The Easy Way to Meal Plan
Meal planning. Have you tried it? I have, several times. And I can never quite seem to make it work for me. I struggle to make a schedule where every meal is planned for weeks at a time. So, I created this easy meal plan that works perfectly for moms with shifting schedules.
Did you see that episode of Fixer Upper where Chip and Joanna renovated the old carriage house? Spoiler alert: they took a run-down building and turned it into something amazing.
When Joanna got to the staging phase, she hung a large chalkboard on the dining room wall. She then proceeded to use impossibly beautiful handwriting to cover it with impossibly yummy dinners.
Well, if Joanna thought I need a chalkboard menu, I obviously did. So, I bought one at Hobby Lobby, and placed it prominently in my kitchen.
I quickly learned that I do not have hand-lettering skills to make a beautiful menu board. Also, meals like hot dogs with chips and spaghetti and meatballs don’t look really pretty even on a chalk board.
I needed a simple menu plan that worked for me. No fancy letters required.
This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
A Simple Meal Plan
I have read a dozen or more blog posts about meal planning. I’ve tried many different ways of doing it.
I paid for plans that told me exactly what to cook for my family. Some even came with itemized grocery lists.
I tried writing down exactly what I’d eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks every day.
I printed out schedules and wrote down my dinners for the whole week.
But inevitably, something went wrong. The store would be out of one ingredient that was vital to one or more if my meals.
Sometimes my husband works really late and grabs dinner at a fast food place or gas station. There’s no need for me to cook a full dinner for just my boys and me.
Occasionally, we go out to eat, or friends invite us over at the last minute.
Then my entire schedule is thrown off. My pretty calendar menu plan became pointless.
I don’t know about you, but my life is never the same from week to week. I might plan 7 days worth of meals, and end up only needing 2 of them. Then my pretty menu is destroyed.
Over time I have developed a truly simple system for myself. I call it my Easy Peasy Meal Plan system. It doesn’t require me to plan for every day, but allows me to have a loose framework for making meals.
Easy Peasy Meal Plan
Using my Easy Peasy Meal Plan system, you can easily plan for as many meals as you want. You don’t need to know what day you’re going to make what meal, and there’s no need to make something fancy.
Here’s how it works:
Gather your recipes.
I use the word “recipes” loosely. I like to to try a few new recipes, plus a few tried-and-true meals every week. But I also like some easy family favorites that need no recipe. Think hot dogs, spaghetti and meatballs, BLTs, tacos and cheeseburgers.
I have a large collection of cookbooks that I like to cook from. (My current go-to is Hungry Girl Simply 6.) You may also have a Pinterest board or magazines you want to use.
Write your list.
Decide how many meals you need to plan. I used to plan 12-13 meals at once. But then I figured out that didn’t work for me. If it works for you, great! But I’ve found that 7-9 actually works best for my budget and lifestyle.
Write a list of all the recipes you want to cook. As you add a recipe to your list, add the ingredients to your grocery list. I use an app call AnyList to make my grocery list.
But I have found grocery pickup during the last few months, and I’m hooked. If I can have someone bring my groceries straight to my car, I’m all for it!
If I’m doing pickup, I add the ingredients directly to my shopping cart. It’s pretty quick, and doesn’t require me to keep flipping back and forth between my cookbooks.
Add in the extras.
I do mostly quick and easy things for breakfast and lunch. But sometimes I like to throw in some homemade cookies, granola or pancakes. I write these in another section of my list, and add ingredients to my list.
Cook what you want.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten ready to make the dinner I had written on my cute little menu board–and realized I hadn’t thawed the meat. Or I was missing one small, but vital ingredient.
With the Easy Peasy Meal Plan system, I can usually choose from 2-3 different meal options.
Not in the mood for spaghetti? (Okay, I’m always in the mood for spaghetti, so this is just an example.) Switch it out for tacos.
Hubby gets home late from work? Make something in the crockpot I can keep warm until he gets home.
I like having the option of choosing anything from my list, instead of being locked into one thing.
Mark it off.
Whenever I make one of the meals or recipes on my list, I just check it off, so I know it’s no longer available.
Make a note.
How often do you use up something in a recipe, but forget to buy more next time you’re at the store? I like to keep a running list of things I need to add to my list the next time I shop.
Repeat.
You can easily make this list every week, or every two weeks. But if you want to make it even easier, just laminate your first list. Use dry erase markers to write on it over and over again! (If you don’t have a laminator, I love these self-adhesive laminating sheets.)
I hang my menu sheet on the side of my fridge. This way, my meal plan is never very far away.
An Easy Meal Plan That Works for You
As a mom, you’re busy. You’re probably not Joanna Gaines. (But if you are, thanks so much for reading my little blog.)
And that’s okay.
You don’t have to have it all together. Use the Easy Peasy Meal Plan to fit your busy lifestyle. Don’t be ashamed if you have sandwiches and chips on your list. More than once.
Write hot dogs and chips on your list with pride. And if you don’t want to hand-letter it, use my free printable Easy Peasy Meal Plan to make it fun and pretty!
