Meal Planning - How and Why I Do It
Meal Planning is definitely the secret to my success in getting healthy dinners on the table almost every night. Eating out on the reg is just not in our budget. I take the girls out to Chick-Fil-A or Hat Creek (local "healthy" burger place) once a week for about $15. Those are usually to meet up with friends because they both have play places and gives this mama a little sanity break. I have always loved Meal Planning to have a list of recipes I want to try; and to stop that annoying question, "What are we having for dinner?" over and over. Even though I plan and communicate, I still get that question constantly from my kids and husband, but at least I have an answer to give them.
I Meal Plan once a month; I have found that works best for me personally. This might be too far out for you, maybe start with a week planned at a time, just find what is best for you and your family. Before kids, I planned like 3 months in advance so I could bulk shop for meats when they went on sale. Then these little crumb-crunchers came around and I went to once a week, then I felt like I was always meal planning. So I settled on the sweet spot of a month, and once I did Whole30 rounds, the month made even more sense. Each month, I set aside a good chunk of time, usually on a day my kids are in school.
A great place to start a routine of Meal Planning is to create a list of recipes that are tried-and-true family favorites. You will be so surprised at how many recipes are in your back pocket. I keep mine in an Excel spreadsheet that I update periodically with new favorites.
The first thing I do is take an inventory of what is hanging out in the freezers (we have 3, I might be a little crazy...) and I write down what is a family dinner portion and what is a lunch portion available. I also make any notes about the leftovers, for example, if it is only protein, that sides are needed, or I have Chicken Cacciatore sauce that is lacking some chicken. That is always a good starting point because it saves money and space.
Next, I have my running list of recipes and I send it to my husband to get some of the dishes he wants to enjoy that month. He highlights the list quickly and emails it back to me. Now that my kids are a older, I also get their input for the month, maybe 2 picks each for the month. Because I'm sure the month would be filled with mac and cheese and burgers if they had their choice!
Then I bring out a lined piece of paper, I use an $0.08 notebook for my planning, and put the number of days down the side. I pull out the calendar and put an asterisk* to notate that there is something special about that date. Events that I include are nights my husband has a work event, a kiddo event (birthday parties or school stuff), date nights, holidays, meals that I'm preparing a double batch of to help a friend with dinner, or days we are out of town. I start with those dates because they will mean a more specific meal needs to be planned for. For example, if we have a kid birthday party in the afternoon, I will need to have a light dinner or one that is in the slow cooker because those parties are exhausting for everyone.
Once I have those dates down, I start sliding new recipes I want to try into the slots. Any date that does not have an asterisk* can be moved around, but I use the numbers to give myself a running count of dinners to get on the calendar. My new recipe list is a little more aggressive than most need or want because I need to recipe test for this site. I would start with maybe one new recipe a week - maximum. Look at Pinterest, cookbooks, and your favorite bloggers to get inspiration.
Lastly, I take that list my hubs highlighted, drop those in and fill in any empty slots. Make sure to get a good mix of proteins, easy meals, slow cooker, and leftovers. Personally, I am pretty burned out by Friday so I make sure there is something easy. Weekends are easier to grill, because I make B do it, and Sundays are great days for long roasting items like a pulled pork.
Then I go to the computer, update my calendar template for the month and get cracking. I move things around so there is a nice balance through the weeks. If your family likes a weekly template, this is very easy, Meatless Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, Friday Pizza. I highlight my dinners to do be different colors, blue for leftovers in the freezer, yellow I am developing, and orange for new recipes from a book or site.
Once all the dinners are in the calendar, it is easier to do the breakfasts and lunches. I only started planning those after I did my second round of Whole30. I loved not stressing about the days in addition to the nights during the Whole30 and decided that was something I wanted to include in my routine. First, note any dinners that will leave leftovers, that usually fills up a good portion of lunch slots. Then enter any lunch portion leftovers lurking in the freezer, I make sure there is one for each my husband and I if we are using leftovers. Lastly for lunches, do easy-to-prep lunches. I'm at home but my husband needs to eat too, so I like to have these meal prepped. This is an easy way to plan for school lunches too, just to help make sure you buy all the supplies you need for the kids.
Breakfasts are pretty basic and monotonous around here, they are usually crazy and I like to prep a batch of something and have it in the freezer or fridge. We do a lot of egg bakes that last several weeks, like my Potatoes O'Bacon Egg Bake. Cold Breakfast is a favorite: lunch meat, hard boiled eggs, and chopped veggies are perfect for work. One of my husband's favorite breakfasts are my Meal Prepped Breakfast Bowls. He works from home now so we keep it simple too.
Annnnnd finally, you are done! I print a couple copies, one for my fridge and one to put in my organizer. I still grocery shop once a week because most of what we buy is produce and meats. If you were super ambitious, you could prep the shopping lists in advance, I am usually pretty tired after that whole process so I do it the night before or the morning of shopping.
