Meal Planning...in a doable way

Plan one or two weeks of meals so you can decrease the trips to the store!

Getting Started:

• Make a list of "Tried and True" meals that you've made and you know your family loves
• Include simple meals, too, such as grilled cheese, and you can also include side dishes
• Make a list of recipes you want to try
• This is where you add variety! Incorporate a few from this list every month so it's not overwhelming. If they're not good, cross them off! If they are good, move them to your "Tried and True" list!
• Optional: categorize your lists
• You can sort according to type of food, where the recipe is from, or what ethnicity of food, etc.
• Decide if you want to have any food goals, such as trying a dish with rice every week or serving vegetables with each meal.
• Determine your time frame: Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. 
• Decide this based on how often you want to shop. If you plan for two weeks, you should aim to buy what you need for those two weeks (except maybe produce) to limit trips to the store.

Multiple ways to approach it:

1. CALENDAR APPROACH: Assign a meal or specific leftovers for each day, written on a calendar. Make sure to plan breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, desserts, etc.-whatever your family eats, you should plan (at least generally plan..."PBJ for lunches" at least!) You can also use the calendar approach for dinners and the second approach for breakfast and lunches.
• PROS: everything is planned and you don't have to worry about making any decisions, no surprise trips to the store
• CONS: sometimes you just don't feel like eating what you planned, not as flexible
2. PICK IT DAILY APPROACH: Plan enough meals for your family for your time frame, but meals are not assigned, so you can pick what meal to make form your list for that day. MAke sure to plan breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, desserts, etc.-whatever your family eats, you should plan (at least generally plan..."PBJ for lunches" at least!)
• PROS: more flexible, accommodates what sounds better that day, 
• CONS: still need to decide day of or day before what meal you want to make

The Shopping part of it:

• Go through the recipes (check, even if you know it by heart!) and write down what you need. Checking the recipes will eliminate a lot of extra trips for forgotten things!
• Plan enough meals for your time frame (week, two weeks, etc.), then double your shopping list for meals to cover twice as long
• OR plan out a longer time (2 weeks, month, etc.) with different meals
• Plan things to use in your cupboard but make sure to restock to keep ingredients on hand and for basic food storage

Tips, Tips, Tips...

• Plan meals that use fresh produce near the beginning of the week, or closer to your shopping day. Plan meals that use cooked or frozen produce later in the week so they don't need to be as fresh.
• Plan a variety, but work with what you are using. If you're making a chicken dish and defrosted a big thing of chicken, make a chicken dish the next meal too.
• Don't forget to plan for lunches! You can plan general food, such as lunch meats, bread, cheese, peanut butter, etc. to have on hand
• Also plan snacks and desserts because we all need those...and you don't want to make a midnight run to the store for those things either!
• You can either plan to make a meal and have the leftovers the next night, too, or you can make a new meal for two nights in a row and then have the leftovers for two more nights. This allows you to still alternate meals and not have the same things multiple nights in a row.
• When you plan a meal, double the recipe and freeze the leftovers for a night that you don't have time to cook or something comes up (freezer bags work great, even for soups!)
• Keep a list of recipes you want to try (on your fridge or wherever you'll see it...on a "Notes" list!! see below) so you can incorporate it into your meal planning
• MAKE SURE TO WRITE DOWN YOUR PLAN! If you don't, you'll get home from the store and think, "What did I think I could make with all this stuff?!?" However you do it, just make sure to write down your plan!! Options:
• Use a normal monthly calendar to plan long-term meals and write down planned activities that may include meals (school/church dinners, etc.)
• Have a two-week calendar that you fill out
• Fill out just dinner or all meals of the day
• Make a penciled calendar for two weeks so you make sure enough meals are planned, but then list the meals as a list so you can pick what sounds good that day or the day before and cross them off as you make them
• Meal plan however is EASIEST for you! You're going to loathe cooking unless you ENJOY IT!! Make it fun, involve your kids, give them a day to be in charge of or help cook, etc. Cooking is something hard to avoid, so MAKE IT FUN!