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Meal Planning has always been one of those things I hate to do.  My hubby and I have been married over 30 years, and I have finally figured out how to plan meals, thanks to the Corona Virus Lockdown. At last, one good thing to come out of this nightmare!

I Try to Keep it Simple

When my kiddos were little and my husband was working, it was pretty easy.  I would plan to have one meat and two vegetables.  The joke in our house has always been that if we are having chicken, it will be served with green beans and rice. I do have a wonderful Oven-Baked Rice recipe you should check out.

 

Meal planning was primarily my job since the kids were too little to help and my hubby was busy working.  And, the meals had to be pretty simple to make and something the kiddos would eat.

Lockdown Has Changed Everything

Covid-19 has changed the way a lot of us go about meal planning.  Before, I could just run to the store and grab something. Or, go out to dinner.  I guess, looking back, I was pretty lazy in my efforts. 

But also, I have realized how wasteful I was with produce. I used to buy all different kinds of produce, and then I would forget I had it. Thus, a week later I was literally throwing money away. And, I took it all for granted.

I’m in the High-Risk Group

Folks, I haven’t stepped foot in a grocery store since about March 15th! Having Psoriatic Arthritis puts me in the “high risk” group.  Thus, my hubby has become the shopper. This has really been an adjustment for us both.

 

I’ll admit, I am enjoying the break, but I miss the experience of shopping! It makes you really appreciate the simple things in life. Also, it reminds me of how fortunate we are to have so many options for groceries and produce.

Here’s What’s In My Pantry

There are several “staple” items I keep my pantry stocked with:

• Soups, chicken broth, beef broth, and condensed beef broth
• Diced tomatoes
• Pickled items (sweet relish, dill pickles, tamed jalapeños, and pepperoncini peppers)
• Canned beans; red kidney, French-style green beans, black beans
• Dried beans: split pea, pinto, and navy
• Rice – My favorite is Mahatma Basmati rice, as well as a box of minute rice for those occasional “rice emergencies”
• Pasta (mixed types)
• Easy Mac n cheese – “for my littles to eat”
• Flour, sugar, baking soda & powder, cream of tarter, Crisco sticks, yeast, salt,  vegetable oil, vinegar, and extra condiments; salsa, catsup, mustard, etc.
• Bread – buns, muffins, sandwich bread, and flour tortillas.

 

My Refrigerator Has:

My fridge is generally stocked with:

• 1/2 and 1/2 (which I use in place of milk if needed by adding some water to it)
• Butter (unsalted)
• Eggs
• Pickled items and condiments
• Various cheeses 
• Vegetables
• Fruit

 

 

And, My Freezer is Stocked with:

• Meats: Shrimp, Hamburger, Steaks, Sausage, Ham, and Bacon
• Vegetables: Corn, Spinach, and Peas
• Ready to Serve: Pizza

 

Whew! That’s quite a list!  

This is a Strange Time for Us All

Meal planning during a pandemic is challenging! I never imagined I would be creating a list by saying, “if they have potatoes, get a couple”. Or, if they have any ground beef, grab a pound.  

Or the feeling of euphoria when my husband came home with a couple of navel oranges and two ears of corn.  And my hubby saying, “they aren’t the greatest.” And me saying, “Wow, it’s oranges and corn on the cob!”

We Are Still So Fortunate

Again, we are so lucky to have all of these wonderful stores with an abundance of choices. Life is good, and it will get better again soon. We will all be more appreciative, kind, and happy to be able to be “normal” again.

With all this said, my meal planning game had to be upped several notches.  And, since we are both retired and spending so much more time at home, lunches had to be planned as well.  

Breakfast is the Easy Meal

For breakfast, we have hard-boiled eggs, fresh eggs, muffins, tortillas, and whatever veggies or meats we have.  I make hard-boiled eggs in my InstaPot, in groups of ten, so I always have some on hand. See my InstaPot Hard-Boiled Eggs Post.

Typically, I make Scrambled Eggs, Egg Sandwiches, Copycat Starbuck’s Egg Bites, and even Hatch Chili Eggs Benedict on some Sundays.

Save Money – Buy a Ham

Another tip; we buy a large spiral-sliced ham about every other month. Typically, it costs about $20-25, which sounds like a lot of money.  However, I cut it up and put it in several Food-Saver bags and freeze them.  

As a side note, the photos below are not a spiral-sliced ham, which is a lot more meat for about the same amount of money.

 

Each bag has about 6-8 slices of ham.  Just enough for us to have for breakfast or a quick snack.  It’s a great way to save money!

 

And, I freeze the ham bone and use it when I make my split-pea soup or navy beans. A win-win!

Getting Back on Track

Always take inventory of what you have first in your freezer, refrigerator, and pantry. Then try to build the menu using those items. I know this sounds obvious, but I didn’t really do that before.

Please remember, as you review my menus, that I am menu challenged!

Here are some of my menus :

As you can see, we have no problem changing our minds and rearranging our menu. And, we try to add some take out to help support our local restaurants.

I hope this information has been helpful.  Let me know what tips you have, I would love to hear from you.

Enjoy,