It took us a little too long to realize that it would make our lives easier if we planned out our meals each week. It just seemed like such a daunting idea and so much work at the time. Little did we know that the small amount of time it takes to plan out your week saves heaps of time later on. We hardly ever have to go to the store more than once a week now; It’s AMAZING!
Our meal plan for the week:
I have broken down how we accomplish this each week:
- The first thing we do is see what is going on during the week. This can be doctor’s appointments, a planned dinner with family, everyone’s work schedules, etc.
- Once we figure out what evenings/days are open it’s time to crack open the weekly ads from our local grocery stores. I create a list from each store of what is on sale that my family would eat. This does not necessarily mean that I will be buying or creating a recipe for every item that I write down. It is just a master list of ingredients to pull from. Here is an example below.
- Next I create or search for recipes off of ingredients from my list. For example: I saw that the rib-eye is on sale at Aldi, so I decided that I will make a sheet pan dinner one night. I do not always choose ingredients from this list. Sometimes we will be in the mood to eat something that is not on the list at all. That’s great too! I just like to do it this way to be budget friendly 🙂
- After all our meals are decided I break out the calendar again and write in when and what we will be having. You can go all out and write what you are having for every meal, but we do not do that because we usually just have leftovers for lunch.
- Lastly, I create our shopping list! I write down every ingredient needed for each meal first and then fill in the list with staple products that are needed around the house (milk, eggs, snacks, cleaners, diapers, etc.) To make things easier, if we are going to multiple stores, I write the first letter of the store name where the product is on sale.
This is our list AFTER grocery shopping. Adele usually creates some artwork during the trip.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a calendar visible to the family in the home with events, doctors appointments, meals and bills. I know that it has helped us out a lot (especially with my pregnancy brain lately).
Of course every family is different so this may not be the best way of meal planning for you. I hope that it sparks some ideas or gets you to try it out if you haven’t already. I promise that it makes life a million times easier!
Make sure to check back as I will be posting the recipes for my meals throughout the week 😀
