Wednesday, April 01, 2009

meals matter - meal planner



this is all the paintings in the set on my wall... so you can see how big they are and all that. I put them up so I could really look at what I had done, and figure out where to go. Its interesting that the larger paintings are all deviations from the original set, and thats when I realized I need to do some big works for a while to get into the whole scale thing.

On another note, I have been using the meals matter online meal planner lately and and finding it really useful. I hate grocery shopping so this program is basically used by me to make a decent grocery list. I usually spend a lot of time on my list, as I try to buy enough for a few weeks, so I dont have to go back to that horrible land of windy parking lots, carts that dont roll, crowded produce section, and crying babies....ahhh the grocery store....

This program lets me put in recipes and create a shopping list for each week. I do that and one weeks worth actually usually lasts two weeks because there are leftovers, and nights out, and other such things. I found the first time I used it I spent half the time in the store because the list allows you to organize items by type, so things are grouped together and I spent about half as much money....and over the last two weeks we have really eaten well. Its taken the guess work out of what to make for dinner, and frankly I just don't have the brain power these days...

So, I like this program, but Mark just installed another one called "sous chef" which is supposed to be good too, so if it is better, I'll let you know.

Other ways we are reducing money on food - is to buy organic chickens in bulk - along with our ground beef. see the link on the side bar for locals. Also I have been saving veggie ends when I cook in the freezer, and making stock weekly. I am not buying bread or milk and am going to try making my own yogurt (we eat a lot of yogurt...). I am trying to make most things from scratch. All this is in an effort to spend less money so I can shop at the store I really want to shop at - community natural foods...I think we are well on our way...(oh, and its also healthier to eat like this so yay!!)

1 comment:

Kerri said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog Angie. I really think you'll like 'Almost Green' by James Glave. If we meet up for lunch I can bring you my copy to borrow. I've got some time next Monday or Tuesday if that would work. (April 6/7?) I've been meaning to get around to A Complicated Kindness. It's been sitting on my shelf for about a year now.