There are many ways to meal plan; you need to figure out what works best for you. If you want to jump in and try a monthly meal plan, great! For most, starting with a weekly meal plan is more realistic and manageable. Having a plan for the week allows you to also make a grocery list and have all the necessary ingredients on hand. You can move things around as life happens and plans change if you have everything you need for multiple meals already in your fridge/pantry.
Meal Database
I have found the easiest strategy for me is to have a meal database. What do I mean by meal database? I have a document that lists all the meals my family enjoys. This is a list of entree items only. I tend to wing it on the side dishes. It has evolved over the years and I have it broken into categories now. I have 2 main sections that are based on the seasons. We tend to like comfort type meals in the colder months and lighter meals in the warmer months so I have a section for each. From there, it is broken down by protein source: beef, poultry, pork, fish/seafood, meatless. Having this database allows me to scan the lists and grab items and plug them into my week.
While I have my database, I also like to try new recipes. I love cookbooks and trying recipes I see on social media. I tend to try new things over the weekend when I know I have more time. I sometimes call it “Fussy Sunday”. I am pretty fuss free most days of the week. On Sunday I like to take the time and try new things or make the meals that we enjoy but are a little more time consuming. Some recipes end up staying as a Sunday recipe and others are quick enough to be a weeknight meal.
Plug and Play
When I start plugging my meals into the weeks I take many things into account such as our evening activities/schedule, my daily work schedule (i.e. how much time I have to prepare a meal), alternating protein sources and style of meal to keep variety. I take into account if I need to use a crock pot or have the meal be portable if we have something like a track meet to attend. Sometimes I plan my weeks with theme days: Meatless Monday, Taco/Mexican Tuesday, Italian Thursday, Soup Saturday, etc.
Leftovers
If your meals have leftovers, make sure you have a plan for those as well. Will they be used for lunches? Could they be used for another meal on a day you don’t want to cook? Could you freeze and use it for another meal at a later time? We frequently use our leftovers for lunches and on Saturday leftover day. We make a buffet of options and everyone can choose what they want to eat that night based on whatever leftovers we still have on hand.
Finding Your Groove
Once you get rolling and have multiple weeks of meal plans it gets even easier! You can start to rotate through those weeks over and over and then making your plan goes even faster. I use an electronic calendar to plan and there are times when I copy whole weeks from the month before into the current month.
This week I challenge you to work on a meal database for your household. Use this printable worksheet to start building your personal database of entree items your family enjoys the most. Get everyone involved and see what you come up with as a group.
Happy Meal Planning!
-Lindsay
