A virtuous woman “is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.”
Proverbs 31:14

What are the cornerstones to running an efficient household? I would have to say they are clean laundry, a clean kitchen (especially clean dishes), and three square meals a day. Without a vigilant attitude towards these things, we can hinder any other efforts we make in our homes. Being inept at running a household the day I wed, I made a lot of macaroni and cheese (from the box), rigatoni and sauce (from the jar), and pizza (from the corner). My husband doesn’t recall those years as being so bad; both his forgiveness and his short memory bless me.

Considering how much we must put into meals – planning, shopping, storing, preparing, etc. – we can waste so much time and food without a plan. I used to dread grocery shopping. But I love shopping these days, simply because it is all planned out. I spend ten to fifteen minutes making my list, and then I’m off to the store. We almost never spend more than a half hour there – and that’s with two young children in tow. And I almost always take a leisurely pace. My children rarely act up, because shopping has become a deliberate, well thought out, weekly event.

I never go to the store twice in the same week to pick up a forgotten item. When I make a second trip, it is for a holiday or company. When something special comes up, I like to make the extra trip to focus my energies on it and to make certain the food is fresh.



And planning pays as well: I usually spend between $50 and $75 a week for our family of four’s food.

Interested in hearing more?

Here’s how to begin: A few days before your next shopping trip, plan one week of meals. I suggest you start with breakfast, emphasizing simplicity and nutrition. Cold or hot cereal with some citrus juice and fruit makes a healthy start without too much trouble. Even eggs and juice can be a very simple breakfast to prepare. Avoid committing yourself to pancakes, waffles, and the like on a regular basis. Use those recipes for making breakfast special on an occasional basis.

Next, plan your suppers. Based on my own experience, I suggest you plan a menu of five dinners with complementary side dishes. We rarely eat out or even order pizza these days, but the leftovers still seem to stretch to fill the week. Obviously, as the children grow, I will lose this advantage, so start with this information and adjust it to suit your family’s own needs.

When choosing your week’s suppers, begin by selecting a crown jewel from your recipe box, the one that makes your husband’s eyes light up when you tell him it’s for dinner. For my family, it’s Salmon Tetrazzini or Lasagna. Make a big batch of it for the blessed leftovers. Then add a couple of recipes that aren’t too difficult, but may take a little effort. For me, “effort” equals “chopping lots of vegetables” or “stirring constantly.” At our house, that would be Vegetable Chili or Chicken à la King.

Finally, toss in a shamefully easy recipe. Fortunately, my family is very content with rice, beans, and vegetables steamed all together as the rice cooks. It’s not a recipe for which I pine…but when I’m desperate or tired or behind, I haven’t shirked my culinary duties, either.

After I have my five suppers planned, I add a couple of easy pantry dinners just in case the meals don’t stretch the week. I go back to the old standbys: macaroni and cheese or rigatoni and tomato sauce with meatballs from the frozen foods section. I rarely make them, but the ingredients will keep from week to week, so they’re there when the groceries do run out.

Now consider lunches. I find that since the children are young, yesterday’s supper leftovers often cover today’s lunch. For the children and myself, if yesterday’s meal doesn’t stretch, my back-up plan is in the pantry: peanut butter and jelly (with a side of carrot and celery sticks or fruit). My husband (for whom PB&J lost its charm years ago) has a ham sandwich, which is what I would have packed for him if he were working away from his home office that day. And that brings me to my next point: Don’t forget to add ingredients for packed lunches to the shopping list!

Finally, add any snacks that you and your family deem necessary.

Now, make a shopping list on your computer. Divide it into sections based on the layout of the store: Produce, Deli, Meat, Dairy, Bread, etc. Then start filling in your list. Include every little thing you could possibly need to make each recipe, including the basic staples like flour, herbs, spices and cooking spray. Place a “(1)” after each item on the list, like this:

Produce
6 bananas (1)
1 bag salad greens (1)
1 small green pepper (1)
1 # small red potatoes (1)
5 # carrots (1)
1 stalk celery (1)
3 # onions (1)
1 head garlic (1)

This indicates that these items are to be purchased for the first week of your four-week menu plan. If you are a fan of bulk buying, I suggest marking the ingredients that can be bought there with a special symbol (like the first letter of the bulk food store's name) so you can quickly make a bulk shopping list as well. But if you happen to run out of something before going to the warehouse, your master shopping list will remind you to pick it up at your regular grocery store.

Print out your shopping list and look through your fridge, pantry and freezer to see what you need. Use a highlighter to mark the ingredients you need to buy.

Now it is time to shop. Take a pencil and note whether your items are in the correct order as you come to them in the store. You can make the corrections on your master copy (in the computer) when you get home. Even these seemingly small changes will save you time and overlooked items on future shopping trips.



Next week, repeat this process, placing your second week’s ingredients on the same list. But this time, mark the ingredients on your shopping list with a “(2).” Thus you are able to add as many weeks to the rotation as you like. For example:

Produce
6 bananas (A) (1) (2)
1 bag salad greens (1)
1 small green pepper (1)
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes (2)
1 # small red potatoes (1)
2 baking potatoes (2)
5 # carrots (1) (2)
1 stalk celery (1) (2)
3 # onions (A) (1) (2)
1 head garlic (1) (2)
¼ # green beans (2)
1 bag shredded cabbage (2)
1 jar slaw dressing (2)

Having all the ingredients on a master list while shopping allows you to know what you will need and use, so when you see a sale, even if the ingredient isn’t needed this week, you will know if and when you will use it and how much to buy.

I’ve found that a four-week rotation has worked well for my family for the past year or so. Once you have your menus and recipes finalized, print them out and put them into a simple folder: I use an inexpensive paper one with metal clips to attach the pages. All my menus and recipes go in there. That includes recipes from food boxes, such as the cornbread and lasagna recipes that I use. Having those in my recipe book saves me the irritation of small print. If your folder has pockets, you can tuck special recipes or new recipes to try into it as well.

Currently, I am devising a new rotation of recipes based on an eight-week cycle. My goals include taking beef and pork out of our diet; getting more vegetables and fruits into it; and creating a collection of recipes and meals that are ideal for wintertime. It’s an exciting time, because I’m experimenting with new recipes. If something flops with my family this week (like Swiss Fondue did recently), I’ll just modify the recipe or try something different in its place in eight weeks.

My suggestion is to give yourself some time to mull over recipe ideas and allow your plans to simmer for a while. Consider your goals. Meals may be everyday affairs, but in spite of that, or perhaps because of that, they are important. What do you want your family to remember about these times? For me, a relaxed mother at mealtimes ranks high. Associating special recipes with our family’s dinner hour is important to me as well – these are memories my children will carry with them for the rest of their lives. My father still speaks of a vegetarian meatloaf his mother made when he was a youth. I, on the other hand, remember chicken potpies with little bits of vegetables and even littler bits of chicken in an aluminum dish. Even oatmeal can be dressed up to add nutrition and create special family remembrances of the breakfast table.

It does take time and dedication to create a cycle of appealing menus that reflects all of your goals and your family’s needs. But, once the labor is done, the wise woman will reap her profit in the form of time, savings, and health.

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