Meal Planning 101
Want to save money and time this week? Then a meal plan is your new best friend!
In this article I’m sharing with you how to meal plan for a successful week of eating. Whether you’re trying not to order takeout as much, are sick of eating like crap, or would actually like to ENJOY a nice meal at home, meal planning is here to save the day! I was a mess before planning out my meals…and if you feel like this is not for you because “you’re not a planner”, don’t worry…the benefits definitely outweigh the 20 minutes its going to take you to do this…
Read below for the meal planning step-by-step process or watch this video to see me plan in action!
How to Meal Plan
Step 1: Take Inventory of your pantry and refrigerator
This doesn’t have to be complicated and you don’t need a giant list of “inventory” to do each week (I’ve done inventory enough times at the restaurants I’ve worked at and would like to never do that again, thanks lol). Just take a peak at what’s in the fridge and pantry and determine if there are any foods that should get eaten this week. Is there some broccoli that needs to get cooked? Leftovers you can have for a lunch this week? Make a note of it.
If you have a list of items that you ALWAYS keep on hand in your pantry (like eggs, bread, etc.), this is a good time to see if you need to restock some of those items. Start your shopping list and write down any foods that need to be purchased. I have a video of my go-to pantry list here.
Step 2: Check Out the Grocery Ad
To get some inspiration for this week’s meals and see what is on sale or in season, I like to look at the weekly ad mailed to me from the grocery store I’ll be shopping at. If you don’t get one mailed to you, you can always find it online. This way, if I see that pork chops are on sale this week, I’ll be sure to incorporate pork chops into my meal plan. This step of course is optional but I find it helps me save money overall.
Step 3: Brain Dump Meal Ideas
I write down all of the days of the week I’ll be needing to cook for myself, then underneath I start writing down all my ideas. If I’m craving salmon or burgers or pizza or whatever, I’ll write it down. This helps just get all your ideas from your head onto paper, without any commitment yet of assigning meals to the days of the week.
My Typical Brain Dump Meal Categories:
Chicken
Pork
Beef
Vegetarian
Salad
Soup
Fish
Shellfish
Pizza
Pasta
Step 4: Find Recipes
If you’re like me and can’t whip up a meal without a recipe, this step is CRUCIAL! Take a look at your inventory list of foods that should be eaten this week. Take a look at what’s already on your shopping list, then look for recipes online or in your recipe box that incorporate them. For instance, if you need to buy potatoes anyway since you’re almost out, you might consider making potato soup this week. Or if you see that lemons and chicken are on sale this week, you might find a nice lemon chicken recipe online.
I use pinterest mostly for my meal inspirations, but I also reference cookbooks and my own recipe collection as well. Find what works for you. Finding recipes online can be overwhelming, so I like to set a timer so I don’t get sucked into the black hole of ideas.
Tips For Choosing Recipes for the Week
save recipes you find on Pinterest to boards labeled by category (like chicken, vegetarian, etc.) or make a board specifically for this week’s meals
use recipes that have minimal ingredients or ingredients that you already have on hand (this is where a “must-have” pantry list of items you ALWAYS keep in the kitchen will come in very handy)
use recipes that are simple and short on time. There’s no reason to make every night of cooking a big production! (unless you want to, of course)
always try to double dip on ingredients you’re buying for the week. For instance, if I am buying buns for burgers one night, I might do chicken sandwiches another night so the extra buns don’t go to waste.
Step 5: Write It All Down
If you chose lemon chicken for a meal, assign it to one of the days of the week. This doesn’t mean you have to stick to exactly that day, but as you write each meal down, you’ll see how many more days you need to plan for.
For each recipe you choose, make sure to write down all of the ingredients you need to buy for it in your shopping list.
Once you’ve finished choosing your meals, you now have a shopping list to take with you to the store and a list of meals for the week! So…no more having to decide each night what you’ll be eating and worrying if you have the ingredients on hand to make it.
Make sure to watch the video above to see all these steps in action! I hope this was helpful and good luck meal planning this week! If you need a sample meal plan that is super budget friendly, I’ve got you!