Meal planning is not optional!

Today I would like to share my thoughts and experiences with meal planning with the hopes of helping you become a more efficient keeper-at-home.

For so many years I tried to get by without planning out a week or two of meals. I had many excuses but they were pretty lame!! One day I finally decided to sit down and plan out a week's worth of meals AND follow through with them, and I will never regret that decision (though I did regret not doing it sooner!).

I'll start by listing a few benefits ...

~ Like I just said, it will help you be a more efficient keeper-at-home. It really does take a lot of stress away from the day, which in turn makes things more peaceful in the home. What a good way to show love to your husband and children!

~ Save money by planning around what's already in your fridge and pantry, and what's on sale that week.

~ Eat healthier - cut the last-minute trips to the fast food places or the use of quick packaged meals.

~ Save time and money by making a shopping list and sticking to it at the store.

~ Have fun!! Meal planning is a great way to get the children involved. Various meal prep jobs can be added to the children's chore or to-do lists on the appropriate day(s), and a few hours in one day can be set aside for everyone to work together pre-making some of the items.

~ Ministering opportunity - make extras of certain meals to share with others in need ... like a mother who is ill or who just had a baby.

There are so many other benefits, but those are a few key ones.

Tip time ...

~ If it's too complicated it will not last. Keep it simple.

~ Sit down with your family and make a list of meals you all enjoy. Later you can turn your list in to categories like "Chicken" "Beef" "Vegetarian" "Ethnic" "Crock Pot" and so on. This list will be stored in a handy place where it will not get lost and will serve as a spring board for ideas of what to make the upcoming week.

~ Now make sure you have these recipes on hand!! While often times I will just throw things together, I still like to keep favourites on recipe cards just in case someone else would like the actual recipe, or my daughter is making it and does not have it in her head yet.

~ Note what meals are easy to make double or triple (or more) of. For instance, lasagna freezes really well and is nice to give to someone else in need. Instead of making one pan of lasagna, plan on making 3 or 4 -- be sure to have enough pans on hand, or put them on your shopping list. When I make freezer meals for others, I like to assemble them in to a sturdy foil pan and cover with HEAVY foil (or a few layers of the flimsier stuff) and use a sharpie to write the instructions on the top. If it's for me, I will just use my glass cake pans; I pick up extra ones at garage sales.

MY PLANNER

~ Keep all of your meal plans as a reference ... it will help you know what you have not eaten in a while (variety is nice if that is an option for you) and it will give you ideas when your mind goes blank. I like to use a cheap weekly planner from Dollar General. NOW is the time to get them!!! They are only $2.50. If you wait a few weeks they will be half off IF they still have any left. 

~ Try to have a scheduled day when you sit down and plan your meals for the week. Also, try to be consistent with your shopping day if you can. I like to plan my meals on sunday and shop early monday morning, though sometimes I have to wait to go shopping till later monday morning or afternoon.

~ Sometimes it helps if you begin with a few 'themes' in your planning. For instance, every friday night can be homemade pizza. Mondays can be ethnic foods. Tuesdays can be crock-pot meals. And so on. I plan our breakfasts and suppers but do not plan our lunches. Breakfasts are basically the same each week but I will break the routine if I have some left-overs that  must be used. Lunches are left-overs from supper. If nothing is left-over, I have home-canned soups as a back up.

~ Keep in mind things you have to do each week. This coming wednesday for example we have to pick up our monthly bulk-food order at 6pm. It is 45 minutes away and I am the coordinator ... AND ... we have a full house for supper ever wednesday, so I have to be sure and plan something that will be easy for me to prepare (like a crock pot meal that will be ready when I am) or just send my daughter while I stay home and cook. The point is: be prepared!! Know what's coming up and make a note of it on your meal plan.

~ Some things can be prepared ahead of time. I like to have a baking day each week to make bread and whatever else is needed for the week(s) to come. Items can be frozen if needed. A large salad or two can be made, but be sure to dry the leaves (a lettuce spinner works great for this, or put the washed leaves in a pillow case with a rubber band to close and put it in the washer on the spin cycle for a few minutes) leave the wet things out (tomatoes) till the last minute!! If you have a larger block of time, you can also prepare sauces and other components of meals (ground beef for example) to make the actually supper time preparations quicker.

OK ... now for the nitty gritty...

I'm sure there are many different ways of doing this, but I will show you what has worked for me ... maybe it will work for you too, or at least get you started until you figure out something that works better.

~ Do a quick run through the fridge, pantry, and deep freezer, making note of things you want to use or have to use.

~ Look through the weekly store ads, making a list of things on sale that you like.

~ Make a list of potential meals based on your findings in the first two steps. I am very sloppy with this, seriously.

~ Take that list and think of what order makes the most sense. Are you doing anything that week that will call for a simple meal on a specific night? Write the meals in day order.

~ Transfer your meals to your handy-dandy Dollar General weekly planner. There is plenty of room to make note of what's for breakfast, as well as anything that needs to be prepared that day for that night or the next day.

~ Now, add to your already started shopping list anything else that you will need.

~ And of course -- FOLLOW YOUR PLAN as best as you can. Sometimes things come up and plans need to change, but do your best to stick to it.

My first list.

My second list - meals from the first list organized by day.

Transferred to my planner with breakfasts and daily prep notes.

And there you have it! I told you I was sloppy. I really do not care about my handwriting unless I am writing a letter. Normally others do not see this list, but now I am sharing it with the world :-D

Do you plan meals? If so, please share some of your favourite tips; I am always up for ideas to help things run more efficiently in my home. I think I'll start sharing my weekly meal plans in a new tab at the top, so be watching for that if you are interested in it!