Making A List... Checking It Twice

It's that time of week again.  Time to make the grocery list for the week.  Seems easy enough, right?  Figure out what you want to eat for the week.  Make a list of what you need.  But leave it me to make it a little more of a challenge than that!

It starts out with deciding what to prepare for the upcoming week.  This portion of the process alone can take quite a while. There are many things to consider.   What do I already have in the freezer, pantry, and cabinets that can be used?  What do I have coupons for?  What am I in the mood to make that the rest of the household will eat?  That is easy, delicious, and nutritious?  What is not going to take long to fix on nights after I work?  Nights there are softball games, classes, and lessons scheduled. 

Sometimes this is more of a challenge than others.  Some weeks I'm bored with the recipes I usually create.  Some weeks nothing sounds good when I am making the list.  Some weeks I just draw a complete blank!

Then of course, it's time to consider breakfasts.  And lunches.  Especially for those of us spending the mornings rushing to get off to work and school.  It has to be easy, filling, and portable.  The portable part refers to lunches, but now that I think about it - I often have breakfast in one hand as I head out the door for work.

And there are the other needed items.  Toiletries, personal care items, paper goods, etc.  I have to go through the entire family and ask "What do you need from the store?"  Sometimes more than once because often the first response is "oh, I don't know".

Through all of this, I'm still looking through my collection of coupons and looking for where I can save a little off the total.  I go to the coupon websites I frequent to check what I can print for the week.  I dig through my coupon stash. 

Finally I get everything organized and ready to go.  Of course once I get to the store I'll realize I forgot to check if I needed something.  Sometimes I don't realize I forgot until later in the week when I actually need it.  Or sometimes while at the store I'll find a great deal on something that I can't pass up.  Especially if it's something nonperishable or something I can freeze.  But in the end it all comes together and my family has it's needs met for another week.

Mmmm hmm.. suddenly not as easy as it sounds - is it?