Hey Sisters! I was sitting down to do my meal plan for the upcoming week and thought it might be helpful if I shared my strategy behind what I cook with you. As most of you can tell, I LOVE cooking and do it often. There are weeks that I nail it and we have fantastic dinners almost every night. You might be able to tell what those weeks are because my social media stories are filled with pics and videos of our meals. But, there are also weeks where I am lucky if I get one complete meal on the table for my family. This is not by chance. It’s a direct result of how I plan for the week. The first week happens because of the meal planning I do on the weekends and scheduling my grocery pick up for the weekend. The second week is a result of zero planning and trying to fly by the seat of my pants. Definitely NOT the way I like to roll. The first week results in us having loads of energy thanks to the super healthy, vegetable rich dinners that are full of color and flavor! I will also often have a container with vegetables all cut up and ready to eat so I can put it on the table with every snack and meal. The second week results in us having sub-par energy thanks to the frozen food (that I put on the grocery list for exactly these circumstances because I’m human), and little to no fruit or vegetables.
Thankfully this is a weekend where I am going to take time to prep for the week ahead. Here are the steps I take to plan our meals for the week. If you are still reading this, I take it’s because you might need a little help or inspiration in this area and I am thrilled to be able to help you even a little bit.
How I Meal Plan:
- Look at the family calendar and identify which nights will be special circumstances. Examples of this for our family would include nights where we won’t all eat together so we need something that can be kept warm in a slow cooker or kept cold in the refrigerator and eaten when needed. Another example is nights when we get home right at dinner time so we need something for the slow cooker. Lastly, identify who in the family is cooking each night so you plan the recipe accordingly. I like to cook my favorite meals on nights when my husband is doing kid pick ups so I can take my time and really enjoy the process of cooking a meal.
- Look in the refrigerator and make a mental list of leftover veggies or other perishables from the previous week. My #1 goal is to use these up first so I rack my brain for our favorite recipes that use those ingredients. Often times it is a recipe from the previous week that we ended up not needing.
- Once I have identified what I will make from the ingredients I already have, I will come up with 3-4 other meal ideas we haven’t had in a couple of weeks that match the kind of meal we need for each night and who is cooking. If you are in a rut and sick of making all your old recipes, give Emeals a try! Emeals is a subscription meal planning app that gives you the recipes for the week based on the type of menu you choose. It also makes your grocery list and schedules a pick up or delivery from your favorite store. It is a total game changer if you are someone who wants fresh, new ideas that make cooking more enticing!
- While I plan my menu, I make my grocery list at the same time on the Walmart Pick Up app and schedule my pick up for Sunday or Monday morning. If you are a person who works out of the home, I’d suggest getting the groceries on Sunday so you are prepared for the week before Monday hits. This will be me next year so I am mentally preparing myself!
- Use my dry erase board and write out the menu for the week and keep it on the refrigerator. Or Google “Meal Planning” images and you will find tons of adorable printables that will motivate you to get the menu planned and stick it on your refrigerator. I’ve tried to just have a few recipes in my mind about what I will make for the week, but this is less effective for me. I need to write out exactly what we will be having each night, otherwise 5:00 comes and I still haven’t decided what I am making. That results in not making anything from my list because all my decision making and energy for the day is gone by that hour.
- Lastly, in order to make this process work, I make it a priority to look at the menu for the next day each night before I go to bed. I figure out if I need to take meat out of the freezer the night before, I plan for what time the next day I will assemble the meal and will take into account how much time it needs to cook if I’m using the slow cooker.
You guys, this might sound like a lot of work. But, it’s truly not. The process takes me 10 minutes each weekend, but saves me so much time and energy during the week! Give it a shot! I’d love to know- Are you already a meal planner? Or are you ready to give my strategy a shot? Comment below and let us know! Or if you have questions on anything meal planning, I’d love to help answer them for you!
