Meal Planning

Meal planning can be a chore, but also a ton of fun if you find the right resources to work with! IT is so nice to come home in the evening, knowing exactly what we're having for dinner, rather than running around to put something together, and usually - missing a key ingredient.

I am on vacation now, but still on a different schedule (7 hours difference) so I spend time in the middle of the night ssearching the web for all sorts of things.

If you are brand new to meal planning, I suggest you follow these few steps, and search for Meal Planning ideas on the web!

1. Make a list of meals your family enjoy eating.

2. Make a list of ingredients needed for all of these meals.

3. Make a weekly (two-week, three-week or monthly) calendar where you can plug in the meal ideas. If you only want to plan dinners you will have plenty of room. If you want to plan every meal, you need to make sure you can fit it in the calendar space as well as label the different meals with the meal time. Example: Monday: Breakfast - scrambled eggs and bacon, Lunch - Mac and Cheese with Broccoli, Dinner: - Grilled chicken, Orzo salad and mixed veggies.
You can be as detailed as you want, or just jot down enough for yourself to remember.

4. Plug the meals you want to have over the next week(2, 3 or 4 week)period. Keep in mind that some days are busier with activities, and you might want to do lighter meals (or take out) on those days. Even so, jot it down if you plan on it. Keep in mind - there is nothing wrong with having breakfast for dinner (cereals, boiled eggs, pancakes etc), and sometimes doing so makes for a less stressful evening!

5. Then hang the meal plan on the fridge. Every night before going to bed, check the meal plan for the next couple of days to see if you need to thaw anything out.

Of course, I could go into more detail with this, but for right now, this is a start. There are many web sites out there that have many ideas and printable meal planning sheets for you to use. I have my meal plan laminated so that I can re-use it rather than throw it away. If you make it all on the computer and print the whole filled-in meal plan out, you should keep it and just use the same schedule later on. Makes for less work in making the plan when you already have a schedule you can put into a rotation!

Happy planning!