5-Step Meal Planning

I love meal planning.  Actually, I don’t love to meal plan, but I love HAVING a meal plan.  Lots of people ask me to share my monthly plans or ask me how I do it. While I am happy to share my monthly plan, only YOU know what your family will eat, their allergies, and their favorite recipes.

I've been doing this for so long, it’s become second nature. I decided that I should put together some instructions for the best way to plan. Don’t be intimidated by this!  I’m being detailed in order to cover all the bases, but the theory behind it is quite simple.

The set-up take a little time, but I promise it is worth it! And if you find that it is NOT worth it, Jason said I should start my own business creating menus and shopping lists for busy families....stay tuned.

Step 1: Make a list of all your favorite recipes or meals.

Even if you don’t meal plan for an entire month, this is helpful.  When it comes to deciding what you want for dinner, you can quickly look at this list and remember all that dishes that you and your family love. For instance, I recently made the stew featured on the blog, with a side of Focaccia bread, that I keep in my white binder, where I keep all my favorite desserts and bread recipes.

Meal Name	Recipe Book/ Page #	Side Dish	Recipe Book/Page #
Italian Sausage Stew	Blog	Focaccia Bread	White Binder
White Chicken Chili	BHG, page 248

I love Excel, so I make a spreadsheet and can sort it alphabetically, and later add in more recipes. 

Step 2: Set up your calendar.

I print out a blank monthly calendar to begin.  Talk with your family about the events that month.  You’ll want to make notes when someone is working late, out of town, a child has an evening activity, or anything else that will impact how many are eating or how much time you have to cook. You’ll also want to mark birthday parties, or events where you’ll be eating out, so you don’t plan a meal for that day. (on mine you'll see "Brady's Wedding", and "Board Meeting")

Step 3: Create a pattern (this step is optional, but recommended).

Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Slow Cooker Wednesday, Pasta Thursday, Pizza Friday – whatever you like.  I find this helps, again, even if you don’t meal plan.  If you run out of time to plan for the week, you can improvise based on a pattern.  Personally, my plan generally includes the following:

• Sunday: Complicated meals taking 2-3 hour to prep/cook 
• Mondays: Meatless 
• Thursday: Usually leftovers 
• Friday: Pizza or Takeout

Step 4: Establish some guidelines (again, optional).

I shop on Sundays, so I like to make sure I plan any fish meals for Monday – Tuesday to make sure the fish is its freshest.  Some other things I think about are:

• I don’t like to eat red meat more than once per week
• No more than two NEW recipes per week (new recipes can be exciting or disastrous – you don’t want to upset the whole family!)
• Plan for leftovers, especially if you’re making slow cooker meals or soups/stews.
• Look for recipes that align (ex: you have two recipes that call for 'cooked chicken' - you can buy 2 pounds and cook it all on Sunday so its ready during the week.)

Step 5: Create your monthly (or weekly) menu. 

All the previous steps will help you plan for the week or the month, depending on what you need. As you pencil in, you can be very specific: Sloppy Joes (blog), Roasted Potatoes, Steamed Green Beans, or more generic: Breakfast for Dinner. If you can't remember off-hand the page number or location of the recipe, write it on the menu as well. It will save you time later.  I stress the use of pencil, because it will change, and you need to be flexible.  You can include breakfasts, lunches, & desserts on the menu too.  Sometimes l include breakfasts on the weekends and desserts, but I generally just focus on dinner. 

Below is a photo of January’s plan – I want you to see that it doesn't have to be pretty, and that you should make notes as the month goes along. You can see things crossed off, added, I even wrote “Yuck” on a new recipe I made that did not turn out.

Post it on the fridge or in a space where the whole family can see it.... that way no one ever has to ask, "What are we having for dinner tonight?"

Once you find a plan that works, you could simply reuse it every month.  I have so many recipes I love that I am on a 3-month rotation with slight adjustments. Hold onto old copies for future inspiration.   

In the comments section below, let us know your tips (or questions) about meal planning. I would love to hear how other people do it!