This Week's Meal Plan

I'm going to start to post my meal planning, on the off-chance it helps anyone else who might be new to meal planning. I started meal planning when 3 years ago I decided for the first time to track our spending for 3 months. I discovered that we spent over $1300 in groceries for 3 people! This knowledge lead to starting to plan our meals was just one strategy to make significant reductions to this number. How I meal plan has evolved over this time and continues to do so, as I learn to do things differently to save both money and time. Despite the fact that we have to date, CUT our expenditure in this area by $750 per month, the way we eat doesn't really feel all that different because it was/is a gradual transition. My goal is to trim the amount we spend even more without impacting our quality of life.

We generally eat meat only 2 days per week (this week is more often however, although amounts per dish are very modest) and fish or seafood one day per week and Thursdays needs to be quick as L has swim lessons that evening. I try to make my meal plans to offer variety and nutrition while also keeping our food spending down.

Sunday: ate at my parent's house

Monday: Ham Patties (made with frozen leftover sale ham and stale whole wheat hamburger buns turned into breadcrumbs), Glazed Acorn Squash Rings, and Green Beans

Tuesday: Pork and Vegetable Stir-fry with Rice (using frozen batch cooked pork roast)
(during the day batch cook dried navy beans in slow cooker that will then be used for Wednesday and Saturday suppers)

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Baked Beans with Baked Potatoes topped with Broccoli and Cauliflower, Cheese Sauce and Bacon Bits (bacon bits were cooked and frozen as bits from a few leftover slices last week)

Thursday: Smoky Tomato Soup (in slow cooker) with Aged White Cheddar and Caramelized Onion grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade bread (caramelized onions where batch cooked when I got 10lbs for $1.97 and frozen in 1 cup portions)

Friday: Tuna Pasta Toss

Saturday: Turkey White Chili with Cheesy Toasts (using batch cooked turkey that I bought on sale last month before Canadian Thanksgiving)

Other: Pear and Cranberry Crisp (double batch with some modifications), homemade instant oatmeal packets, 50/50 bread

Grocery List Template

I'm continuously making efforts to get my life more organized, but grocery shopping is something I've nailed. I've always shopped with a list, but it was just a scribbly jumbled thing and inevitably I would get home and discover that I forgot 5 items and then would waste time and money going out to a shop to pick those things up. Enter the spreadsheet!

This template follows the general order of most grocery stores. As you complete one section of the store you can fold that part under to make it more visually streamlined. I often do this and I find that it's helpful. Also, sometimes I have a trip to two stores planned or am picking things up at the Farmers Market (I only go to two stores if one store lies along a route I'd be taking anyway that week). In that case I'll highlight items in two colors so it  becomes two lists in one. I post mine on the fridge for us to add things that we run low and then as I do my meal planning for the week (more on meal planning soon!) I fill out the rest.

Download my grocery list template here!




This simple list has saved me loads of time that I can then spend doing more interesting things than grocery shopping. It means I rarely have to backtrack in the store and I need to make less trips elsewhere to pick up items I didn't get.

The template prints two lists per sheet. Print on paper that's already used on side to make it more eco and budget friendly!

I hope someone else finds this template as useful as Ido.