Spring cleaning in our house goes beyond deep cleaning our carpets and dusting all the fans. Deep cleaning means out with the old and in with the new. So for us, this means a month of cleaning out the deep freezer! If the hubby takes the kids to the park, I can get this done rather quickly. Takes about an hour and saves WAY more time than that in the end! So for me its a huge win.
Here is what we do:
1. Take an inventory – I go through my fridge, pantry, and deep freezers and write down everything I have that could be used in a meal.
2. Make meals with inventory ingredients – Look at the inventory list you have just created. Are there any meals off the top of your head that come to mind? Write those down and cross off what those meals will use out of your inventory. Also, I keep another list of a few ingredients you still may need to complete those meals (ex. salad mix or fresh tomato).
Ideas for inspiration include:
-Pinterest,www.allrecipes.com (search by ingredients), www.myfridgefood.com, www.myrecipes.com and search by ingredients, www.supercook.com -or-
[quote]Search “recipes + _____ + ______” and list ingredients you have on hand…[/quote]
3. Plan the meals into your schedule – Pull out that mom calendar you keep. Which nights do you need something quick because you have soccer practice at 5:30 AND Scouts with another child across town at 6? What nights are you eating out for a friend’s birthday? What night do you have time to bake or put a pot roast in the over for a couple hours? Start putting the meals into your weekly schedules. I personally use this weekly meal planner and hang it on our fridge weekly http://rowdyinroom300.blogspot.com/2014/06/life-organized.html.
4. Execute – Imagine all that time and money you’ll now save because you are using mostly things you already had on hand and won’t have to rush out to a restaurant because you didn’t have time to prepare a meal. Imagine the time you’ll save by having a plan in place. It only takes me a few minutes the night before to throw ingredients in a crockpot or place it in the fridge to thaw.