At what point did we get here? Cooking for ourselves but even taking it to the next level and having to shop for ourselves. About a year in I think my roommate and I figured it out and what it really comes down to is planning. Which is honestly what most of this “adulting” thing is: planning.
We start each Sunday by sitting down and thinking of what we want to eat for the week. We go in this order with these steps:
Meal Planning Steps
- We start by filling out our “take out” days which for us is Tuesday & Friday or Saturday.
- Then we work backwards from things we have going on. So, for instance, when I was filming the YouTube video that goes along with this blog post we were watching Listen to Your Heart on ABC every Monday so we wanted something easy and comforting which for us was pasta.
- After we determine big events of the week (which are few and far between in quarantine) we move onto any cravings we might have or meals we feel we missed from the week before. This might be steak or asian or sometimes just burgers.
- The fourth and final stage is Pinterest. Once we run through all of our go-to meals we search for inspiration on Pinterest. Our criteria for attempting a new recipe is: how many bowls will it use? Will we both eat it and enjoy it? Will there be leftovers? Do we need to buy anything speciality? How long will it take?
List Organization
After we plan the meals Katelyn writes down all the ingredients we’ll need while I yell them out and check what’s in the kitchen. We then add anything we need for lunch or breakfast and finally Katelyn organizes the things we need into two lists: Trader Joe’s and Kroger. For Kroger she’ll break down each item by area of the store so we don’t have to spend time walking all over and back because we forgot something. This feels daunting but it will save you a tonnnn of time in the store.
Execution
Throughout the week I am a habitual breakfast eater meaning I eat the same thing everyday. For lunch I run between leftovers and soups from Trader Joes. At around 5:30-6 I’ll start making dinner. Katelyn and I have a great system: I cook. She cleans. It’s a win for all and it wasn’t even a discussion we had it just kind of naturally happened!
Here is a list of items I used in the video:
Here is a list of recipes I used in the video:
A few more general tips:
-Park next to the cart return at the grocery store so you aren’t that person
-Buy the cubed garlic in the frozen section so you don’t have to mince it yourself and always have it handy
-Suck on a spoon while cutting an onion. Works 9/10 times to prevent tears.
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Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you.