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For this week’s menu I’m taking an inventory of what I have on hand in the freezer. See how to create a food inventory list and use what you’ve got to meal plan.
Freezer Inventory
I noticed things were starting to pile up in the freezer so I decided it was time to take inventory and eat what we’ve got.
About every three months or so I like to take a little food inventory. Otherwise, the food in the freezer goes unused which defeats the purpose of putting it in the freezer in the first place.
There are various reasons we end up with extra food. A recipe may make a large amount of food leaving you with leftovers. Or a recipe may only require a smaller amount of an ingredient than it’s available to buy, leaving you with excess of that ingredient. For example you may only need a cup of chicken broth but it comes in a can with 2 cups. And sometimes life gets busy and the items you intended to cook go unused.
Food doesn’t last forever, even in the freezer, so it’s important to go in and see what you’ve got so you can use it before it goes bad. Eating what you’ve got will help you save money and reduce food waste.
To learn more about eating what you’ve got check out my Eat What You’ve Got Challenge.
How to Take Inventory
Creating a food inventory is quite easy and doesn’t take much time to do.
First, you’ll want to get out something to record your inventory on. This could be pen & paper or a spreadsheet on your computer or phone. I like to use the Grocery List Template from Ultimate Portion Fix.
Next, go through your freezer, fridge and pantry and write down everything you have on hand. Using the Portion Fix Grocery List lets you put each food item into container categories. Now as you fill out your meal plan and need a protein (or red container) you can quickly see what is available.
WEEKLY LIVE MEAL PLANNING
Want to see how I meal plan in real time? Check out this week’s live meal planning video to see how I planned this week’s meals in less than 20 minutes.
Be sure to join me every Wednesday at 6:00 pm Central for a Live Meal Planning session in the Healthy Meal Planning, Easy Recipes & Beachbody Support group on Facebook. Click the link to join now.
PRINTABLE WEEKLY MENU
The weekly menu is a word doc so you can download and make changes to suit your needs. Just click on the image below to download, edit and print. I’ve included the regular menu format and the Portion Fix Meal Plan Template.