Meal Planning 101

Meal planning can be a great way to organize your week and destress about meal time and food in general. Whether you enjoy a more laid back approach or you like having things planned out in detail, meal planning can work for you. No matter what your diet or schedule looks like, these tips can help make your meal prep, grocery shopping, and cooking time a little easier. There are a few basic keys to remember along with a simple process, and I also have a free meal planning sheet to help you put these strategies into practice yourself!

Everyone wants to take the stress out of cooking and feeding their families, but most of the time we are not sure how to do it. Whether you are a busy mom like me or just have a crazy packed schedule, it can be difficult to make the time to cook breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and even when you do, it can be even more challenging to do so without it being really stressful. That is where meal planning can really come in handy.

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Now, I am not a rigid meal planner. I do not have a strict menu, and I don’t follow my plan exactly. Instead, what I try to do is organize my meal options so that they all work best for the time I actually have. Often, this means that some days are very planned out while others are complete improvisation. The goal is to make the plan work for you and help take a load off your mind.

For those of you who really like strict meal plans, you can totally make these strategies work for you as well! I will give you some direction on how to set up your own menu for the week. You decide how well you follow it and where or when you want to give yourself some grace and flexibility.

Meal Planning Tips:

These are some of the tips I have found to help me in the planning process:

-Find some simple and tasty recipes that you love for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as some favorite snacks that are easily prepped. These will be your go-to recipes on the days you need a quick and easy meal!

-If possible, you can roast a whole chicken or slow cook a large roast to cook a lot of meat at once, and then you can use the leftovers in several meals throughout the week. (depends on family size, etc.)

-Remember to use the menu to write your grocery list! It can help you save some time and money since you know exactly what you need!

-You can meal plan for everything (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) or you can just do dinner, or whatever meal you would like. If you aren’t sure where to start, go with the meal that stresses you out the most, and plan that first.

How to set up a meal plan:

Before I start explaining, realize that you will have to adjust based on your lifestyle, tastes, and family size. For example, cooking for a family of four with toddlers is very different from cooking for a family of four with teenagers. Here is where I would start:

1. Plan your busy days first! Start with your days that you have a busy or tight schedule. Plan meals that are easily prepped ahead of time or super quick to throw together. For example, choose a roast or soup that can be throw together in the slow cooker in the morning before you leave, and dinner is ready to be served when you need. Another possible option might be taking a meal straight out of the freezer and just heating it through. Even choosing to use leftovers from another day, and serving them with a salad and warm bread is a great choice! Whatever works for your family and is something simple for you to prepare.
2. Next, plan your “relaxed” days! Now that the most crazy stuff is out of the way, meal plan the days where you have more time for meal prep and cooking. These are the days you might try out a new recipe, roast a whole chicken, or create a dish that is considered a “labor of love”. If you are not a huge fan of cooking, then you might just keep it simple with fresh or roasted vegetables and chicken or pork. Be sure to think ahead and decide whether you will feel motivated to be a creative chef at that point in the week, or maybe you will simply want food on the table. If the former, then pick out a fun recipe to try and go crazy! If the latter, then prepare for that when planning by putting something easy and quick on the menu for that day.
3. Find your recipes, including snacks! If you want to have chicken alfredo for dinner on Tuesday, but you have never made it, then you need to find a recipe you want to try out now. Don’t wait until Tuesday. However, if you have a favorite recipe, then you need to make sure you know where it is and that you can get ahold of it quickly. Maybe printing it out, if desired, or you can just save it on your phone. Whatever works best for you, but find the recipes you want when you are making the menu. This will help you with the next step.
4. Make your grocery list! Use the recipes, especially the lists of ingredients, to create your grocery list. While I sometimes fall into this, try not to just go off of memory of what you have in the pantry or what you think the recipe needs. Check the recipe requirements and compare with what you have in the pantry. If you find you need more, then put it on the list!
5. Don’t forget! Especially when you are just creating the habit of writing out a menu, be sure to take notes! Write down in the notes section where you found that recipe, or if you need to prep something at a certain time, or even if you have to remember that someone has a certain allergy or diet restriction. Whatever you need to remember, keep it in the notes section and hang it on the fridge or elsewhere in your kitchen so that it is easy to access.

To help you implement these strategies, I created a helpful tool for you all to use: a meal planning download. This is totally free, and I really just wanted to help with the organizing the chaos as I know from experience how difficult that can be. Hopefully this download and these tips help your meal times have a little less chaos!

Hi there! I’m Chelsey!

Welcome to my blog God’s Gift of Creativity! Join me as I share my love for crochet, crafts, and cooking and show you how you can do it too!

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