MEAL PLANNING 101
I have always loved to cook but I noticed that when my family was much younger I would head out to the grocery store and fill my cart with things we liked before venturing home to fill my cupboards with my purchases. Even though I did a weekly grocery shopping I did not have a well stocked kitchen. My purchases would end up spoiling in the fridge and in my cupboards because I didn't have all the ingredients on hand to put a full meal together and we would end up eating out night after night.
There is no right or wrong way to meal plan. You need to find out what works for you. I am going to share would I have found over the years has worked for me and my family.
KEEP RUNNING LISTS
To help keep meal planning easy for me I keep a running list of what is in my freezer right in the back of my planner/journal. I update it every day when I pull something out of my freezer. This helps with both meal planning and knowing when I should be looking for some good sales to stock up on meat. I usually don't but meat every week when I grocery shop. If my freezer is stocked full then I don't buy it unless I find an amazing sale. Currently, in my freezer, I have enough meat for 45 meals. We usually have at least 1 to 2 meatless meals every week.
I also like to keep track of my pantry stock. I find I can do that by just glancing because my pantry is easily accessible and I am in it all the time so I don't need to keep a running list. I do have a small memo pad on the side of the fridge to mark down items I run out of mid week.
CHECK YOUR WEEKLY SALE FLYERS
When my weekly flyers come out I always check them to see what is on sale that I might want to incorporate into my meal plan or need to stock up on. If there is a sale on our favourite spaghetti sauce I will stock up on that item because I know we go through it regularly.
WRITE DOWN YOUR MEAL PLAN
I keep my meal planning in my planner every week but you can just write it down on a piece of paper and post it on your fridge or somewhere you can see it. I plan for one week at a time because that works best for our family. When I meal plan I also have a list of lunch and breakfast ideas that are available in case there are no leftovers in the fridge. When I do my meal planning I do not plan on eating out at all. It is just not in our budget so I never plan for it.
I always take stock of my fridge before sitting down and doing my meal planning so that nothing gets wasted or spoiled. I ask for input from my family members for some meal ideas that they are craving and try to incorporate that into my menu plan each week.
BRING A LIST
Make a list of all the items you need to purchase to complete your meals for the week. I do my shopping on Thursday or Friday so that if there is any meal that requires a lot of prep I can do it on either Saturday or Sunday and have it ready for the week.
Let's Chat!
What did I miss? What keeps you motivated and on track in the kitchen?
