Welcome to meal planning 101, let’s dive in.
I think we all love the idea of meal planning and most of us probably feel like it’s something we should be doing, right?! I think the answer to that question all depends on your lifestyle, your goals, and your situation. Everyone is different, therefore everyone’s need to plan ahead is different. So here we go, the method to my madness with ‘Everyday M&K: Meal Planning 101’.
I work 40+ hours a week and I have this blogging gig on the side. I have two very energetic children, a husband, and a dog. I am busy. We are all busy. I have always worked and for the majority of my career I had a 40 minute commute one way to work. That being said, I had to meal plan on the weekends or we would be eating frozen pizza for dinner all week. Eating healthy (as in eating mostly whole foods) is a priority in my life, so in order to feed not only myself, but my family, I had to come up with a system that worked for me.
Here are my tips and tricks to make meal planning easier and help you be more successful.
#1 – Create two Pinterest boards and start pinning
- Recipes to Try
- Recipes Tried & True
Start pinning to your ‘recipes to try’ board. Make a collection of healthy recipes that you think you and your family might enjoy. I like to do this on my phone before bed or in the morning on my computer with a cup of coffee. I love pinning recipes! I find it very relaxing! 🙂
#2 – Pick your recipes
Review your “Recipes to Try” Pinterest board and pick a few recipes to try for the week ahead. Now this is where you can really tailor your plan to fit your needs. You can go all out and plan a meal for every night of the week, plus breakfasts, and snacks or you can start small and see how it goes. I would recommend that second option. 😉 Here is what I like to do each week:
- 1 breakfast recipes (Examples: egg bake, granola to eat with yogurt, pumpkin muffins)
- 2 dinner recipes (Examples: Chicken Enchiladas, Salmon Cakes, Sweet Chili Korean BBQ Chicken Tacos)
- 1 snack recipe (Examples: trail mix, homemade granola bars, hummus, banana bread)
- BONUS: 1 recipe that can be frozen – like lasagna or soup
#3 – Write your shopping list according to the layout of your grocery store
Review all of the ingredients in the recipes and put whatever items you need on your shopping list. Rewrite the list in order according to your route through your grocery store. (this will save you so much time in the grocery store!) Group them in categories like produce, frozen section, meat, baking supplies, etc.
#4 – Write all of the meals you have picked on a menu board that is visible in your kitchen.
Mine is a large chalkboard that hangs on a wall in our kitchen. Yours might just be a notebook that is always on your kitchen island – whatever works for you.
#5. Grocery shop at unpopular times
Go at a time that isn’t busy, if possible. I used to have Fridays off at my last job and I would go to Woodman’s early on Friday mornings before anyone in my house was even awake! (Looking back now, man was that dedication.) Sometimes we go as a family on Friday nights because it’s dead.
#6. Get the bulk of your cooking done on Sunday
Sundays are the days we stay in our PJs until at least noon and I get the majority of the cooking done. That being said, we are not church goers, so Sunday mornings are dedicated to PJs, meal prep, and cartoons! I usually hammer out the breakfast recipe, the snack, and one of the meals on Sunday. That leaves me with only one or two meals to make during the busy work week.
#7. Evaluate and adjust Pinterest boards
When all the meals on the board are crossed off, it is time to decide what recipes you would make again and what ones you wouldn’t. Go back to your Pinterest boards and transfer all of the ones you liked to your “Tried & True” board and delete the ones you wouldn’t make again. Let’s face it, not all Pinterest recipes are a win. When meal planning, I now pull from both boards. I have a good mix of ‘tried & true’ recipes and new ones. I always try at least one new recipe each week. It keeps it exciting! 😉
Other tips and tricks:
- Double recipes when you can and freeze half.
- Do your meal prep in the morning if you are an early bird (Chop veggies, make marinades, etc.) that way there is less to do when you get home from work.
- Ask your family for help. Does your husband like to grill? Utilize that! Do your teen kids get home from school before you get home from work? Ask them to prep or start on dinner. They can follow recipe directions!
- Pack food up for lunches the night before. Getting out of the house in the morning is always a rush.
This system works for me and my family in this season of our lives. I hope you all might find a few nuggets of information that will help you in your meal planning routine!
Here is a free printable that can help you meal plan!
Thank you for joining me for Meal Planning 101! 😉 Do any of you have any other good meal planning tips and/or tricks?
