meal planning (my first)

i am trying something new this week: meal planning.

i tell ya, when i sat down to plan B, L and D, i lost my appetite! i also got to thinking, "ppl sure do need a lot of food." subhanallah! it is a good reminder of how much we depend on allah for just staying alive! and allah NEVER needs food; NEVER needs help staying alive! allah is the Creator and everything else is His creation. and the creation depends on Him for everything.

so back to meal planning.

i searched the net. did some quick reading (OrgJunkie Meal Plan Monday) and then got going. at first, i printed meal planning sheets (like this one from OrgJunkie and this one from ProjectGirl). then i quickly dropped those and came up with my own idea: a spiral notebook!

it is so simple. def old school, low-tech and low-budget. but hey, it works. i can look back (eventually) at prev meal plans. i can make notes - too difficult, or didnt taste they way i like, allergies, etc.

there is also space for shopping lists. wow! i am surprised by how this helps w/shopping.

and oh yeah, my doc (a naturopathic) put me on an anti inflammatory diet. so i glued the first page of the plan details on the inside cover and second page of the plan to the first blank sheet of paper so that it is easy to refer to when planning meals.

so here is how i created my meal plan sheet in my spiral:
1-- from the top line, i counted down 4 lines. drew a horizontal line from the left edge to the right edge of the paper at the 4th line. repeated this until the end of the paper.
2-- wrote the days of the week in the left margins (to the left of the red line).
3-- folded the paper in half by lining up the right edge of the sheet to the red line next to the left margin. kept the paper folded and folded in half again (to the red left margin line).
4-- opened the paper. drew vertical lines from the top of the page to the bottom to create nice little cells. wrote breakfast, lunch, dinner, supplies/notes across the top. its done!

i was surprised by how long it took me to write down my meals. i had to really dig deep to create 3 meals a day times 7 days (21 meals). and like i said, i lost my appetite by the time i finished.
but the great thing, the really, really great thing, is that i know exactly whats for dinner! no more standing w/the fridge door w/that blank look! it saves sooooooooooo oooooo oooo much time!

like today, i had to go to a sis house. i got back and it was easy to start dinner. the decision about what to cook had been already made. and i knew i had all of the ingredients. easy peasy.

so, if there is anyone who does not do meal planning, i highly recommend that you give it a try. it is slow going at first, but well worth the effort.

clipart from fotosearch.com
spiral pic owned by me