Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Projects

I am not much of a planner. I freely admit that. I am a 'fly by the seat of my pants' kind of girl. I can't help. Something in my DNA prevents me from sticking to the rules. On the other hand, I hate wasting food. And that has happened more times than I'd like to count. In our current economic state I can't afford to throw out meat or vegetables that have gone bad. Okay, I also think it is morally wrong to waste food when there are so many out there starving or barely getting by on fast food and other junk. What does this have to do with planning? I'm getting to that.

TY and I went to Safeway on Sunday where I spent way more than I should have. This led me to think that I really needed to make a menu for the week. We had lots of fruits and veggies that we needed to use. More often than I'd like to admit, they usually rot. So, we came up with the following menu is no particular order.

Beefy Nacho Casserole-slow cooked beef, cheese, tortilla chips (leftover beef for tacos or sandwiches)

Cheese Tortellini w/Italian sausage sauce & steamed veggies

NY Strip Steak w/Mashed Potatoes & Cauliflower Bake

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Asian Style Chicken Wings w/Sauteed Green Beans

I know you usually make a menu then you go to the grocery store. I like this way better. I got to see what they had that looked good or was on sale (steaks were 50% off in the clearance bin). I'm glad we did the menu. We've got a variety. There is something for every taste and we'll have leftovers at least once this week.

Are you a planner? Or do you wait for the last minute? Will you make something special or do you not care as long as it's edible? Take a look at what you have and think about making a menu. You don't have to strictly stick to it. Look at is a preparedness plan. Let me know what you're doing. I may be able to incorporate a thing or two into my life.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems I do a combo of both. I usually figure out some dishes I'd like to make in the coming week and buy for that. If I see something at the market that's on sale, I'll incorporate that too. I'm trying to buy something interesting at the farmers market every time I go and then find a way to use it (currently that's pluots).

My husband and I are always complaining about the food we toss. Our schedule is so varied that no matter how hard we plan, stuff comes up and we end up not cooking what was on the menu :(

AJ said...

Yeah, sometimes life is like that. I don't want a plan that is so strict that you can't fix something on the fly. Tomorrow is going to be my fix on the fly b/c I have a meeting.

Angry Asian said...

i am a planner. it's more of a question of whether i can stick to it or not. sometimes i do it out of order but for the most part, everything gets done. your menu looks great!