![]() ![]() If you’re interested, you can hear the whole story, check out my solution, and download it here.Īfter you’re done picking your meals it’s time to pick your groceries based on what meals you picked and what you already have in your fridge, freezer, and pantry inventory. I tried several solutions and ended up making my own Google Doc to serve as my system. You can definitely just think of something off the top of your head each week, but I’ve found that having a tool to catalog meals your family likes is incredibly helpful. There are a lot of ways to approach picking your meals, both analog and digital. Picking meals can feel tough when you dread it because you don’t think you’re a good cook, or your mind is at capacity, or you’re fatigued from trying to find new ideas. When I asked you what your least favorite part of meal planning was I heard “picking the meals”, “finding new meals”, and more just like that. If you let out a big sigh from reading that, you’re not alone. Using all of the inputs from your Prep, now it’s time to pick your meals and then pick your groceries. *If this list sounds like too much, focus on your calendar and inventory - those will make the biggest difference in the ease of your meal planning. Checking the ads is great for maximizing your grocery budget, but it’s also great for getting the freshest in-season produce. Check ads at the stores you plan on going to. We shop at Aldi, Costco, and sometimes Meijer or Trader Joe’s. If you follow a budget, look at your budget before planning meals for the week so you can adjust your meals if you’re getting tight. Budget + Adsĭo you follow a budget? We use the free version of the EveryDollar budgeting app to budget and track our expenses for the month so we can maximize our budget for our family goals. What items or full meals do you already have on hand that you could use? What produce do you still have in the fridge from last week that you need to use up? What item did you buy at Costco that you need to start working your way through? Taking inventory is one of the most important steps to avoid waste and grocery list frustration. Take inventory of your fridge, freezer, and pantry. Maybe you need to plan a crockpot meal that you can prep the night before because you have a day of meetings or maybe you have a night full of soccer practice so you need a meal you can pack on-the-go for the kids. Look at your calendar to see if you have particularly busy days. You don’t want to plan a 40-min Thai curry on a night you barely have time for a 10-minute stir fry. Without consulting your calendar, your meal plan could be really frustrating. Your calendar is the key to knowing how quick + easy or on-the-go your meals need to be. These four steps are in an intentional order because one might inform the other. Some of these steps are optional, but if you can, do them all! It will reduce frustration and make your meal planning sing. Prepping for meal planning is a really critical part! It helps you reduce food waste, keep your budget in check, and make meals that work with your schedule for the week. How to meal plan: 3 simple, easy to remember steps Prep So, how does someone who loves meal planning meal plan in 30 minutes or less? Here’s my workflow, I call it the three P’s of meal planning because I love an alliteration. Meal planning (and my meal planning notepad) reduces the number of times I hear “what are we having for dinner?”.Meal planning makes it easier to divide and conquer the dinner-making among my husband and I.Meal planning helps reduce food waste and budget waste.Meal planning makes me feel on top of my game during the week because I’m not scrambling (re: stressing) to figure out what to make each night.Meal planning combines days of decision-making into one half-hour burst.There are many reasons why I’m a big meal planning advocate: ![]() I really can’t imagine doing this week without a plan for our meals so I guess I’m in camp 1 or camp 2. Camp 3: they aspire to be a meal planner, but can’t seem to get the hang of it. Camp 2: they don’t like meal planning, but they think it’s really helpful so they do it. Camp 1: they LOVE meal planning and can’t really imagine tackling the week without it. I’ve realized people usually fall into one of four camps when it comes to meal planning. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |