Disclosure: This post contains affiliate and referral links. While I may receive compensation for a purchase you, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I had never heard of meal planning until I got married. But suddenly I was cooking dinner almost daily and responsible for the grocery shopping with no idea how to go about it. After a while of just winging it and throwing away a ton of food that went uneaten I realized I needed to be more purposeful with my shopping. I’m an avid reader and Pinterester so at some point I came across meal planning.
When I first started I wasn’t very strategic about it, but since I’ve had kids and started using grocery pickup (read more about that here and here) I needed to be more intentional. My process has been working very well for me so I figured I would share it to help others as well. There are a couple of things to take into consideration before you start meal planning.
How often do you want to plan and shop?
I meal plan and shop on a weekly basis. This works for us because we’re not trying to come up with too many meals at once and we generally know what our schedule is going to look like in the upcoming week. We can also buy all of our produce without having to worry that it will go bad before it is time to eat it. Keep in mind that while we are a family of five, there are only two adults, a two year old, and babies who are just starting to eat. So we don’t go through food that quickly.
Do you have a set of recipes or meals that you can plan from?
One of the things that helped to really jump-start my meal planning was purchasing a meal planning recipe service in 2017. We had gotten into a rut of eating the same things over and over and I wanted to add some new recipes to our rotation. The one I purchased was great because the meals were planned for you. Many included slow cooker, pressure cooker, and freezer recipes. I generally didn’t use a straight meal plan from that service, but having the new recipes was totally worth the price. You may already have a ton of recipes that you love. If so I would suggest compiling them all in one place, whether that is paper form like a binder or electronically. I have both a recipe binder and a Pinterest board with my favorite recipes. Once you have considered these two things, then you’re ready to get started.
Set a Time to Plan
Once a week I sit down with my planner and my recipe binder. I use my planner because I can see any plans that we have that may affect what or how I cook on any given day. My planner also has meal planning area. Oh, also I only plan for dinner. Lunch is usually leftovers of the previous day’s dinner or sandwiches. I keep a variety of breakfast foods and snacks on hand to fill in where needed.
So anyways, I just flip through my recipes and pull out the ones that sound good and that we haven’t eaten in the past week or so. We prefer not eat the same meal two weeks in a row. After I’ve picked a meal, I will decide when it fits in the week. For example a pressure cooker meal will be better for a church night and a slow cooker meal will be better for day where we have appointments in the afternoon. Sundays are usually meals that can be cooked in 30 minutes or less and anything extravagant will usually be done on a Saturday when I have more time.
Make a Grocery List
This is key to meal planning. I personally use an app for my list for a couple of reasons. First, is that I never have to worry about leaving my list home because I will always have my phone with me. Second, is that I can add to my list at any time without having to keep track of a paper. When we run out of something like eggs or Worcestershire sauce (that’s on my list today), I just add it to the list.
Once I have chosen my recipes for the week I go through them and add any ingredients that I need to my shopping list. This is where using recipes helps because I can see exactly what I need and don’t have to worry about forgetting anything. With basic meals I have to rely on my memory to make sure I have added everything I need. There’s nothing like making tacos and realizing you forgot to add sour cream or salsa to your shopping list for the week!
Shop
This also involves some decision-making because how I shop changes based on what I need and how much time I have. If I have a lot of time and I can go alone, I prefer to shop smart, which for me means hitting up a warehouse store for my meat and staples and Aldi for everything else. If I am short on time I will definitely do a grocery pickup. Where I do my pickup depends on what type of meat and produce I need. Walmart is my go to for everyday items and Harris Teeter is my choice for fresh produce and meat. I am very blessed to have so many grocery options in my area that location isn’t really an issue.
Food Storage
The last step in my process is storing my food based on when it will be used. Here again is where using a planner is helpful. I generally freeze all of my meat because I buy it in bulk. So I will write on my planner when to take the meat out for a certain meal. How much and the type of meat determines how far in advance I take it out. I always thaw my food in the fridge so something like ground beef might take two days. Where fish or chicken usually thaws in a day and a half. I am a stickler for following food storage guidelines, because the last thing I want is a sick family because I improperly stored (or cooked) something.
Finally, when it’s dinner time I get my recipe, gather all of my ingredients, and get cooking! This process has saved me so much time, money, and stress in the past year. We rarely have to run to the store because we forgot something or eat out because we had nothing planned. We can be so much more intentional and smart in our eating and spending.
I hope this post helps or encourages you in your meal planning process. If you have a question or you want to share how you meal plan please leave a comment on this post or on my social media. I’d love to hear from you!
Martina