“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” Luke 14:28 ESV
Here to help
Last week, I had dinner with a table full of busy mamas and the topic of meal planning came up. I briefly told them how I couldn’t live without mine and since then I’ve been asked a few times to teach any tips and tricks I have. In all honesty, I’m not sure I have anything to offer to the meal planning conversation that isn’t already out there somewhere in the magical internet-land, but I’m happy to teach what I know and if it helps you, great!
What is a meal plan?
The very core of meal planning is just simply planning ahead for your family’s meals. Duh, right? But so many I know, myself included, can feel paralyzed at meal time if there isn’t a plan in place. We stand there staring into the fridge or pantry not knowing what we can make that will nourish the hungry family whose eyes are now glaring into the back of our heads waiting for their bellies to be filled. We feel the pressure and may just crumble, resorting to not-so-nourishing fast food, take out, or frozen pizza. So a meal plan solves the question of “what are we having?” and makes sure the correct food is in the kitchen.
Why meal plan?
The possible answers to this question are endless! But it pretty much all boils down to the fact that we are plain ol’ busy, yo! Unless your life is so devoid of all things interesting that you are able to spend an entire day going back and forth to the grocery store for the food you’ll need for each meal (that you just spent the previous several hours deciding to eat), then you need a meal plan, friend! And if you don’t, then please take that extra time, come over to my house, and help a girl out with some laundry, cleaning, cooking, homeschooling, graphic design, and social media promo PRONTO! For those who DO need this in their lives, once you have this rolling, you’ll be shocked at the time and money you save! No more question as to what you’ll eat, no more wasted food found rotting in the fridge (What IS that smell? Amiright?!), and no more wasted time standing around debating with your people while tummies are growling and the clock is ticking.
How do I get started?
I’m going to be honest with y’all. Meal planning takes a little bit of time on the front end. BUT, once you’ve got a plan in place it becomes like an automated machine! I made my first legit meal plan several years back and have revised it here and there as we’ve gotten sick of a certain meal or fell in love with a new one. But other than that, I don’t even think about it! I have a coordinating shopping list too, so each week on shopping day, I print out the upcoming weeks’ list, we shop till we drop, and then we’re set for the week! No worrying, no wasted food, no wasted time.
So let’s break down the 10 simple steps I took to build a 4-week meal plan for my family of 5:
Step one- list it out
Start a list on a piece of paper of your family’s favorite meals. You cannot create a meal plan and then realize you never put in little Billy Bob’s fave dinner or you’ll soon be hearing about it. That will create additional trips to the store, deviation from the plan, added cost, and potentially wasted food. So don’t miss anyone’s faves! One caveat would be if said favorite meals are NOT SIMPLE. Sorry, Billy Bob. If your fave meal is going to keep me in the kitchen for hours, then it ain’t makin’ the cut for the plan. Our family has some favorites that require a bit more time than I have available in an evening, so we save those for holidays or birthdays.
Step two- easy meals
Add to the list some meals you could make blindfolded. Spaghetti? Yes. My Southwestern chili? Exactly.
Write down absolutely anything that you or someone in your home can cook quickly and easily, as long as it’s nourishing! That IS the whole point of this, after all!.
Step three- inspiration
Get inspired. Come follow me over on Pinterest and scroll and click until your shirt is covered in drool. Look for key words like “easy” or “quick” and check out the recipe. If it’s something you think your fam would eat, go ahead and print it out right then. Yes, I said print. I’m old fashioned like that. And guess what? IT SAVES MORE TIME. There won’t be any waiting for pages to load or clicking ads out of the way, you will actually have a piece of paper you can simply keep in the kitchen (I keep mine in a binder), open to, and start reading!
Step four- print a plan
You can grab a blank meal plan and print out 4 copies (for 4 weeks). You can make a longer meal plan if you get bored with food quickly or shorter if cooking more than a few different meals scares you. You decide!
Step five- start filling in the plan
Get a pencil in case you want to make changes and start inputting meals. It’s totally ok to repeat some that you may want weekly or bi-weekly. We repeat our Friday meal every week because we love it. And we do pizza and sushi twice a month each. So fill in all of the meals you want more than once every 4 weeks. Then start filling in the blank spaces with the other meals you’ve chosen from your family faves or Pinterest.
Step six- note prep
Under each day’s meals, you’ll see a place to note any prep work you may forget, so go ahead and note it while you’re thinking in detail about these meals. For us, some common ones are thawing things that we cooked ahead or keep in the freezer due to lack of preservatives. Look at each recipe if you need to in order to determine what these little things would be. This is a major time and sanity saver in the long run, so don’t skip this important step!
Step seven- list ingredients
While you’re going through each day, note the ingredients in its section at the bottom. Don’t leave anything off the list because you “always have it around” because there will come a day when it’s out and you didn’t buy more because it wasn’t on the list! Again, it may seem trivial to list each spice or herb you want in the dish, but don’t leave anything out.
Your meal plan is done! Seriously, that was it! That wasn’t too hard, was it? Now let’s finish up by making the grocery list.
Step eight- print a grocery list
Now, this is a step I can’t do for you because our meal plans are all going to be tailored to our own family’s needs and wants, but it’s still important nonetheless. For each week’s meal plan that you made, you will make an individual grocery list. So if you have 4 weeks’ worth of plans, you will have 4 grocery lists. NOTE: I label my meal plans “week 1”, “week 2”, etc. Be sure to label your grocery lists the same to avoid confusion.
I break my shopping list up into 5 sections: produce, dry, cold, frozen, and other (a place for anything other than the food you need). So for each week, start listing out all of the ingredients from the meal plan onto the appropriate section of your grocery list. Write it all. So if weeks 1 and 3 require dried basil, put it down on both. Trust me.
Step nine- compile the lists
Put all of these lovely documents (meal plans, coordinating grocery lists, and recipes) into a binder and keep it handy! I have a cute wire basket on my kitchen counter with a couple of cookbooks and this binder.
Step ten- copy the list
Each week, before you shop, take that week’s master list and copy it for your list to take to the store. Put the master back in the binder. With the copied list in hand, take a look at your fridge, freezer, pantry, and cupboards and cross off the things you have plenty of for that upcoming week’s meals (ie: dried basil). On the blank lines, write down any additional items you need that are not a part of the meal plan, such as snacks, batteries, shampoo, etc. I also note any other errands we have to do while we’re out.
All done!
That’s it! You’re ready to shop for only the foods you’ll need that week and you’ll be ready when the previously dreaded mealtimes come around! Once you get in the habit of using this, it will become such an automatic part of your life that you will wonder how you ever survived without it. Try it today!
Looking for accountability? Join our super-awesome Facebook group over HERE where we believe in eating more plants, sharing ideas and recipes, and encouraging one another on our journeys toward health. We’d love to have you join us!
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