Some people plan their meals a month in advance, freezing neatly-labeled pac
kets of soup and stew. (I did this recently in anticipation of our second child’s birth.) Others wing it, shopping for that evening’s meal. What works for one family may not work for another but one thing is for sure, being organized and having a system saves time and money, two things I could always use more of.
Here are seven tips for better meal planning.
- Keep track of the faves
Make something wonderful? Get a lot of compliments? Keep track of that so you’ll know what the true winners are. I keep a note in my iPhone, maybe you’d like a notebook or keep track on Instagram. Whatever you do, don’t trust yourself to remember – at least this tired Mama doesn’t! - Get inspired
No need to stick with tried and true recipes, look around for inspiration, pin recipes, browse magazines, ask your friends for the recipes of things you love that they make. - Take a look at whats in your pantry
Maybe you got a great deal at Costco on pecans, or chicken breasts, or whatever, take note of what you need to use up, it’s cost effective and doesn’t add to the massive food waste problem! - Schedule your meals
Take a look at the calendar (taking into account dinners out, leftover nights, and being out of town) and put some meals on the calendar. I use my google calendar because my whole life is on there but there are lots of fancy meal planning calendars like mealboard. - Gather your recipes
If everything is digital you can use the ingredient lists and copy and paste to make a shopping list. Of course there are fancy apps for that, too! - Be flexible
Sometimes things happen, and you aren’t home in time to make what you planned or something just happens. Have some staples on hand and some quick back up meals like omelets or spaghetti that you can whip up in a flash. Then push your meals back a day. Life happens peeps. - Consider making extra
A lot of dishes freeze really well, do you have space? Making an extra lasagna, chicken pot pie, or batch of chili doesn’t take much more time and then you have a ready made meal waiting for you! It’s a present to yourself!
No matter what, don’t worry if your system takes a while to run like a top – experiment and have some fun!
 and put some meals on the calendar.){kind=link}