Making Meal Planning Easy: Recipe Spreadsheet

Ohey!

I have a little confession to make - on Tuesday we ditched the meal plan and had a Dominos. It was completely indulgent and did break the food budget we set for the month, but we've been so good at cooking every night and doing our best to stay healthy that a lazy meal just sounded too good to pass up. We did apply some sensible principles to the splurge though - it was Two for Tuesday meaning we got 2 pizzas each and lunch was sorted for the next day. Also upon seeing that his pizzas cost twice the price of mine Chris even swapped to getting gluten free pizzas himself, so it was under £15 for 4 pizzas. Not cheap, but not break the bank either.

Even though it was contrary to our budget, it did make me appreciate how our routine since moving over has helped us save a lot of money, time and hassle just by keeping us organised. It's only when you stop using something, even for a moment, that you realise just how useful it is! So I wanted to share with you just how we're planning our meals and keeping things on-budget.

Introducing our recipe spreadsheet..

It's a work-in-progress, but it's working well so far!

This is one tab of a much larger spreadsheet where we keep our entire lives organised. It contains everything from our meal plans and recipes to our monthly budget, upcoming travel plans to home maintenance tasks to keep on top of. Basically if there's something that needs to be planned or organised in our lives, it has a tab!

There are two tabs that relate to our meal planning - the one above that contains all of our favourite recipes and another where we plan our meals for the week and create our shopping lists. I say lists because even those are broken down further - regular shopping, a list for the market (there's a weekend market nearby that has some amazing food when we want to make something special!), and lists for pantry items, cleaning items and misc. At the moment we also have a furniture list, but that will go once we've finished furnishing the house (and no news there either I'm afraid).

It sounds a little extreme to be this organised, but with so much going on and such variation in my fatigue it has really helped me remember things that would otherwise be forgotten. We also keep this spreadsheet on Google Docs so that Chris and I both have access to it and can edit it from either laptops or our phones when we're on the go. It's been incredibly useful for coordinating when he's at work!

So how do you set up something like this? It's quite simple and quick to do if you already have some favourite recipes bookmarked but even if you don't it doesn't take long to put together.

The set up

First you'll need to decide on a spreadsheet programme - Google Docs is easiest to access from anywhere, but Excel or Sheets works too. Then set up the top row much the same as I have, with the following columns:

Recipe Name - This might be the name the recipe book/site gives it, or the name you've given it yourself.

Main Ingredient - By having this column you can quickly look up recipes with a specific ingredient if you have an excess of something to be used up.

Cooked On - Similarly, having this column makes it easy to see what equipment you'll need for a recipe. For example if you're going to be out for the day and want a simple meal waiting for you then sorting by slow cooker will be useful!

£/Portion - This is something we're interested in as if we like a recipe and it has a low cost per portion it's gonna fast become a family favourite! We're aiming to get most of our meals to £1/portion or less.

Rating - This is what you and other family members think of the recipe. If anything gets less than a 3 then just delete it - over time you'll want to be cultivating a spreadsheer full of low-cost 4s and 5s.

Notes/Changes - These are changes you make to the recipe - for example we use sweet potato instead of normal a lot, or switch out beef mince for pork. Or if you add extra seasoning, be sure to mention it here so you can make it the same next time.

Link - This is simply a link to the recipe online. You could also keep a note of which cookbook/page the recipe is on if you have a physical copy.

Filling it in

This can be done all at once or over time. I've been keeping a folder of bookmarked recipes on my laptop for a long time anyway so I went through those and copied across ones I knew we would use regularly. Then it's just a case of keeping it updated as you find new recipes you like or want to try. I'm thinking of adding a baking section as we've got quite a few recipes we want to try like Apple Granola Bars and Sweet Potato Muffins.

It's also a great excuse to discover new recipes if you have an excess of a particular ingredient or find something on sale at the shop. We usually use the weekend to make something a little more ambitious, so we'll pick something we have in the freezer and maybe a style of cooking and see what the internet has to offer us. Chris searches for recipes during downtime at work and this was how we ended up with an amazing Harissa Chicken recipe! :)

Using it

I'm planning to write a blog on meal planning sometime soon which will go into this a bit better, because it's one of my favourite ways to get organised and save money. There are so many little tricks you can use to cut down your food budget without losing out on amazing meals it definitely deserves it's own blog! But the beauty of this spreadsheet is in its' simplicity.

Need a chicken recipe? Sort by the main ingredient column and select one. Looking for something to throw in the slow cooker and go out for the day? Sort by the cooked on column. Budget looking a little tight this month? Pick all the lowest cost per portion recipes you've collected over time (if you've bothered with this one)!

The hardest part is getting into the habit of using it, but once you see how easy it is and how much faster it makes everything I'm convinced you'll be as sold as I am. :)

How do you keep your recipes in order? Or do you just wing it? Any you think I should add to the list? Let me know in the comments! I'm always looking for yummy new recipes to try, especially on weekends when we can put a little more effort in. :)

Love,
Ami
xx

7 Things To Remember Or Plan When Moving House

Howdy!

I did have a different post planned for you today, but due to some changes to our plans I'm writing something new instead of the post I had scheduled, how exciting!

Up to now we've been waiting to hear from our landlord about when the house sale is going to complete and therefore we can get the keys to move in. We're not sure what the hold up is, but the date has gone from the end of July to an unknown at the moment, although we're assured it's imminent - possibly any day now.

At the same time Chris's mum has been preparing to move house too and initially that was going to happen a week or two after we'd left. But as time has gone on the two dates have got closer to each other and we've now reached the point that she's going to be moving before we get our keys - ie tomorrow. Yep, tomorrow. We only found that out this morning too - it was meant to be Friday but for whatever reason, we now have to move along with his mum to her new house first thing in the morning.

"Ami, why are you blogging instead of packing, you crazy woman?!" I hear you ask.

Well, two reasons. Firstly, I am about to be going without internet for an unknown amount of time. We can't arrange a supplier until we have a move date and they'll probably take at least a week or two (I'm being optimistic) to get us all hooked up. So I need to get all the work I can in now before I have to find cafes and generous friends to let me use their WiFi. Trust me to re-launch the blog right as my net disappears! Secondly, the blog I plan to write is going to help me get my head organised just as much as it's going to help anyone else who is moving house - whether it's as rushed as ours is going to be or a well-thought-out process!

So here we go... 7 things to remember or plan when moving house! I've skipped the obvious things and gone for the little bits and pieces that sometimes get forgotten in the chaos of a move.

1. Pack yourself a weekend bag

This is possibly the hardest thing for us as we don't know how long we're gonna need to live out of a suitcase, but usually when you move home you'll have things organised within 2-3 days at least to a stage where you'll have essentials set up. Until then it's a great idea to have a bag packed with a few days of clothes, toiletries, things like your laptop, phone, MP3 player, chargers etc. Basically pretend you're going on holiday for a few days and pack for that.

2. Pack yourself a bed!

Sounds odd, but in the confusion of moving you might forget the obvious things you'll need when moving is over... like bedding. You might be organised enough to have the bed set up by night time or it might be a blow up mattress/nest on the floor, but none of that will matter if you packed up and promptly lost the bedding. Keep this with your weekend bag and you'll at least be cosy when you collapse into bed at night.

3. Have food planned for the first few days

Moving day is stressful enough without having to worry about unpacking your kitchenware and cooking something. It might even be a few days before you get to unpacking everything you need in the kitchen if you have to work, or other more important boxes to get emptied. This is why it's a great idea to have a few meals cooked in advance - simply move them from one fridge to the next on moving day and make sure to unbox the microwave. Eating directly from the tupperware is fine, so all you'll need is cutlery. You could just eat takeaways for the weekend, but if you're on a budget this is a great way to keep things super simple and stress free!

This is exactly what we're planning to do - we usually make batch meals and keep leftovers for lunch the next day, but we're keeping last nights' leftovers and any from tonight to feed us tomorrow and Friday night instead. (Now just to work out what we're having for lunch...)

You might also want to have a packed lunch ready for moving day - no one wants to get to the late afternoon and realise they're starving, but need a trip to the local shop for lunch..

4. Have a catch-all area for things you need frequently and don't want to lose

Keys, wallet, phone, chargers, important paperwork and contact numbers will be the first things to get lost with boxes flying everywhere. Your pocket seems like a great place until things start jabbing your hip when you bend or falling out as you reach for things. Instead have a container somewhere near the door where everything can be kept safe - a large tupperware or basket is perfect for this. That way when it's time to close the door and leave you pick up the box on your way out and put it straight by the door (or somewhere easily accessible but safe) in the new place.

5. Pets and small children

Parental duties don't pause on moving day which can add to the stress immeasurably. One way to keep children or fur-babies out of the way on the day is to pack them an activities bag and set them up in a quiet corner, somewhere away from the action but in your line of sight. For kids this can be colouring books or electronic games with a little fruit snack and drink. For pets it will vary by animal - bigger pets you might want to have someone pet-sit for the day, but certainly for Riggle we'll be putting her in a quiet room, giving her plenty of her toys and her wheel, plus some yummy snacks and leaving her to it. She might be kept awake initially, but once the excitement dies down I'm sure she'll go back to snoozing the day away.

Also combine this with tip #1 - pack them a bag to cover the first few days and some bedding for the night too. Nothing worse than getting to bedtime and a beloved toy is missing, or worse still for Riggs.. the bedding itself is in a box downstairs!

6. Important papers, numbers and keeping organised

Moving day comes with a million things to think about and your belongings are just the big, distracting boxes getting in the way of the important stuff. There might be documents to sign, people to keep informed of progress, last minute expenses you don't want to forget.. I briefly mentioned a solution in tip #4 but if you have more than one or two things to keep track of it might be better to invest in a folder for keeping yourself organised. You can have plastic wallets for the important documents, a list of all the numbers you need to hand (suppliers, solicitors, landlords, other people in the chain etc.) and it'll be somewhere you can throw receipts in to remember when the chaos is over.

7. Entertainment

Speaking of suppliers, you could be without your usual home comforts for a while (I'm thinking internet here of course) and you don't want to be left bored. In the run up to the move you could download a box set of a good series you've been meaning to catch up on, some good films, load the Kindle up with books or head to the library.. (nothing that's gonna be taking up extra packing space unless you're fine with carting it all along with you). Don't fall into the trap of thinking Netflix will bridge the gap - Chris has done this twice already forgetting that you need internet to log in!

And there you have it! Now while I go pack boxes, schedule blogs for as long as possible and try to remember my own advice, you head to the comments and tell me if I've missed anything. Any tips from your own experiences?

Until next time (which could be a while, but I'll do my best to find solutions), have a great week!

Love,
Ami
xx