This week’s posts focus on organizing your food: menu planning, food storage, grocery shopping, and grocery habits. If you have been following my posts, you will know that I like to keep things simple
These are my top five tips:
- Plan ahead! If you are the organized type, make up meal plans (see Monday’s Guest post on Menu Planning) and grocery plans in advance.
- Make a list! Keep an ongoing list whether it is on paper, inside a cupboard
- or in an envelope with coupons that you wish to use 
Or even on chalkboard inside pantry door
If you like apps for your phone for grocery lists and storage, I recommend Grocery Gadgets and Still Tasty. - Keep good food at home. When in a rush or stressed, you’ll likely eat what’s available. Keep junk food out of the home and then you will have no choice but to opt for healthier choices. Allow yourself treats for special occasions.
- Prepare food the night before. If you are using a slow cooker for the next day’s meal, prepare and put everything in the slow cooker pot, so you just put the insert in the slow cooker in the morning. Prepare lunches and snacks the evening before so to reduce morning rush hour stress.
- Make large quantities of soups, stews, pasta sauce or broth and freeze. Julie from The Magic Fridge has taught me to freeze bags flat to have room in the freezer (see photo). I use a cookie sheet for the initial freezing.
Most of all – keep things simple and easy to use for the entire family.
Where did you get the chalk board paper?
Rolls of adhesive chalkboard are available through most office supply stores and at Chapters. It can be used for so many purposes.
Really!! This will definitely be going into the plans for the play room. We had chalkboard paint inside a kitchen cabinet door when I was growing up, but I like the adhesive paper idea much better.
Another bonus to freezing soups and sauces flat is that they thaw more quickly than a big round lump!
Aw man, I thought I was so clever freezing stuff flat that I took pictures this weekend of my bulk-chicken-cut-and-freeze-bonanza for a future blog post. Great minds think alike I guess
. I never thought to stand them on end like in your photo though – that’s brilliant. And would be ideal in the pull-out drawers in my freezer. I’m supposed to be working from home today, but I feel a freezer re-org coming on… 
Sasha, LOL at the freezer re-organization. You can see the ideas for ice cube trays at http://www.pinterest.com/smartspace