Improving Your "Eating In" Experience

Have you checked out my Facebook page yet? Come on over to see what interesting conversations and posts we get into each week, and give me your virtual "thumbs up"! I'd love to reach 500 likes this year!

I recently asked this question on The Meals Maven Facebook Page:

"If you could improve just 1 thing about cooking at home and eating in, what would it be?"

There were quite a few different answers, some of them expected, a couple of them not. I picked these ones to talk about today, and the rest will be addressed over the next few blog posts.

"Having all of the ingredients on hand when I decide to make something and not having to run to the store for 1 or 2 things every time I cook." - Laurie H

"Staying organized and planning more." - Robin M

I think these questions go hand in hand with each other. And I have to be honest with you, no matter how much practice I have had meal planning and eating in, sometimes things still fall through the cracks. For example, not too long ago, I was making chili for dinner. I was far enough along in cooking that the spices, onions, garlic, and meat were on the stove, in the pot, and starting to brown. And then I noticed I was out of beans. Yes, it's true. I had to run to the store to buy beans in the middle of making dinner.

Here are a few suggestions to help improve your cooking at home experience! Make your habits work for you!

• Keep a running list where it makes sense to you (in your planner, on your phone, taped to your pantry door, etc). When you run out of something, add it to the list. It takes a few seconds but is very effective!
• Consider specifying a certain dollar amount for those things you always seem to run out of and buy it on a regular basis, even if you haven't run out yet (I always run out of beans. I set aside $5 every pay period to buy beans)
• Meal Plan! Seriously, this is something that will revolutionize your life. When you know what you're going to make, your grocery list will make sense.
• Organize your pantry and fridge in a way that makes sense to you. For example, I keep all my beans, lentils, and rice together because I always seem to use those at the same time. My tomato sauces and pastes live with each other. Canned fish and seafood, likewise. And so on.
• Do a quick rummage before you shop. If you notice you're down to your last can of tomato paste or serving of rice, add it to your list even if you don't plan on using it this week. You many decide to change your mind as you cook and regret not picking up more when you thought of it.

Are you inspired? I hope this helps ignite a few more ideas on making eating in a lot less stressful and easier to manage.

As always, if you want someone to plan for you, I'm your girl. Shoot me a note and I'll pass you a no-obligations survey. The best parts about my plans? They're based on flavours and foods you like, and you get your grocery list included. Yay!

Have a great weekend, friends!
Stacy

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