A few weeks ago I mentioned a new plan I had for cooking, which was actually planning my meals ahead of time. I determined that in order to get the maximum bang for my buck, to reduce waste, and to reduce stress, I would come up with a number of meals to cook over a period of 10 or so days, then shop for those meals.
I guess it's time for an update, right? Somehow a month flew by in the interim, and I'd say the plan is going pretty well.
Let's go down the list.
Planning:
Once every ten days or so, I sit down and flip through my plentiful cookbooks, bookmarked recipes, and favourite food blogs, and write down 10-12 meals I'd like to make, ranging from super simple (tacos with beans and rice, baked spaghetti and broccoli) to a little more involved (soup, brioche sandwiches, really, anything that requires more than an hour from idea to belly). My choices have been based on partly what I'm craving in the moments when I'm making the list, partly what the predicted weather looks like, and partly what we still have in the fridge. (More on that in a second.)
Underneath my listed meals, I write out all the ingredients I will need for that meal. I then take a second piece of paper and make my shopping list from that, notating (x2) if I need something for two meals. All of this sounds needlessly complicated, but I can assure you that it is helping A LOT.
Maximizing bang for my buck:
At this point I feel like I pretty much know where in the market to go for each of my favourite foods. I have a broccoli and cauliflower guy, whose heads of produce dwarf anything you would find in a conventional grocery store and who always tells me to pick the one I want, then says "excellent choice." I have an egg guy. I have a bargain apples woman. (Usually 7-8 pounds of "#2 apples" for $3-5!) and I've found all of this out (bargains, friendly folks) by continuing to shop at the market, even though it is a little intimidating and way out of the way AND out of the anglophone bubble when compared to the grocery stores in our very (very, very, very) anglophone neighbourhood. So my adventuring and forging on is a win-win-win-win: I'm practicing my French and overcoming my fears, we are saving money, I am meeting the people directly in contact with my food (I mean, for the most part - as long as I continue to live in places where it snows, I'm afraid I'll never meet the people who grow my food through the dead of winter or pick my bananas all year long), and we are eating great food.
Reducing waste:
This has been a huge change for us. Things are no longer rotting in our fridge because I "had" to have that giant bag of xyz then didn't know what to do with 2/3 of it. As much as I loved being in a CSA program, it was hard for me at the time because I wasn't in a place in my life where I could a) spend hours every week cooking and b) plan meals. Other than when I lived and cooked in the coop, planning meals just wasn't something I was accustomed to, so it wasn't something I was going to start doing when I was incredibly busy and going out of my mind.
So. Now that I have taken that step back and envisioned what I wanted to accomplish in the kitchen and in my belly every week, there is less waste happening. I can still buy things in bulk, (the way my Midwestern upbringing has drilled into me so well, and the way that city life is so not suited for) but the catch is that of I want to buy that 15 pound bag of carrots because it is only $1 more than the 5lb bag, you'd better believe I've got 7 recipes that call for carrots over the next 10 days, and I'll be eating carrots for snacks. I've also started paying attention to shelf life, because I do bargain shop and that often means buying the produce that is not the, shall we say, "freshest." No, guys, it's not like I'm buying moldy food, but seriously - why not buy that basket of bell peppers for $3 when a couple of them are soft but the rest are basically the same as those that are $3/pound? My trick is to keep an eye on them in the fridge, and when things start to look like they're nearing or past their peak, I either use them immediately, or prep (deseed, chop, grind, whatever) and freeze.
If I had to put a number on it, I'd say we're down to 3% waste around here.
Reducing stress:
I go to the market for all produce and eggs, and where I was once wondering around for hours, trying to figure out what I need and how I can ask for it in French without looking like a total tourist fool, I now feel calm cool and collected. My list allows me to plan ahead, and because I spend about half the time doing shopping that I did before, I enjoy the trip a lot more. And more importantly, when I am able to coordinate the trip so he can go with me, B enjoys it too. He is a true trooper when it comes to the idea of shopping, but he tires of it rather quickly. Getting our produce quickly and easily (and in French!) makes the whole trip more fun!
In terms of mealtime stress, I have definitely felt a reduction. I don't wait until we're both hungry for dinner to start brainstorming. I usually have stuff at least partially prepped in the fridge, so all I have to do is pick something off of my menu and go for it!
Long story short, the plan is working so far. Still figuring out the trick to getting the dry goods, dairy, etc. that I need without breaking the bank at the grocery store here. That's my next goal!
I guess it's time for an update, right? Somehow a month flew by in the interim, and I'd say the plan is going pretty well.
Let's go down the list.
Planning:
Once every ten days or so, I sit down and flip through my plentiful cookbooks, bookmarked recipes, and favourite food blogs, and write down 10-12 meals I'd like to make, ranging from super simple (tacos with beans and rice, baked spaghetti and broccoli) to a little more involved (soup, brioche sandwiches, really, anything that requires more than an hour from idea to belly). My choices have been based on partly what I'm craving in the moments when I'm making the list, partly what the predicted weather looks like, and partly what we still have in the fridge. (More on that in a second.)
Underneath my listed meals, I write out all the ingredients I will need for that meal. I then take a second piece of paper and make my shopping list from that, notating (x2) if I need something for two meals. All of this sounds needlessly complicated, but I can assure you that it is helping A LOT.
Maximizing bang for my buck:
At this point I feel like I pretty much know where in the market to go for each of my favourite foods. I have a broccoli and cauliflower guy, whose heads of produce dwarf anything you would find in a conventional grocery store and who always tells me to pick the one I want, then says "excellent choice." I have an egg guy. I have a bargain apples woman. (Usually 7-8 pounds of "#2 apples" for $3-5!) and I've found all of this out (bargains, friendly folks) by continuing to shop at the market, even though it is a little intimidating and way out of the way AND out of the anglophone bubble when compared to the grocery stores in our very (very, very, very) anglophone neighbourhood. So my adventuring and forging on is a win-win-win-win: I'm practicing my French and overcoming my fears, we are saving money, I am meeting the people directly in contact with my food (I mean, for the most part - as long as I continue to live in places where it snows, I'm afraid I'll never meet the people who grow my food through the dead of winter or pick my bananas all year long), and we are eating great food.
Reducing waste:
So. Now that I have taken that step back and envisioned what I wanted to accomplish in the kitchen and in my belly every week, there is less waste happening. I can still buy things in bulk, (the way my Midwestern upbringing has drilled into me so well, and the way that city life is so not suited for) but the catch is that of I want to buy that 15 pound bag of carrots because it is only $1 more than the 5lb bag, you'd better believe I've got 7 recipes that call for carrots over the next 10 days, and I'll be eating carrots for snacks. I've also started paying attention to shelf life, because I do bargain shop and that often means buying the produce that is not the, shall we say, "freshest." No, guys, it's not like I'm buying moldy food, but seriously - why not buy that basket of bell peppers for $3 when a couple of them are soft but the rest are basically the same as those that are $3/pound? My trick is to keep an eye on them in the fridge, and when things start to look like they're nearing or past their peak, I either use them immediately, or prep (deseed, chop, grind, whatever) and freeze.
If I had to put a number on it, I'd say we're down to 3% waste around here.
Reducing stress:
I go to the market for all produce and eggs, and where I was once wondering around for hours, trying to figure out what I need and how I can ask for it in French without looking like a total tourist fool, I now feel calm cool and collected. My list allows me to plan ahead, and because I spend about half the time doing shopping that I did before, I enjoy the trip a lot more. And more importantly, when I am able to coordinate the trip so he can go with me, B enjoys it too. He is a true trooper when it comes to the idea of shopping, but he tires of it rather quickly. Getting our produce quickly and easily (and in French!) makes the whole trip more fun!
In terms of mealtime stress, I have definitely felt a reduction. I don't wait until we're both hungry for dinner to start brainstorming. I usually have stuff at least partially prepped in the fridge, so all I have to do is pick something off of my menu and go for it!
Long story short, the plan is working so far. Still figuring out the trick to getting the dry goods, dairy, etc. that I need without breaking the bank at the grocery store here. That's my next goal!
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