Tinkering With the Three Month Plan

See the previous post on how I came up with a plan for storing three months of regular family foods.

After planning three menus for my family, I decided to give them a try. I knew I needed to see how the plan I had made would work and not wait for the stress of and emergency to test it. I also don't have time, money, or pantry space to waste on untested planning.


Maintenance of the Plan or Practice Makes Perfect
I decided to try the first menu the next payday, so I took my list and went to the grocery store. I was surprised by how little I needed and how little I spent. I didn't buy what I already had, and I got a few extras that were on sale but I only spent $115. I began my preparation for the week by cooking the stew meat. The next day I soaked and cooked the beans and made refried beans for enchiladas. I found that the schedule for the first day was too much. And since we had a Birthday coming up we got off the schedule (we always go out or have a special request on birthdays). After less than a week we decided we had too much stew beef in this menu. It was hurting our gums because it got stuck in between our teeth. So I took off the stew beef sloppy joes and decided the chili could be just beans without meat. I also decided that buying a whole turkey breast for turkey sandwiches only was a bit much and I added a turkey dinner into the menu. I've decided to redo the breakfast menu also since the kids only want quick stuff that they can eat quickly or take with them. Same for lunch. I decided to space out my preparation tasks more evenly and try to make some of the items that appeared more often such as burritos and quesadilla's in larger batches to freeze for more than the week. These are items my kids love to have for snack and in lunches. I also decided to be more vigilant about freezing leftovers, since I always seem to make too much food.

I tried to keep in mind that I may not have any money for fresh items and I may be making homemade items when money is tight, like bread, from my long term storage. Wheat, beans, oats, and other regular baking ingredients are not added to the grocery list, so I need to remember to keep these items stocked. I should start a list.
 On my grocery list I also indicated the items that were perishable and which were homemade since I can not very well stock them. I can keep these in mind when planning a garden, or planning to cook ahead.
Overall it has been a good experience to think through this plan. I see that I have a lot of work to do to acquire these items, but probably more important to organize them so I can find them, use them, and count them.