Devise: Update

So, after almost two full weeks to work, I have not completed any of my goals!  I have been able to work on each of them a bit though ;)  Given that we had company for 2 1/2 days, we were travelling for 2 1/2 days, and we celebrated Christmas, I think I have been able to do a lot in the time that I had.

Mostly, I have finished my Menu Planning through May!!!  I made cute print-out calendars to hang on the fridge.  I think they look pretty good ;)  

Here's one example; as you can see, I tried to add a lot of variety!

Anyways, I began by coming up with some sort of schedule for planning.  A lot of examples I based it on the type of food (like Mexican Night, Pasta Night, Pizza Night), but Doug and I decided to base the days on main ingredient (Chicken, Pork, etc).  We also wanted to have a Slow Cooker/One Pot Meals day and a day to try out new recipes.  Our schedule looks like this:

Sunday -- Pork
Monday -- Beef
Tuesday -- Slow Cooker/One Pot
Wednesday -- New Recipes
Thursday -- Vegetarian
Friday -- Fish/Seafood
Saturday -- Chicken

Then, I made a basic Grocery List.  I go shopping every two weeks; one big trip and a "clean-up" trip for staples.  I made this "clean up" list first (lunch meat, cheese, milk, bread) and then made a large grocery list.  to make it easier, I broke it down into sections (produce, meat/poultry/seafood, boxed and canned goods, dairy, and frozen foods).  This list includes almost everything needed to make meals for the month.

Before I started filling out the calendar, I put in days for Doug to cook (every 3-4 weeks), a time each month to eat out, and placed special meals for holidays and birthdays.  Then I filled in each column as I went!  Obviously Wednesdays (new recipe day) was more difficult to fill out; I ended up leaving them blank and then picked out recipes along the way!

Then, the grocery lists through May were super easy to make!  I already had a basic list to go from, so I only needed to update it for each month.  Example:  The basic list tells me I need frozen fish and seafood, but February's list says Shrimp and Calamari (the clams and tuna are canned).  Or instead of "Pasta Sauce," February says "Alfredo Sauce Mix."

I haven't put them in a binder yet, but that is the next step.  I also pulled a lot of recipes from cookbooks or online, so I am going to type those up to print out and place in the binder for easy referencing.

As far as my other goals, I have organized my mail/paperwork a bit more than before. Yea me!  I am planning on doing some laundry and sorting out clothes this weekend.  I am considering setting a few T-shirts aside in order to make a T-shirt quilt or rag rug, but by this time next week, my closet should be majorly overhauled!