How Do I Feed This Crew???

I took my typical grocery store trip,

but I did it on a Tuesday evening

(instead of my Sunday afternoon norm).

Before I left, I did my meal planning

and grocery list.

On the Menu for the next two weeks:

But this time, I added in "planning" for 

breakfast and lunch too.

I typically just wing those.

And doing a better job of having snacks available.

The menu is put on the fridge for all to see...
I used it for helping keep track of breakfast
and lunch this past week and it worked
well!

I have found a LOT of inspiration

on a new found blog called

"I Heart Organizing"

With a little inspiration from her,

I took all of the snacky foods

I just bought

and put them

in individual servings!

(yes the wine was necessary for this task)

And found a couple of relatively neat homes
for them in our pantry.

But they are not nearly as organized and cute as her's
- yet!!

So now, 

when we are running out the door

for practice,

errands,

or the kids want a snack...

I send them to the snack basket.

Aside from the snacks,

I always take the time to do a few more
little bits of prep before I finish up
my shopping process:

* Put large purchases of meat in smaller,

meal size portions for the freezer.

* Cut 16 oz hunks of cheese into

16 - 1oz sticks

* Pull apart and clean grapes and put 

them in a bowl for easy picking

* wash fresh greens (cilantro, kale)

and put in a zipper bag with a wet paper towel
(thank you Rachel Ray)

My entire grocery shopping process is 

rather time consuming between:

menu planning,

grocery list making,

shopping,

putting away

&

organizing...

I think I spend at least 5 hours

every 2 weeks.
But it makes the rest of the time a lot

easier
and the ONLY thing we will have to get
is milk...our garage fridge died shortly
before we made the move from NC
and we haven't found a $35 replacement yet.

What are some of your time saving

& 

money saving tips for your grocery shopping process??