Grocery Store Blues

So my husband and I ... we used to HATE grocery shopping and since I work until 7 dinner was a MAJOR problem for us! I would do a weekly meal plan and then never get around to shopping and so therefore half the stuff that week we couldn't eat and I would be so unprepared. I would get home at 7:30 and try and make the quickest easiest meal so we could maybe eat by 8:30 and we would eat and I would fall in to bed exhausted!!!!!!!!!! Not to mention we were eating tons of crappy food like Ramen, Canned Soup, and my love for cooking was completely killed because well, I wasn't actually being allowed to cook. The temptation of picking up pizza, or fast food on the way home was so incredibly high! And I must admit ! I did fall into that temptation often. We were spending TONS of money on food, CRAPPY food, and we were both so disgusted with dinner!
NOT ANYMORE!
I redesigned how I plan our meals! I plan an entire month in advance now and set a day for that months shopping. YES, that is right! I only have to go grocery shopping ONCE a month. Occasionally I have to run for a gallon of milk or some fresh produce but its a quick 5 minute stop and I only have to do that if the things I bought have gone bad!
I make an entire month of recipes. I make a list from those recipes and use recipes that I  can combine ingredants. For example I can make Bajio Chicken Salads early in the month and used leftover shredded chicken from that meal later on in the month for mexican pasta or tacos. I do a bunch of crockpot cooking so when I get home at 7 the food is already there or I look for recipes that take 30 minutes or less so when I get home I know exactly what we are having that day, I have all the stuff ready to go and BAM dinner is done by 8. PLUS  I make a bunch of freezable stuff on the weekends in my crock pot. Like shredded chicken , pork and beef so its set for that month and really its not a big deal because I put it in the crockpot and do whatever I want for the rest of the day!
For the month of November we spent a WHOPPING 100 dollars for the entire month! and that included several items that weren't even on the list like Caffeine Free Dr. Pepper !! YUM !
Best of all, all our meals are home cooked goodness, no more Ramen or canned CRAP! and super yummy. Seriously produce can be so cheap! And you can freeze it which makes it even better! Prep is essential for me! Like dicing onions ahead of time and freezing them in a bit of water so they are ready to go all you do is defrost!

Sorry I was just so excited about this that I couldn't even hide it! We are going on two months of success and I can't wait til month three. No more Grocery Blues for us