Sunday Routine

I really dislike going to the grocery store. Also, I hate that feeling of panic at 5:00, when I ponder what we should have for dinner. When my husband and I were first married, I would go to the store and think to myself while pushing the grocery cart up and down the aisles, "Hmm, what should we have to eat this week?" I would haphazardly grab things off the shelves, spend more money than I needed to, and would invariably throw things away that I didn't use. I never opened a cookbook, so we had a lot of chicken in the crock pot and apple sauce with every meal.

Thankfully, my cooking skills have evolved. Every Sunday, I sit down with some cookbooks and plan my menu for the week.

I make out my grocery list at the same time, and if I'm really on top of things, I try to incorporate what's on sale at the store (from the flyer in the Sunday paper) into my menu. If I have time (and depending on my mood), I'll look for new recipes. I usually try at least one new recipe a week. In the summer, I also plan my menu around the weather report. If rain is predicted, I'll plan something that doesn't require the grill--like pasta, or a main dish salad.

I have a lot of cookbooks, so I had to come up with some type of system so I could remember where a recipe was located. (This system predates the PC age.) I organized a spiral notebook with divider labels and record every recipe that we try and like in the notebook.

I probably could put it on the computer and make my life easier, but it's beyond my level of skill. So I'll stick with the old plan. It works.

All of this planning usually results in only one trip a week to the store. Of course, things come up and plans change, so I'm flexible. All in all, this system has helped me save time in the long run, as well as money and stress.