7 Days to Successful Meal Planning: Day 1

Day 1: Inventory Your Food

Who knew it could take seven days to create a successful meal plan?  Well, in order to begin we really need to take a look at what you already have by taking an inventory  of your current food supply.  What's in those cupboards, pantries, fridge, freezer, etc?

The most successful thing that you can do is to see what you have and build your meal plan off of what you already have in stock, as long as it is healthy.  As you continue this journey with me, I'll help you to decide what benefits your health and what doesn't.  I can promise you this though...if it comes in a box, such as Hamburger Helper and similar items, has lot of ingredients you are uncertain of, or contains artificial ingredients...let's just put those in the food pantry donation bag.  I'm sorry, but there is just no way that these items are going to make the cut.

Start with your fridge...checked your condiments lately for expiration dates?  This usually is the best place to start.  I find this is where time slips by quickly and my condiments don't seem to be following suit.  Keep a wastebasket near, because if this isn't something that you do often you may be surprised. Check expiration on essentially everything, toss or keep? I keep a list of what needs to be used in what order (at this point it doesn't have much in it other than what's on the meal plan.) I try to use everything I can with maximum freshness in mind.  I also don't want anything to go to waste, remember...Mercedes Diet, Kia Budget.  So if you have something that's going to be going badly quickly, let's plan on using those up first.

Know what you have and we'll see you tomorrow for Day 2 of 7 Days of Successful Meal Planning!!!