My 5 Step Meal Planning

First off…how much do you LOVE the new look of the blog?? I am absolutely over the moon with it! Of course a new name to go along with it which I’m quite fond of and owe some love to my husband for helping me find a good fit. HA HA!

Now, lets talk about meal planning. I have gotten SO MANY questions about how I meal plan so I decided to answer them.

So what is meal planning? Honestly that depends on the person. Ultimately it’s some form of making a plan prior to grocery shopping so you know what to shop for and don’t over purchase. Your meal plan could be for a week, a month or even just a couple of days. Some only plan out dinners while I plan out breakfast, lunches, dinners and snacks. What can I say, I LOVE being organized!

It’s important to know that there is no wrong or right way to meal plan. I’m going to give you the way that I do things and you will find a way to adapt that to your lifestyle, or you could possibly totally change it up and have a totally different way to do things. You have to find what’s right for you and what works for you and your family. 

Okay, so down to business now. These are the steps I do to complete my weekly meal plan. I complete an adult meal plan and a kid meal plan since my children are picky eaters and do not eat a lot of things at the moment. Typically I add in one new item a week to test it out and see if they like it. If they do then it becomes part of the rotation.

Step 1: Find Your Inspiration

I am a Pinterest lover! I could seriously spend my whole day on there so throughout the week I pin recipes that I want to try out. I also own quite a few recipe books that I look through with sticky-notes in hand to mark the ones that interest me. I meal plan on Friday’s so I go into my Pinterest board and back to those ear marked recipes and decide which ones I will make that week. Once I know that I make sure to print them or ear mark them with a specific color sticky so I can find it quickly.

Step 2: Grab My Meal Planning Binder

I have already printed out weekly meal planning sheets, I have the container count (21 Day Fix) written for my husband and I, then I also have recipes that I pulled from magazines placed in the binder. Again, I am HUGE on being organized so my binder has tabs so I can quickly access what I am looking for. I also have a pocket divider in there to hold the current week’s meal plans and printed out recipes. 

Step 3: Lets Get Planning

This is the FUN part to me. I always start with planning out my dinners first. I do this because my husband and I follow the 21 Day Fix nutrition guide so whatever containers I don’t use for dinner are the containers that we eat during the day. For the kids meal plan I don’t have to start with dinner first but it’s become such a habit that I do it anyway. I like to ensure that our dinners are a variety each night so we typically don’t have chicken planned two nights in a row. I have very low iron so I ensure that once maybe twice a week we have beef in the plan. I also take note of what items I still have in the fridge/freezer to ensure I plan those in for the week. We typically don’t have much since I do meal plan and stick to my list when I shop but there are times when things come up and we don’t eat what is planned for that night. So I just rotate that dinner to the next week.

Once I’m done planning dinners then I go back and plan breakfast, lunches, dinners and snacks. Since the 21 Day Fix nutrition plan is based on so many of each container a day I make it a habit of simply checking off which containers have been utilized as I plan. This is something that is specific to me but when you meal plan you have the opportunity to ensure your body is getting all the different nutrients it needs and it really can help you start eating healthier, if you plan it out that way. 

Step 4: Make Your Shopping List

Now is when you sit down and make your shopping list. I have a way that I like to do this so I don’t miss anything that I need but you know what will work best for you. I live 30 minutes from the closest commissary (military grocery store) so I like to ensure EVERYTHING I need is on the list. When I do this I go through my recipes and write down how much I need of each item. So I start at Monday (my meal plans run Monday-Sunday) and go through each meal and write down what I need for each meal on a piece of paper. If an item I need is already on the list then I just add the amount (1 cup, 4 oz, etc.) beside it. Again, it probably seems excessive and you by no means need to go into this much detail but I am a bit obsessive about organization and I only go to the store once a week.

Once I list out all the items I need for my week of recipes then I go through my pantry, fridge and freezer and cross off anything that I already have which is again typically not much other than the spices, some cans of beans and stuff like that. Meal planning is about not over buying and we also eat mostly perishable items due to our clean eating lifestyle. While I am in there marking off what I don’t need, I also write down things we do need such as water, toilet paper, toothpaste, etc.

Once that is all done then I make my final shopping list. I use an app called ShopListFree which allows you to do your list on your iPhone or iPad. I normally use my iPad (bigger screen LOL) and then you can also add your items into the list and separate them into categories. It’s a great app but it does take a bit of time to set it up. You can also have multiple lists so if you like to coupon and you need things from different store then you can make separate lists. Then you can check them off when you are in the store.

Step 5: Shopping Time

Typically I would jump for joy but I am not a lover of grocery shopping LOL. Give me a mall or heck some online shopping and I am golden but the grocery store is probably one of my least favorites. I would account that to the fact that my two children (ages 1 ½ and 3) lose their minds in grocery stores but we have started a routine of mommy does the shopping and daddy takes the girls to the bowling alley where they also have food for sale and a big indoor playground. There are times that my husband isn’t able to take them to the bowling ally so I recently made these laminated shopping lists for the girls so they feel helpful, have something in their hands and it keeps them occupied looking for the items.  

With my list the shopping goes a lot quicker! If it’s not on the list then we don’t need it. The point of meal planning is to plan your meals out so you don’t have to just buy a bunch of random items to throw meals together. I plan out every meal so I know exactly what to buy to get us through the week so we don’t overspend and we don’t have a huge overstock of items taking space up. So no matter what you follow of my steps, this is probably the most important. When you are shopping stick to your list! Until it becomes habit/routine for you, you will worry that you won’t have what you need or you will just be tempted to buy those pop tarts just in case. I have been there and the weeks I skip my meal planning, that’s how I feel but if you do these steps then your list has what you need and you will likely have leftovers “just in case” so don’t freak out. 

On this note, people have asked if I coupon as well. I am not a huge coupon person. We have some lying around the house and I take a look at those but honestly we eat clean so most of the items we buy, you won’t find coupons for them. Our food goes bad, it’s not processed therefore I don’t really coupon. I do look for coupons for our paper towels or toothpaste and all those kind of items but I don’t have to have one and I am definitely not driving to multiple stores to get a deal for $1 off when gas here is very expensive and my time is money to me as well. If you are a coupon person and have the drive for that then I am in AWE of you! Keep on doing it! You rock! 

This might seem a little overwhelming but it does become easier as you do it. You find your groove and what works best for you then you will be able to do your planning very quickly. As complicated as it sounds, I do everything I listed here within 30 minutes (plus my Pinterest time during the week but I am already on there so I don’t count that LOL). Try it this way for a couple of weeks and you will see that it works and honestly my stress levels are a lot lower when I meal plan as opposed to when I don’t. I have also been known to type my shopping list as my husband is driving us to the store. What motivates me with meal planning is that I’m not only in the grocery store less time but I’m spending less money than when I just go and grab items. That’s when you are more likely to over buy out of fear of not having enough for the week. The big win for me is not standing in front of the fridge asking myself or my husband what we should have for dinner that night! It’s so nice to just go in, grab the items from the fridge and start cooking! Peace and harmony LOL!

If you have any questions then please feel free to ask me! Also, feel free to share your meal planning tips or even some couponing tips! I am always up to hearing some good ideas from like-minded friends. XoXo