Budget Overhaul: Starting With the Kitchen

I'm horrible with New Years Resolutions because I always give up.

So instead of slapping on a label, I'll just say that I'm trying to make better financial choices for our family. If Lily gets into a preschool program this fall, we'll have another expense to plan for, so I think it's wise to start now by optimizing our incomes and making sure we're not overspending now.

I am a closet hoarder of food. If you look in my pantry or chest freezer, it's almost always full. Although this is nothing short of a blessing to be able to provide so much for our family, it's excessive. At least 50% of what we keep on hand is not stuff we use very regularly. It's time to make some changes.

So, the first step in my plan is to eliminate the cans and boxes that are lurking on the back of my shelves. You know, stuff like canned black beans, that one, random box of Hamburger Helper that we always keep on hand for a quick-fix meal, but never eat. That lonely microwave meal that looked good on the shelf, but isn't nearly as appealing once you bring it home.

My freezer is stuffed with crock pot meals that I literally spent hours prepping, shopping, chopping, and pouring. But I'm the world's worst for making those convenient meals and never actually cooking them.

Ultimately, once I get my cabinets and my refrigerator cleared of the ingredient misfits, I would like to take a more planned approach to our meals. I need to reevaluate the items that we should keep on hand and stop buying things that we don't eat very often.

I know from experience that meal planning has the potential to save us tons of money, but it takes time, dedication, and self-control to avoid the temptations of eating out and the convenience of a drive-thru.

Repurposing Chicken For a Week's Worth of Vastly Different Meals

Many of my mom friends enjoy cooking up a big batch of chicken on Sunday so they have plenty of cooked meat to incorporate into recipes throughout the week. I think this is a great idea, but my picky taste buds are already screaming 'chicken overload.' Here is a meal plan idea for repurposing cooked chicken in order to create completely different dishes with entirely unique flavor combinations.

Sunday - Grilled Chicken + 2 fancy side items of your choice - this is your chance to go all out on an accessory dish since the majority of my time is usually dedicated to the main meat.

Monday - Cube some chicken for chicken Philly cheese steak sandwiches.

Tuesday - Slice chicken into strips for fajitas or shred for chicken tacos.

Wednesday - Shred chicken and create a BBQ chicken pizza

Thursday - Use shredded chicken to make this awesome chicken roll 'casserole' dish. I add broccoli in between the chicken rolls so I can pat myself on the back for a one-pot dish that includes vegetables.

Friday - Use chicken chunks to create chicken pie or chicken n dumplins.

Saturday - Chicken teriyaki with stirfry vegetables

The easiest way to add variety to a meal plan that incorporates a limited number of ingredients is to stock your spice cabinet with various 'ethnic' themed items.

For example, consider making your menu with a different cuisine inspiration in mind.

Italian, Asian, American, soul food, Mexican

If you think about it, these categories of cooking styles tend to incorporate entirely different spice and sauce varieties.  Regardless of which meat you have on hand, you can add variety to your meal plan with a thematic alternation of these cultural trends.