What do you think of when you hear the words meal planning?

Chances are, when it comes to meal planning, you fall into one of three categories.  You either 1) LOVE it.  It’s a part of your regular routine; 2) Have done it before, but haven’t found a system that works to keep it up regularly; or 3) Have thought about it, but haven’t jumped in yet.  How do you create a meal plan again?

To be honest, meal planning is something that I didn’t really do intentionally until Hubs and I were married.  Prior to that, I was in grad school – living with roommates, and frankly, eating whatever I wanted.  Cereal for dinner?  Sure.  Toss whatever meat is leftover over a bed of greens for a filling salad built for one.  Yes.

But then we got married and I had to start thinking about someone else’s tastes each night.  We knew that we weren’t going out to eat every single night – so meal planning it was.

Since then, we’ve gone through many seasons of meal planning.  Sometimes we’re really great at it and other times we let it slide.

But, creating a family meal plan and sticking to it is something that over the past several months, I’ve made a renewed commitment to.  In fact, I’m happy to report that in January this year, for the first time IN MY LIFE, I planned our whole month of meals ahead of time and let me just tell you.

IT IS A GAME CHANGER. 

Why You Need a Family Meal Plan

Growing up, I remember hearing my mom thinking about what we should have for dinner.  Of course, no one had strong preferences, so we weren’t giving any ideas.  And she said, “I will cook anything.  I just wish someone would tell me what to cook.”

Now that I’m a mom, that resonates so much with me.  There is almost nothing more stressful or chaotic than having the kids up from their naps or worse – witching hour – without a concrete plan for what you’re cooking for dinner.

Maybe you can relate.  So, if you aren’t in the regular practice of meal planning, here are my top reasons why you should start meal planning today.

Meal Planning Saves Money

First of all, meal planning saves you money.  If you know what you’re cooking, you can easily look through your pantry/fridge/freezer and see what ingredients you are missing for your grocery list.

This not only saves you trips to the grocery store since you can grab everything you need at once, but it also allows you to keep your food waste to a minimum since you are regularly taking stock of what you have on hand and buying things that you have a plan for using.

Additionally, meal planning decreases the number of impulse decisions to go out to dinner or pick up fast food.

Meal Planning is Healthier for You

Anyone else been out to dinner and taken a look at some of the nutrition facts or ingredients on what you’re eating?  It’s not always pretty.  Sure.  It’s sometimes pretty depending on where you go, but more often than not, cooking at home is a healthier choice.

You can control the portion sizes, and ingredients in your food.  You can make healthier substitutions in you need.  Basically, meal planning puts you in control.

Meal Planning Saves Time (& Reduces Stress)

And here is the most important thing for me.  Meal planning saves me time and stress.  When I spend a short time planning ahead, I can eliminate the stress of wondering what’s for dinner each night. 

Any busy mom has knows (or at least has known at some point) how stressful it can be getting dinner on the table with little ones underfoot.  Asking for snacks, crying, begging you to play.  It can be a hectic few minutes, at least it can be around here.

Meal planning allows me to start each day knowing exactly what we’re having for dinner.  This means I can take all the meat out of the freezer so that it’s defrosted and ready to be cooked when it’s time.  I can prep anything complicated during naps.  And I can plan ahead if there are steps I can take before each day to make sure the actual cooking/serving process is as smooth as it can be.

If I don’t meal plan ahead of time, there is about a 65% chance we’ll be at Chick-Fil-A that night.  (Honestly, probably a little higher than that on any given day.  But I can sometimes throw something together depending on how our afternoon is going.) And considering that my one year old needs to order off the menu now, you can imagine how quickly those little nights out can add up if we aren’t careful.

Have I convinced you yet? 

So, you know WHY you should start meal planning, but HOW do you get started?

I am so glad that you asked.

How to Get Started with Meal Planning

The very first thing you need to do is get rid of the idea that meal planning has to be difficult and/or elaborate. 

I’m here to tell you that EVERYONE can become great at meal planning.  And it does NOT have to be painful.

1.  Block off 20-30 minutes to plan your meals for the week.

I used to do this on Saturday or Sunday each week, but after planning all of January’s meals at once, I’m hoping to get into a monthly routine.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what day of the week you plan.  You can do it on the weekends or with your grocery store’s ad cycle.  Whenever you choose – just make sure you choose a time when you can sit down for a good 20-30 minute chunk of time to focus on meal planning.

2.  Make a list of all the meals you ALREADY like to eat.

What are the meals your family enjoys eating?  The meals you already know how to cook and know that everyone loves?  Your comfort food.  Write all of those things down.

I like to find new recipes and try new things, but I tend to do this only about once a month and always on the weekends when Hubs is home with the boys so I can be in the kitchen.  If it’s good, we add it to our rotation and if it’s just okay, we don’t.

But, this is not the time to try something new and fancy.  Just write down what you like.  You’re more likely to stick to it if it’s something you’re already comfortable with.

3.  Consider your schedule.

What activities are on your calendar?  This will help you know what meals are good for which days.  In our family, for example, I try to cook things that I know will give leftovers on Mondays and Tuesdays since this gives us  a buffer for the rest of the week for lunches.  On Wednesdays, we have small group, so it’s always something quick and easy.

Fridays are usually burgers or pizza, and so on.

There might also be nights that you know you will be going out.  Consider that too.  Eating out isn’t bad – it’s just better to eat out because you planned and WANT to rather than eating out because you HAVE to since you don’t have anything to cook at home.

4.  Plug in your meals.

This sounds too simple, because it really is.  Take your list of meals, and just choose 5-6 for the week and plug them into your calendar.  You can also choose 7 to make sure you’re covered for the whole week.  I tend to make leftovers during the week though so I don’t have to cook every single night.

I also find it’s helpful to write down everything you’re having so you can remember it during the week, but also so you have a record of what you’ve already eaten to keep from eating the same thing over and over (unless you don’t mind that, in which case – do that!).

5.  Take stock of your pantry & make your grocery list.

Once you know what you’re cooking, you can make a list of all the ingredients you need.  Whatever you don’t have on hand goes onto your shopping list for the week.

6.  Look at the meal plan each day so you can prep in the morning.

I write all my meals down in my daily planner so I start out each day knowing what’s for dinner.  This lets me take out any meat that needs to defrost, start the crockpot, or make any other plans to prep before dinner time arrives to make my life a little simpler.

That’s it.  That’s what we do around here.  And I am not exaggerating when I say that it has made a HUGE difference in how much less stress I have each day when I know ahead of time what’s for dinner.

Everyone’s meal plan will look different and that’s totally fine.  Find a routine that works well for you.  Like most new habits, the most important step is starting. 

PIN IT FOR LATER:

Are you a meal planner?  If not, what holds you back from meal planning?

Finally, if you have ANY questions about meal planning/getting started/meal prep/meal ideas, I’d love to know!  Leave a comment (or send me an email) and let me know!