admin Whether you have over indulged over the festive season, or you want to start to eats healthier or save some money, then your solution is to start meal planning. Personally I meal plan for a month, but if you are starting off or still have not got the hang of it, then start off planning on a weekly basis. These 10 tips will help you create a weekly meal plan quickly.
1. Know your schedule for the week
What are your plans for the upcoming week? Are certain nights busier than others? If you know you have a busy night because of after school activities or because of work exigencies, than stick to an easy meal. Leave the more complicated meals for when you have more time on your hand.
2. Want to save money, then use what you have
Sometimes when we lack inspiration, we just look at cookbooks and compile our shopping list without even looking at what we already have at home. When meal planning it has to be the other way round. Do you have half-used items in your fridge? Do you have something in your pantry that is approaching expiration date? Well, if you want to save money on your grocery bill, then those items are a good starting point for your weekly meal plan.
3. Get your kitchen organised
If you want to know what you have in your fridge, pantry and freezer then keep it organised. That is the only way to know what you have as quickly as possible. If you have multiple fridges, then make sure you have an inventory of what you have. Shop thy kitchen, before shopping the grocery store. Read more in this blog post about ingredients you should always have on hand.
4. Theme nights make life easier
Planning you weekly meal plan around theme nights makes it easy especially if you are just starting out. Allocate a theme for each day of the week such as Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Italian night on Wednesday, Soup night on Thursday and Asian Night of Friday.
5. Be creative with your menu
Don’t be afraid to try something new, or to use that gadget that has been hidden in your cupboard for months. Consider using your slowcooker more often or instant pot recipes (if you have one). Take note of the recipes that your family enjoyed and add them to your meal rotation.
6. Decide the meals for the week
You established your theme nights, checked what you already have…now it’s time to decide what meals you would like to have for dinner for the upcoming week.
7. Assign a day to each of your chosen meals
Now that you know the meals you want to make, it’s time to allocate for each day of the week. Keep in mind those evenings where you don’t have much time to cook. If you feel that assigning a day to your meals not your thing, then just keep a list of 7 meals and each day decide what you would like to have.
8. Have a back up plan
There will be days, where the day does not go according to plan. The idea behind meal planning is to reduce stress and to save money. However, if we opt for take out of those days where it does not go according to plan, than any cost saving you might have made will go out of the window. Keep an easy dinner on hand such as frozen pizza, or if you had already allocated a take out night in your meal plan, then swap days…don’t add an extra day of take out.
Personally I write my meals on my planner, and on my magnetic fridge planner. The magnetic fridge planner allows all the family know what’s for dinner and if need to take note of anything it does have space.
10. Keep it simple
Stick to planning for one week at a time. Don’t try to create complicated recipes…stick to what you know and what your family loves. As you get into the habit of meal planning, then try new things and maybe start planning for 2 weeks in advance.
Don’t give up if you don’t succeed immediately. If you manage to follow the plan for one day, it’s already a success…it’s ok even to swap days. Don’t be too hard on yourself…KEEP TRYING.
Love,
Strugglingmum xxx
