Handle doesn’t reduce the weight of things) but it felt like I could have loaded it up even more. I managed to carry everything into our house without a problem. My hands and fingers weren’t aching, nor were they numb. In fact, if I had two of these, I would have been able to get everything in, in ONE TRIP!!!

Mighty Handle Stats

Mighty Handle’s ergonomic grip provides a more comfortable way to transport groceries and dry cleaning
Prevent spills with Mighty Handle’s unique Twist-Lock feature
Carry up to 50lbs per handle
Made in the USA
Produced from recycled material

If you’re looking for an easier more efficient way to load and unload your car, then look no further than the Mighty Handle. I’m assure you that you won’t be disappointed! You can order it on Amazon, here.

You can Like Mighty Handle on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.

Your turn!

Have you ever tried a gadget like the Mighty Handle to help with lifting heavy items?

**Mighty Green Solutions provided me a Mighty Handle to try and review. As always, the statements and opinions are my own.

You can see my other reviews, here.

Filed Under: Reviews

Wonderful Weekend – Fun as a Toddler

Posted on August 26 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

That title says it all, it was an absolutely wonderful weekend!

We didn’t have any major plans this wonderful weekend, but I did knew that I wanted to get Emmett out of the house as much as possible. The warm weekend summers are slowly but surely coming to an end and I want to do as much as possible before the first flakes flies.

Emmett woke up very early on Saturday morning (5 am) and I decided to take full advantage of that. We ate a quick breakfast and then decided to hitch up the bike trailer that my in-laws (THANK YOU!) got Emmett for his birthday. It was so awesome! The trailer is the inStep brand and is just perfect, it has room for 2 kids and little pockets on the side that Emmett can put little toys or snacks in. We put on his little helmet, got him all buckled in and away we went. I think we were riding for about 15 minutes, before I turned around and saw that he was fast asleep. So when people ask me whether I think Emmett had a good time or not, I say, heck yes he had a good time, he was comfortable enough to fall asleep. We ended up riding for 6.5 miles and then heading back home because I wanted to get to the farmer’s market before it got too busy.

We stopped home, used the bathroom and then pulled the jogging stroller out to head to the market. I was concerned that Emmett wouldn’t be very pleased with going from one enclosed buckled in seat to another, but he was just fine, in fact, he seemed really happy. Once we’re at the market, he’s always happy because he has so much to look at. He’s totally like his momma, a people watcher!

The colors of fruit and vegetables at the market were just beautiful. Check out this spread I picked up, tomatoes (so many tomatoes), cucumbers, red onion, zucchini, red potatoes and some Chevre from First Light Farm and Creamery. I barely bought any produce at the actual super market, just some lettuce because they didn’t have much at Bidwell. That makes me happy because I love supporting local and things that are fresh, never shipped, ALWAYS taste better.

After all that early morning activity, Emmett was really sleepy and I needed a shower so we headed home for both. While he slept I worked on my blog post, 5 tips for New Moms and got that nearly completed so we could have some family fun after Emmett woke up.

We headed out for some ice cream at Anderson’s and then some playground time. We always get Emmett a baby sized dish of vanilla frozen custard and he eats about a quarter of it and then daddy finishes the rest. 🙂 It really hit the spot. We headed over to a nearby playground next and we swung and swung. He loves it! He giggles and smiles the whole time and it just makes me so happy. After awhile there was another baby waiting to get on the swing so we decided to try the slide. Check out this picture, is it not the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?!

Finally, we ended up in a ginormous sandbox, which Emmett loved. We didn’t stay long because we had forgotten sunblock and didn’t want Emmett’s skin to be damaged, but he thoroughly enjoyed himself. He even whined a little bit when we forced him to go, he’s turning into such a little boy, no longer our tiny baby, in fact he turned 13 months on Friday. (OMG!)

Sunday was another early wake-up for Emmett, 5 am again. I normally don’t mind getting up that early but I was really feeling sluggish Sunday morning. Didn’t matter though, we sat down to some breakfast, ate, then I showered and we headed out to the grocery store. I really like taking Emmett to the store, it gets him out of the house and able to experience something new and different each week. Since it wasn’t even 9 am yet, it was pretty quiet at Wegmans and our trip went quickly.

We unloaded and put away the groceries and then it was time to head to Grammy and Grandpy’s house! We were heading down there to celebrate a belated birthday with my dad (it was back on 8/13/13). Nothing special, just some playing, a light lunch and cuddles with Grandpa. We did have some cake but Emmett wasn’t interested, he was having more fun playing with all the new and different toys that live at Grammy’s house.

We headed back to Buffalo around 3:30 and were home in time for dinner as a family. We were all feeling lazy, after a busy weekend so we decided on some pizza… I think that Emmett thoroughly enjoyed himself!