Month Long Grocery List....Pfft.

I think I'm going about this grocery list the wrong way. I started with my Mastercook calendar. I was filling in days with different meals, trying to get a good variety in each week- and also including days where I would make double of a meal to stash in the freezer. But as I got going with the calendar, it occurred to me that even when I assign certain meals over a period of a week, I hardly stick to my plan. So then I switched to a piece of notebook paper. My intentions were to list 30 dinners to pick and choose from. And I did manage to list 30 complete dinners. But that doesn't seem right to me either. If I were to have everything on hand for all 30 dinners...well, that would be one expensive outlay up front, and I think it would also generate a lot of waste.

I don't have a time constraint budgetarily. Andy gets paid every week- the only constraint is when certain paychecks are spoken for, I have a little less for the weekly grocery trip. So. There is an answer here somewhere. And I think, unfortunately for me, the answer is not to put all this thought and work into one list on one day. I think it means I have to be super organized. Here's my new plan. I am going to make a meal plan for one week, as well as the according shopping list. On Thursday I will shop for said groceries at 2 places- Sam's Club and the produce stand. Once I get home from my trip I will need to portion the bulk items out, and the excess will go into my kitchen annex (our new fancy term for the basement with shelving, extra fridge, and freezer.) My week will go as planned, with a list of 7 possible dinners, and I pick and choose what I am in the mood for each day. Then next week I make a new meal plan for the next 7 days. In that meal plan I include as much of the items as possible that I have stored in the kitchen annex. And each week revolves from there. On the weeks where we don't have so many bills to pay or a payment due, I utilize some extra funds to pick up staples and pantry goods. Make sense? Maybe you could explain it to me better. ;-) Now on to breakfast...