I always find it interesting to hear how others meal plan so I thought I’d share my method with you. It’s very, very low tech, and I try to keep it easy. I plan for a month at a time. I like to do one huge shopping trip per month then pick up items from time to time that we run out of or that expire/spoil quickly like milk and fruits.
I start with my master list of dinner meals to choose from. I add meals occasionally when I discover a new fabulous recipe. I really enjoy trying new recipes, but I don’t often get around to: 1) finding a recipe and 2) getting the ingredients to make it.
I choose 16 dinner meals for the month. That gives me around 4 meals per week. I try to make almost every meal last for two days so I usually have more than enough food for the month.
I then make a list of all the ingredients I need to purchase to make the meals I’ve chosen. I also add all the breakfast, lunch, and miscellaneous things we need. I typically keep a list going all month long and just add items to it as we run out/low so I don’t have to go sifting through everything in my cupboard come grocery shopping day.
I organize the list items with how the store is laid out so it’s easy to make sure I’ve got everything I need without having to backtrack (something you never EVER want to do in Winco). It’s one horribly long and arduous shopping trip, but once it’s done you don’t have to do it again for another whole month. Yay!
Do you have a system you use for meal planning? I’d love to hear it!
I make a weekly chart breakfast/snack/lunch/snack/dinner/desert
I am always digging online and my books for new recipies I get depressed if I’m always doing the same things
I try to plan ahead. I would like to do it for a month, but I know that won’t ever happen.
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I suck at meal planning.. I never want to cook something that I planned on cooking. LOL But I’m working on it.
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I meal plan as well, but only a week at a time, I never even thought of doing it a month at a time, that seems so much smarter. I seriously dread Mondays when it’s time to plan again, it’s really not my thing. But, if I could get four weeks done at a time, that might be just what I need to do. Thanks for sharing, I’m very inspired now
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I hate meal planning. I never know where to start. Plus, life happens and things change. I just go with the flow.
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I definitely love this post.
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Meal Planning is a MUST! I had used tastyplanner.com but was having trouble with uploading my recipes :/ So, like you… I am low tech! I list the items I’ll need to make meals for 2 weeks. Go through my pantry/fridge AND stockpile and cross of items I already have. I then make my shopping list. I am bad at sticking to a particular meal assigned for a particular day. So instead, I look at the meals I have planned for and choose one. No issues, although at the end of two weeks I sometimes get “stuck” making something I’m not in the mood for
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I don’t plan meals for a particular day either – I find it so much easier to just pick from my list too. I usually get stuck making the more time consuming meals toward the end of the month because I keep putting them off ; ).