How I plan for the month

I guess I should start by giving you a little background on how I plan what we will be eating for the month. I typically stock up on ground beef when I can get it for 1.99/lb. I prefer to get the 93% lean so when I find it that cheap I really stock up! I also look for sales on other meats like tip roasts, NY strips, flank steak, and pork chops. I will buy chicken breasts when they are 1.99/lb as well but I really like to buy 6-8 rotisserie chickens and chop them myself at home. That way the cooking is done, they are very flavorful, and I can usually use one chicken for 2-3 dishes. I usually store some of it in freezer bags to throw in a dish if I'm making something "fresh" like chicken and dumplings--YUM!

I use a lot of canned vegetables in the preparing stage and then use whatever fresh veggies are in season as sides on the day we actually eat the meal. We are not big bread eaters but I do keep some bags of rolls and biscuits in the freezer so we can bake a few at a time if we want.

I spend one day cooking and stocking the freezer and then we are set for the month. Hope this blog gives you some encouragement to do the same. It really cuts down on the rat race!