Meal Planning can either be one of the best parts of the week, or one of the most daunting. I’m going to help you make it one of the BEST parts of your week!
Once you get organized about how to begin your meal plan, it becomes simple and enjoyable. You will feel organized and ready for quick shopping trips.
Let’s get started!
First things first… You will need something to write all your meals and grocery lists on.
Hard Covered Journal
- Hard Cover
- Lay Open & Flat By Itself
- You can write and view both sides of the pages in one glance
I use a hard covered journal type book that fits in my purse. The hard cover makes it durable and keeps my pages from getting wrinkled or ripped. Having a book with a hard cover also lets me it across my purse in the cart while I’m shopping. I can easily see my list while I’m shopping and cross off things as I go.
While you are writing in your journal you won’t want to be fighting to keep it open. So choose something that will stay open as you browse Pinterest or other sites looking for recipes (Here is a Low Carb Sausage Gravy Recipe to get you started). Trust me, it’s just easier to have a book that will stay open.
The next section you will see why it’s important to choose a book where you can write on both sides of the pages and view both pages at the same time.
Journal Set Up
The way I set up my journal is to write my meal plan for dinners and some lunches on the left page and then on the right page I put my grocery list that corresponds to the meal plan. It’s a great reference when you are in the store and can’t remember why something is on your grocery list.
If you don’t have a book or journal you can easily do this on a larger piece of paper. When I just started this method, I used a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. If you lay out the paper in front of you landscape and fold it over in half, then open it back up you have what looks like an open book. I made the left half of the paper my meal list and the right half my grocery list.
On the Left Page of your Journal
Start by writing out each day of the week down the side of the page. I start on Saturday and write each day down the side of page until I get to Friday. Now you have your days of the week and you can start writing in the dinners for the week.
If you have traditional meals on certain nights of the week, fill those in first. I fill in ‘Pizza’ on Friday and ‘Taco Tuesday’ on Tuesday. Boom!!! 2 days done! Only 5 more dinners to go!
On the Right Page of your Journal
The right side page is for you grocery lists. As you write meals to fix on the left, you will write the food you need to fix those meals on the right page.
I wrote ‘Taco Tuesday’ on my meal list. So, on the right page I’m going to write turkey meat, tortillas (or shells), lettuce, black olives, taco seasoning, cheese, and whatever else I need to make Taco Tuesday on my grocery list.
Each time you add a meal on the left, you will add the ingredients you need to make those meals to your grocery list on the right.
After you have finished planning your week of meals, you will also have your grocery list completed! Now you are ready to SHOP! Almost…
You will definitely want to clean out your refrigerator of last weeks left overs before you shop for more food. It makes it easier to put away the new food and it makes me feel ready and organized for the new week ahead!
Helpful Tips for Meal Planning
♦ I will usually start my meal planning on Thursday. Planning meals is not usually a quick task, and if I start on Thursday it gives me a couple days to work on it before I food shop on Saturday. It gives me time to change my mind or look for other recipes I may want to try.
♦ One of the first things I do is to clean out my refrigerator before I go grocery shopping! I actually start this process on Wednesday or Thursday night at dinner time. One of these 2 nights I will usually meal plan “Left Over Night.” After prepping on Sunday for the week, by Thursday it’s time to either eat any of left overs or throw them out. Gasp!!! Exactly — Throw out food… what a waste of money. I will pull out all the left overs for the week and that’s what we will have for dinner. It ends up kinda like a buffet on the counter. I don’t have to cook, the family is fed, my refrigerator is cleaned out and it saves money too! #WinWinWinWin
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