October 31, 2010

My November Meal Plan

I made an inventory of my freezer's contents yesterday. The purpose of doing so was threefold: one, it allowed me to plan out meals using what I already had on hand; two, it will allow me to clear out my freezer in preparation for the upcoming holidays; and three, it will save us money in preparation for the holiday season.
When I made my inventory, I took everything out of the freezer and scribbled down what I came across on a piece of paper. I then typed the list onto the computer. Once the list was typed up, I used the cut and paste functions to sort items according to frozen vegetable, stock item (such as broth, frozen diced green pepper, etc.), meat, or frozen entree. I then cut and pasted items from the different categories to make up meals. From my one freezer (I have a side by side freezer and frig combo), I was able to come up with 27 meals! For some of the meals, I will have to buy things such as salad or buns, but most of the meals are complete.
I have decided that the month of November, with the exception of special days and holidays, will be strictly an eat what's on hand month. I am interested to see if I can actually stick to this. Would anyone care to join me?

4 comments:

  1. There's another blog I read doing the same thing. I've had to do that, too, because I would forget what's in the freezer. Now that I know it's hamburger meat, flank steak, fajita strips, tenderloin, and chicken...I just plan accordingly. I do have bags of veggies, too, but we usually eat 2-3 bags of steamed veggies a week. :) Good luck and happy cooking!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't join you because my freezer empties rather quickly with six eaters in the house. However, I'd love to hear how it works out for you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is a great idea! I am about to move in a week and a half, so the name of the game here is to get through everything in there. We haven't taken inventory, but it is getting eaten.

    Perhaps in the future we'll go with something like that. I like the idea of knowing what is actually there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Heather, I did the "eat from the freezer" this year for the month of January. You know how long it is from the pay date in December until payday in January. It worked out so well. I'm planning on doing it again this January. I was surprised we did it but we did.
    Take care.
    Nelanie

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for caring enough to leave a comment! I typically don't respond to each separate comment here on my blog. If you would like to ask me a question and have my reply, please feel free to e-mail me at heathershodgepodge@hotmail.com