Get healthy and delicious meals on the table all week long with these 5 steps for meal planning for families.
No matter what reason you have for meal planning there are a few simple steps that will make meal planning easier for you. Meal planning isn’t a one size fits all thing. But there are several basic steps that everyone will go through to make a meal plan.
Meal Planning Steps
Basic meal planning steps include the following:
- Review your schedule
- Choose your recipes or meals style based on your schedule
- Make a grocery list based on recipes/meals
- Shop for groceries
- Prep/prepare meals
Meal planning can be anything from planning for one day or one meal up to planning all three meals for each day of the week. How you plan is up to you. No matter how many meals you plan it will pay off in the end.
Step 1 – Review your schedule
Before deciding on what types of meals to make take a look at your schedule to determine what meals you need.
Do you want to prepare breakfast meals so you aren’t rushed in the morning?
Need grab and go lunches for work or school?
Are there nights during the week that you won’t be home and need to plan some type of take out or fast food meal?
Yes, meal plans even include take out meals. There is no right or wrong meal to include in your meal plan. The meals chosen are what works best for you. When you understand that your schedule requires something such as take out, or even if it is being planned as a special meal that week, you can work the cost into your budget. Knowing what you are purchasing can help you prepare for those costs and you can budget for them.
Decide on what meals you need to plan and when you will need them.
Step 2 – Choose your recipes or meal style based on your schedule
With all the recipe options online and in cookbooks where do you begin? Now that you have started by looking at your own schedule and determined how many meals you need to plan you can begin to think about meal styles and recipes:
- Do you need a fast and easy recipe?
- A crockpot dump meal?
- Take out or a store bought prepared meal such as pizza or a rotisserie chicken?
- Do you enjoy certain types of recipes? Or you want to include certain ingredients? Want to create meals based on the grocery store sales that week?
Plan recipes or meal styles that suit your needs.
Meal Planning TIP:
Want to make things easier each week? Why not go with certain themes each week. Taco Tuesday was a favorite night in my home along with pizza or burgers on Friday nights. While the meal changed slightly (burritos, calzones or chicken/turkey/salmon burgers) the theme remained the same each week. It made planning a whole lot easier for me.
Now that you know how many meals you want to make and the types of meals they will be choose your recipes.
Meal Planning TIP:
If you are just starting out begin by planning one or two meals and build up the number of days from that point. This will help keep you from becoming overwhelmed and frustrated with meal planning.
Try one new recipe each week. This way you can determine how long it actually take you to make it, if your family enjoys it and any changes you might need to make to it. Use familiar recipes for the other meals planned that week. There’s nothing worse then trying a bunch of new recipes only to discover they don’t work for your family. Too many new recipe failures might leave you disappointed with meal planning and can waste money spent on food your family won’t eat.
Write your meal plan schedule down!
Use a notebook, weekly planner or even the calendar in your mobile device to log what meal you will be making and when. This will allow you to pull out any needed ingredients the day before you need them. Putting together a meal can be tough when you go to make a recipe only to discover that ingredients that you need are frozen solid in the freezer.
Step 3 -Make a grocery list based on recipes/meals
Go through each recipe you plan on making and write down the ingredients and how much is needed.
Consolidate duplicate ingredients….3 recipes with chicken or rice then simply write it once and change the total amount needed.
Next go through your kitchen cabinets, refrigerator and freezer to see what you have on hand. Cross off those things that you already have available to you. This keeps you from making unnecessary purchases and helps save you money.
What you have left is now your grocery list. If you are planning for a few meals then you will also need to remember to add in whatever staples you need for other meals (eggs, waffles or cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, etc).
Step 4- Shop for groceries
With your handy list you can now hit the stores. I personally like to put my final list in order based on how the store that I go to is set up. After a few visits you get to know which items are found in the same aisle together.
Having a list will save you time because you won’t forget items and need to double back to get them.
Looking to save time with grocery shopping?
Why not see what grocery delivery service options are available in your local area. They do cost a bit more but the time you save could make it worth it. Especially if it means you don’t get tempted or have kids begging you to buy items that aren’t on your list. Avoiding those impulse buys can save you some money! Many stores will offer free pick ups. Why not let them shop and you simply arrive at the store at a set time to pick up your groceries.
Step 5 – Prep/prepare meals
Now it’s time to put your meal plan to work for you. You will find that the more you meal plan the easier it will become.
Meal Planning TIP:
Save your meal plans and reuse them!
I use a small weekly planner to log in my meals for that week. As I make meals I note any changes to the recipes so I can remember the next time I make it. To save myself time in the future I can easily reuse a past meal plan.
Congratulations you’ve made it through your meal plan!
Remember that the more you meal plan the faster and easier it becomes. Stop by the website for recipes, meal planning ideas and information, freezer tips for meals and much more to help making meals for families easier for you.
Stop staring into your refrigerator hoping that dinner inspiration will suddenly hit you.
Check out some of these easy to make recipes that are perfect for meal planning and meal prep:
Looking for more information about meal planning? Then check out these posts:
Keto Meal Planning (It’s Not Just For Beginners)
Lazy Keto On A Budget (7 Day Meal Plan With Recipes)
Want to get new recipes sent directly to your inbox? Then subscribe to our newsletter (see below) and be the first to know when we post a new recipe as well as get weekly shopping, cooking and meal planning tips. Follow me on Pinterest where you can find links to our recipes as well as other recipes you and your family will enjoy.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy. If you click on the banner below you will be taken directly to my Etsy shop to see the digital items currently listed.
