Meal planning is a crucial aspect of maintaining a healthy and budget-friendly lifestyle. It involves selecting recipes, creating grocery lists, and prepping meals for the week or month. By following these simple steps, you can create a masterlist of meals your family will actually eat, decide on meals for the week during your weekend reset, and shop for ingredients.
To simplify meal planning, start by looking at weekly grocery store sales to determine the most cost-effective items. Write each meal down on a calendar or spreadsheet, organizing by ingredients that go off quickly and which ones last longer. Prep the easiest meals to save time and make family dinners fun.
Set up good habits, such as creating low-stress mealtimes and setting aside time for low-stress meals. Make a food budget and determine how often you will shop, preferably no more than once a week. Note your family’s schedule and which meals to prepare.
Monthly meal planning is a great way to simplify the meal planning process, stick to your food budget, eliminate food waste, and reduce time spent on cooking. Start with a plan before starting cooking to stay organized and ensure that you stay on track with your meal plans. This approach ensures that you never have to wonder what to feed yourself and your family.
| Article | Description | Site |
|---|---|---|
| Meal Planning for Busy Parents | Streamline meal planning for busy parents! Discover time-saving tips and recipes to make family dinners a breeze. Get started now! | lucieslist.com |
| Here’s An Easy Family Meal Plan For The Week | 1) I pick recipes with ingredients that can be used for multiple meals (and in multiple ways). · 2) · 3) Clip your digital coupons! · 4) I buy the … | buzzfeed.com |
| How do other parents meal plan each week? | Write each meal down on a calendar (or on a spreadsheet). Organize by what meals have ingredients that go off quickly and which ones last longer … | reddit.com |
📹 A system for successful meal planning in under 30 minutes!
______ Some of the recipes shown in this video: Pumpkin Chili: https://pin.it/5zoPPKP Mango Chicken Curry: …
How Do I Make A Meal Plan Calendar?
Discover our easy, step-by-step guide to meal planning like a pro using Google Calendar. Start by accessing your Google Calendar. Create a new calendar specifically for your meal planning needs. Map out your weekly or monthly meal plan and incorporate your favorite recipes. Sharing this calendar with others can enhance collaboration and recipe inspiration. Make edits on the go to accommodate changes in your schedule.
Regular meal planning is beneficial for saving time and money, as well as promoting healthier eating habits. Using tools like Eat This Much can assist by providing personalized meal plans based on your preferences and dietary needs. Monthly meal planning simplifies the process compared to weekly planning, enabling you to set a recipe cheat sheet and a grocery game plan for efficient organization.
Additionally, explore available templates from platforms like Canva to create your personalized planner. Utilize themes like Taco Tuesday or Leftover Friday to make meal planning more enjoyable. Finally, categorize meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks in your planner to streamline the process further. Take control of your meals with these practical strategies!
What Are The 7 Factors To Consider In Planning Meals?
When planning meals, various factors must be considered, including the meal occasion, who will eat, whether dining at home or out, dietary needs, and individual beliefs—religious, cultural, or ethical. Additional considerations are ingredient availability, cost, current healthy eating advice, and personal preferences. To effectively plan meals, several basic strategies can help, such as utilizing your inventory, clearly separating planning, shopping, and prepping, increasing menu variety, and making mindful nutrition choices.
Assess your weekly schedule to determine cooking time and choose simple recipes. Key factors to consider for successful meal planning include time constraints, dietary restrictions, health goals, budget, and food preferences. A system can be developed through three essential steps: selecting recipes, shopping for ingredients, and meal prepping. Ensuring nutritional adequacy and accommodating dietary needs—like allergies and preferences—are also crucial.
The article emphasizes understanding nutritional requirements based on the eater's demographics and outlines 14 practical tips to turn meal planning into a manageable, engaging task. Adopting a balanced diet necessitates considering factors such as food variety and the balance of essential nutrients.
How To Create Your Own Diet Plan?
Creating your own custom weight loss meal plans involves several key strategies. Start by avoiding calorie counting and focus on nutrient-dense foods. Establish a fixed eating schedule that suits your lifestyle and explore various meal prep methods that work for you. Select foods that you truly enjoy and aim for variety while remembering to incorporate healthy snacks. Use tools like Eat This Much to formulate personalized meal plans that align with your dietary preferences, budget, and schedule.
This AI-powered meal planner simplifies the process: just input your profile details and it generates a tailored daily diet alongside a grocery list and recipes to assist in meal preparation. You can enter your desired macros or utilize their calorie calculator to help reach your nutritional goals.
To ensure sustainability in your dietary changes, incorporate foods that resonate with your taste and cultural background. Aim for a meal plan rich in whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. Regularly assess your meals, draft new recipes, consider time for cooking, plan for leftovers, and create grocery lists. By following these guidelines, you can design a healthy, balanced eating plan tailored specifically to your needs.
What Are The 5 Basic Steps Of Meal Planning?
Meal planning can simplify your cooking routine, making healthy eating, cost-saving, and waste reduction achievable goals. Follow these 5 easy steps to get started:
- Determine Your Meal Prepping Technique: Explore various methods to identify what works best for you.
- Pick a Day for Prep Work: Designate a specific day of the week to focus on meal preparation.
- Choose Meals You Enjoy: Select recipes that you and your family will look forward to eating.
- Create a Shopping List: Compile a list of ingredients required for your selected meals.
- Start Small: Begin with simple, manageable meals whether you are feeding yourself or a larger group.
By meal planning, you can streamline mealtimes, alleviate stress, and maintain a budget. Consider evaluating your weekly schedule and deciding on days that call for quick meal solutions. Opt for recipes that are straightforward and require fewer ingredients. Keep track of your meal plans and grocery items to make the process smoother over time.
Additionally, aim for balance in your meals by including a variety of food groups and colors on your plate. As you gain experience, you’ll discover easy-to-prepare meals, refine your grocery lists, and make the meal planning process much more efficient. Following these guidelines will facilitate a more organized and enjoyable meal preparation experience.
How To Meal Plan For Beginners?
Meal planning involves preparing meals in advance to save time, money, and stress throughout the week. Start by deciding which meals to prep (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) and for how many days. Create a menu listing the dishes for each meal, followed by a shopping list of all necessary ingredients. Shopping smartly means sticking to your list to avoid impulse purchases. The meal prep process can also alleviate the daily "what's for dinner?" dilemma.
Keep planning simple by focusing on a few recipes and repeat options for breakfast and lunch. Meal prep can involve batch-cooking or prepping key dish elements like grains or proteins ahead of time. Beginners can benefit from resources and guidance to create manageable plans while using the tips outlined in 10 simple steps. Practical strategies include checking your pantry for available items, utilizing leftovers, and considering your schedule before choosing recipes.
The goal is to ease weekly cooking and aid healthy eating during busy days. By exploring a structured approach, meal planning can enhance eating habits, streamline grocery shopping, and promote efficient meal preparation throughout the week.
How Do I Create A Family Meal Plan?
Creating a family meal plan with your kids can be a fun and effective way to save time and money. Start by brainstorming meals your family enjoys, meeting individually with each child to gather their input. Once you have a list, rewrite the weekly menu and display it in a prominent area of your home. Compile shopping lists for the week’s dinners, then carve out time to cook together, enhancing family bonding in the process.
Utilizing resources like Eat This Much can help you create personalized meal plans tailored to your family’s preferences and budget, reaching nutritional goals along the way. They offer various meal plans and shopping list tools to simplify the process. To kickstart your meal planning journey, follow these steps: set a schedule, create a visual meal chart, start with familiar meals, and make adaptable grocery lists.
A well-thought-out meal plan alleviates daily stress and fosters healthier eating habits that align with your family’s lifestyle. Whether you plan weekly or monthly, implementing these strategies will streamline your meal preparation and minimize food waste, making family dinners more enjoyable.
What Is The App That Makes You A Meal Plan?
Here’s a summary of the best meal-planning apps:
- Prepear: Free with upgrade options, ideal for social media enthusiasts; provides recipes and meal planning.
- MealPrepPro: $3. 99, caters to serious meal preppers, offering personalized recipes based on calorie intake and goals.
- BigOven: Price varies from free to $25/year; perfect for utilizing leftovers and reducing food waste.
- MealBoard: $3. 99, focuses on budgeting but lacks nutrition info.
- Eat This Much: Full-featured app offering comprehensive and customizable meal planning based on dietary preferences and schedules. It's great for achieving dietary goals with a calorie calculator.
- Mealime: Ideal for busy individuals, families, and picky eaters, providing highly customizable meal plans and recipes, promoting healthier eating habits.
These apps streamline meal planning, alleviate food waste, save money, and promote healthier lifestyle choices. They cater to various needs, whether you are looking for budget-friendly options, specific dietary preferences, or a way to simplify planning amid a busy schedule. Whether you want ready-made plans or customization, these apps enhance meal planning efficiency.
What Are The 4 Ps Of Meal Planning?
Planning, prepping, preparing, and packaging meals can be straightforward, healthy, cost-effective, and help reduce unwanted calories. Betr simplifies this process with the "Four P's" approach: Personalize, Plan, Prep, and Purchase. To successfully meal plan, start by listing foods you enjoy and identifying areas for improvement. Effective planning involves looking ahead at your weekly schedule to streamline meal preparation and avoid the nightly "what's for dinner?" dilemma.
In this guide, essential meal planning concepts are explored, including nutritional needs and creating an adaptable meal schedule. The Four P's play a vital role in this process. For instance, use your pantry inventory, separate the stages of meal planning, shopping, and prepping, and aim for variety while making mindful nutrition choices. Additionally, assess your dietary preferences, health goals, and available cooking time.
To enhance your meal planning experience, consider specific strategies, such as focusing on plants and staying within a budget. Ultimately, this comprehensive approach can transform meal preparation into a more enjoyable and efficient task for individuals and families alike. By applying the Four P’s effectively, you can turn a daunting chore into a satisfying and healthy weekly routine.
What Are 3 Keys To Successful Meal Prepping?
To successfully plan and prep nutritious and delicious meals tailored to your lifestyle, follow these three essential steps: Step 1: Create a Menu. Reflect on your meal planning strategy—do you prefer batch cooking or preparing for the week? Step 2: Stock Your Pantry and Freezer. Ensure you have a variety of foods from the five food groups easily accessible. Step 3: Maintain a Running Grocery List. Effective meal prepping hinges on planning ahead, designating preparation time, and utilizing adequate storage to keep meals fresh.
Remember, meal prep doesn’t necessitate making three daily meals. You can simplify by multitasking and considering meal prep a self-care activity rather than a chore. Start small, especially if you’re new to meal prepping to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Various techniques exist, such as preparing full meals in advance or batch cooking. Utilize freezer meals to save time; consider a first-in-first-out freeze strategy to maximize freshness.
Lastly, focus on creating a solid foundation with simple, healthy meals that require minimal prep, and always include a balance of starch, vegetables, and protein. This structured approach not only supports your nutritional goals but can also save time and money in the long run.
📹 5 Tips to Make Meal Planning EASY (that you can actually stick to! 😉)
One of my favorite tips for leftovers: create a “soup bag” in the freezer. When you have little bits and dabs of meat, veggies, whatever left over and there’s not enough to serve for a second meal, throw it in a ziploc bag in the freezer. Keep doing this for a few weeks, or until the bag is full. Then you can dump the soup bag in a big pot, and make whatever kind of soup base sounds good (tomato, creamy, broth). Spice it up to your liking. You can add pasta or rice if you want. It’s a great way to use up leftovers! 🙂
Thank you for the FANTASTIC tips that even habitual meal planners can use. I created a 35 block meal planner. Days of the week (with plans, appointments, etc) across the top. Breakfast, lunch, dinner down the far left column (one block each) My fifth bottom row of blocks is a cut away grocery list. I labeled each block according to my grocery store layout for maximum efficiency. I plan my meals based on -Weekly plans -Dietary needs -Food on hand -Weekly Sales With my block planner, I can easily & simultaneously create a menu, check what’s on hand, make a shopping list, and utilize leftovers. I keep it on the fridge so each day I can plan, thaw, prep, or cook any portions ahead of time. I am a visual learner, so another bonuses to the block pattern is that it works better at a glance for me than a list. I will be adding the recommended master list of simple/favorite/ leftover meals to my folder!!!
I love how you’re very real and honest, and make light of your mistakes, and don’t try to pretend you’re perfect and have everything sorted. It makes it easy and reassuring to watch your tips and feel relief “oh, I’m glad I’m not the only one who hasn’t cleaned their oven in a while or who ate snacks for tea!”
Oh, the hell of meal planning! 25 years I’ve been planning on it, and I’ve never been able to maintain it. For fifteen of those years, there’s only been me to plan for! Ariel, thank you so much for those s. I’ve taken notes all the way through (I watched the article twice), because this is so achievable. Thank you so much. Xxx
Yay, you’re back! I love perusal your articles because you’re so relatable! Most mommy YouTubers have a particular aesthetic (you all know what I’m talking about!) and their homes look super expensive and perfectly decorated. It’s just nice to see an awesome, normal mom with a house that looks like mine – things you’d like to change, Mickey Mouse kids decor, and toys in the toddler bed and all 😂
I started a list similar to yours a year or two ago! I added another category… “large meals” those are meals that result in leftovers… so stuff like spaghetti, chili, potato soup, ect. I didn’t think about making a category of meals that I could make with leftovers! I know some folks don’t like leftovers at all… but it saves us a lot of time & money! My husband always loves to take leftovers for his lunch at work! Sometimes we leave leftovers for dinner too if we can stand to eat it that many times in a row. Lol
I do theme meal planning. Sunday is fun day. Monday is meatless, Tuesday is Mexican, Wednesday is meat and potatoes, Thursday is stir fry, sheet pan or instant pot, Friday is seafood or dinner out, and Saturday is FCO…fridge clean out. I use a wall calendar. The others put meals on the calendar regularly.
I love the look at three days…for our large family the entire stock pot usually is two days. 1. Soups make excellent lunches the next day. 2. Chili day 1, baked potatoes with chili for lunch the next day. 3. Tacos day 1, taco soup the next day. 4. Beans and cornbread, refried bean and cheese wraps the next day. 5. Baked chicken on day 1, any chicken casserole or pot pie for day two. Chicken could be made in larger batches and frozen as well. 6. Make a freeze a months worth of beef at a time…and put in freezer baggies. I chopped onions and peppers and made hamburger base for sloppy joes, tacos, chili all at once and it has helped so much.
It’s always nice to see more ideas on meal planning. I’ve used home made meatballs I had in freezer to add to like sloppy joes when I didn’t have enough hamburger for our family of five. It was a little different but they still ate it. I’ve frozen some leftovers to reheat much later or repurpose. Or I make double the filling and freeze half, like for shepherds pie or pot pie. Or just precook protein for quicker meal prep. I mostly do this when I buy chicken or hamburger in bulk. 😁
I am SO grateful for this article! Thank you @thatawkardmom ! I searched “how to Non meal plan” and it pulled up. lol. I’m a business owner with a family and I had literally given up on meal planning/food prep, everything! We were eating takeout all the time! I tried many meal kits but we didn’t like the flavors. We are picky eaters and always enjoy elaborate, intensive, gourmet meals, but it’s unrealistic to plan and cook them all the time! Thanks to this article, I have been able to menu/meal plan in about 20 minutes, and it works! Everyone is eating the meals. I’ve also dropped weight and saved money, we’re all feeling better. I made a spreadsheet and copy and paste 11 quick & 11 cook time lunches/dinners for a 2 week period (with 2 new meals of course, and 2 takeout days, hehe). It’s fantastic! This is such a burden off my shoulders, it’s absolutely the best system, I’m so grateful I found this article!!! Thank you That Awkward Mom!!!!
Is it bad? Or I am old when I find a website and binge watch every article? Love your articles Ariel! Keep up the great articles and thanks for making cleaning sounds fun! Now to put it to work! Love and blessings from a tired, no energy, no desire to clean, working wife! I am a mom and grandma to but take that time to visit, spoil, and have play dates with my 3 grandbabies.
I love your tip about how trying new meals helps make things easier in the long run! When I still had kids at home, I kept a running list of “successful meal ideas” on the inside of a cupboard. It was always so exciting to add a new meal idea to the list and I had a list to refer to when making a meal plan and grocery list! Successful to us meant no one cried when they heard what was for dinner.
This is the best meal plan I have seen. I’ve left days for leftovers on my meal plans before, but we just ate them as leftovers. I’ve learned that my husband and I don’t really care for leftovers and they would go uneaten. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this myself. It’s so simple it’s beautiful. Thank you!
Great ideas I will try this out! I had a list already where I have about 30 meals. I picked 10 or so..I may have added a bit more, my husband picked 10 and my son picked 10. I got tired of not eating what I wanted and my son always complaining so I made them do it and I just wrote it down for them. Although I may have to change few meals seasonally.
I must meal plan! I always waste money/ ingredients if I dont plan it out. I like to keep 2 weeks planned ahead. Planning on how to use leftovers is an awesome idea. I usually just freeze them and take them out for lunches on the weekend but that sux because it takes up so much room in my freezer. Thanks for the tips!
This is so good! After struggling for years meal planning I basically did the same thing. I only plan 3 meals at a time and always make something new out of my leftovers. I look for leftover recipes that I may not have to buy any extra ingredients for. We also eat vegetarian meals a couple times a week, so that vegetarian meal will be the side for the next meal with meat. Only planning three meals also allows for those nights when someone asks you if you want to go out or if you just want to go out to have something different.
great ideas! I utilize pinterest for meal planning-I organize pins by different boards- vegetarian meals, beef meals, chicken meals, soups, crock pot meals, side dishes, lunch ideas, breakfast ideas. This helps me to find what I’m in the mood for. When I get a new cookbook I also take pictures of recipes I want to make and upload pictures as a pin to the board it corresponds to.
Love this! Your fu’m way older than you and have struggled with meal planning my whole life. It’s like I can’t think of anything to cook if I’m not hungry. 🙂 An aside — I think you look terrific in that color. In the “seasons” of colors, my guess is you’re a Warm Spring. Maybe an Autumn (can you wear olive green?)
I have been in one heck of a cooking rut so I started subbing to a meal planning site where the recipes are emailed to me along with a weekly grocery list. (It is another well know You Tuber) With those plans I made up 2 binders. One binder is the monthly plans and recipes and the other binder is where we put the recipes that the family loves. I like that I have 4 recipes a week that I do not have to worry about and a few open days that I can mix in family favorites and I am building a new stash of future family favorite meals. I have tried meal planning on my own and boy do I fall off of that wagon fast.
You’ve inpired me to finally tackle meal planning. I am so tired of struggling to think of what to cook and running out to the supermarket ( or rushing around between finishing my job at the supermarket and picking up my toddler from daycare) and spending at least $50 each time somehow. Thank you so much for the printables!
Like homemade but at a loss for what all to use it for and find yourself thinking why bother and I have a coupon so I may as well buy store bought? I frequently will make a batch of marinara sauce in my crockpot. That day I will use some for spaghetti. I will freeze some. I will keep some in the fridge. Then I can use it as a base for a more spicy marinara or a chili without opening up a can. How do I make my sauce? I use a large can of tomato juice, a large can of peeled whole tomatoes and a can of paste. I add water, sliced onions, garlic, powdered white pepper and usually just basil because that is what I prefer. I go light on the salt since it is the base for future meals. This sauce can then go either more Italian (think lasagna with additional Italian spices added) or Mexican/Spanish (think of a enchilada sauce or making up a batch of salsa for tacos). If I make a batch of chili with this I then have a base for a chili mac casserole (American goulash) to which I add some small sized noodle and corn topped with cheese. I have even put it in the blender, added some milk and called it tomato soup (heating it up after blending to cook it down to the correct consistency). If this is how you make tomato soup the family will think this is just how it is. Just set a cup along side a grilled cheese and they will dig in if they are hungry. What I am saying is preexisting tastes will need to accommodate homecooked meals since it usually is more nutritious and less processed or salty/fatty.
Yes!! I have recently been like ” ok we need to get back into trying a new food. ” And we had one last Wednesday and we LOVED IT!! So that meal is going into our core meal list. And I have found meal planning a lot easier when I just start trying to plan for the month. Go grocery shopping once and run to the mini store near me for the fresh veggies for the week.
Great tips! Another thing that has helped me to come up with meals for is to keep a running list of meals we eat, like as we are eating them. This way if I try a new meal it doesn’t get forgotten months down the line. In my family we have a lot of allergies so getting creative is essential so keeping track of meal ideas is also very helpful.
I love your categories for dividing up your meals! I loosely follow the Food Nanny theme nights for meals and it has really helped. Eating home cooked meals is so much healthier and more economical than grabbing fast food or a microwave meal (although they have their place sometimes). LOL’d at “meal planning pro Ariel.” Your editing skills are on point!
i make what what’s left in the fridge (or needs to be used up) soup once a week, infact making beans soup, used up old celery, potatoes and carrots, and 5 or 6 six canes or beans, chickpeas and lentils and some ribs instead of uncooked meat, smokes sausage later and bam soup for a week for sure…that’s a big pot, but I don’t mind freezing it later.what I do for meal planning is looking what is on special offer at the super and see if I have any of the things, then plan meals with them
I grew up in a household where my mom never had a plan for anything! We would go to the grocery store multiple times a week just wandering around getting random things to make a meal with. And it drove me nuts even as a kid. I’m 35 and married now and the entire time I’ve been married (11 years) I’ve always had a meal plan for the entire week. It saves so much time, energy and money!
I’ve missed you so much! That color shirt looks stunning on you😍 It makes your eyes soooo blue. Plus, it matched your fluffy nose💚 I love the printables. Thank you so much. I don’t think I can do 3 meals from one batch but I love the idea of just choosing 3 meals instead of 7. We recently stayed with a family who has one planned meal a day and grazes the rest of the time. So we are doing 2 planned meals a day and adding intentional snack things that are quick and easy. One sweet, one salty, one savory per week. Honestly we will probably end up with 2 options for each but I didn’t want to stress myself. I completely agree with the clean pantry and fridge/freezer. No one likes being overwhelmed or throwing money away.
Happy to see you again! I love your humor and down-to-earth ways. Thanks for the good info on meal planning. Because of our work schedules i usually cook two full meals at the beginning of each week and plan our meals to include leftovers. Lots of work that first day but a breeze the other days. Take care.
I usually cook just enough so my husband will have lunch the next day. We can a lot of food. It is pretty much already prepared and on the shelf. That has been a huge help for us, still food gets overlooked. . I will definitely be putting together a favorite meals list using your template. Thanks for sharing! Also, Pumpkin chilli is one of our favorite meals.
So happy to see a article from you! I have been trying and using some of your tips, such as using the same ingredients for 2 or 3 meals. And you are right, making twice or three times as much rice doesn’t take any longer — and you only have to wash the pan once! Thank you for the encouragement and the humor — loved the fire trucks rushing to your house. LOL. Hopefully this will give me the motivation I need to keep trying. You look great, btw!
My family loves leftovers just as they are! Such a blessing. My method is to cook four large meals at a time because I can do them all simultaneously. However, I pre-screen recipes for their hands-on time. It’s less dishes and way less time consuming. Some leftovers like soups/curries are even better the next day! We don’t have issues with leftovers going bad because I only cook again when the food is being finished up, usually after 5 days because my husband eats leftovers for breakfast and lunch. Then it’s a few simple meals to stretch until the next meal prep time (my husband likes to cook, but is less efficient/experienced, so I put him in charge of these). To keep everyone from getting bored, I generally only repeat a recipe every 4-6 months. Every method has merit if it makes sense for you and your family! I would definitely recommend your method to a lot of people I know (who didn’t grow up in families that ate leftovers)! There’s too much food waste in the world, so I respect this method!
i love the pressure cooker and airfryer. i used to use the slow cooker but got lazy. one pan/tray cooking seems popular too. i have one son who is extremely difficult to cook for no variety.. other son easier. those bags of frozen stirfry veg are handy in a pinch with chicken and coconut cream. we love spagetti and i use the presdure cooker but sometimes the emergency can of sauce comes out. i make leftovers for sons lunch.
I’ve tried meal planning..it takes me hours to plan the meals for the week and I get bored of them. That’s why I started planning only for 2 days at a time…the mall is at 10 minutes walk from me…If it was further, I’d probably meal plan for the whole week. Plus, I don’t have children…yet (it’s not like I don’t want them…okay? my body is stubborn) But all these are awesome ideas. Edit: never mind…this information is brilliant.
To increase your meal list – my sister clipped possible recipes from magazines and tossed them into a basket. Once a week they drew a recipe to be cooked the NEXT week and made sure the ingredients were bought on the next shopping trip. At that meal, it was voted on: keep it or burn it. If it was a really good one, it went into the meal planner. If it was really bad, they ceremoniously burned the recipe over the centerpiece candle. Most recipes were edible but not exciting.
Ariel, this is exactly what I needed! I’ve already started trying this out! Thank you for the template and the easy steps. I appreciate your reminder that it takes practice to meal plan. I think so many of the meal planning tips I’ve read focused on the end without taking note of the process 😅 Thanks again for the tips and the encouragement!
I need to keep track of new recipes that we like. I have the time and like to cook but I’m not organized about remembering what worked. My husband is oblivious so he is no help, but he is willing to try anything. When my 3 kids were at home and I was a working single mom, I was great at producing meals. If I forgot to thaw, it was stirfry because you can slice semi-thawed meat very thin. If I made lasagna, I made one for the freezer. Friday was buffet night, ie, eat the leftovers. Bag o’ lettuce ( or coleslaw mix) was my friend, I would give them salad to eat while I cooked, it served 2 purposes, it got salad into them and then they were no longer starving. Now that I’m remarried and retired, it’s actually harder. I’m going to give meal planning a try.
When there were five of us living at home, I would plan. I wrote a long list of meals. I think I had about 30. Then each week I would pick from the list one takeaway meal, one potato, one pasta, one rice, one tortilla, etc, then add (back when I ate meat) one beef, one chicken, one lamb, one vegetarian, and so on.
Hey! love your articles as usual. Im gonna try your system bc i spend hours..HOURS! coming up with a meal plans. article Suggestion: foods that toddlers might like? anything in particular your kid loved everytime no matter what when he was small? My toddler is refusing to eat anything other than fruit:( I had my baby too! also a girl. Babys are the best! and the worst…lol.
New to your website, great ideas for meal planning! I like the idea of 3 meals from one meal. I have seen people also do theme meals like taco Tuesday and pizza on Friday. I see you review different cleaning routines. I think I need to experiment with different productivity or time management methods. For example, on Living Like Leila website, she did a article called a week of pomodoros, Rachelleea has a article called Time Management & Productive Afternoon where she uses time-blocking, PetuniaRose has a article called building a routine am and pm tasks, where around 7 minutes into the article she talks about am and pm tasks and theme days, JashiiCorrin has a self-care bingo article, and Madeline James Writes has a article called update and how writing tracking is going where around 4 minutes into the article she just uses a simple method of a weekly habit tracker to track goals, fun, and exercise/cleaning. I wish there were more articles here on YouTube trying different productivity methods like these and then review them like you do with your cleaning schedules.
Great tips. Meal planning (& eating) is something I don’t have to worry about, as I suffer from severe Gastroparesis & am never hungry. I live on Baby Bels & other cheese. When I was a child my Mum worked, so my Dad cooked the tea. We had the same things every week – shepherd’s pie, toad-in-the-hole & liver. This might sound sound boring to some people, but it made it really easy for my Dad. Even as an adult before I developed Gastroparesis there were only about 5 meals that I liked. Just curious, what happens if not everyone is hungry at the same time? Would they be allowed to eat their tea later on?
I’m discovering that cooking for one requires MORE planning so you’re not eating meatloaf five nights a week. If I can make something that can be frozen, I put 2 or 3 servings in the freezer and 2 in the refrigerator, so I have some variety and there are back ups in the freezer for later. If it can’t be frozen, then I try to only make 2 or 3 servings, so there’s no waste. As I was perusal another of your food articles, I thought, “What is you trade meals with a friend?” Maybe you make 2 casseroles and share one with a neighbor. They do the same. Then, you have a meal to try and if you like it, ask for the recipe. If you don’t, then maybe you don’t say anything. But at least there’s a dish to maybe add to your list.
The idea that having too much food in your pantry could result in not wanting to cook sounded so silly to me. I mean I am sure there is someone out there with too much food who got overwhelmed and ordered takeout. I don’t think that would happen to me. But I do know when you don’t clean your fridge you can look in a very full fridge and think man there is nothing to eat.
Ok, Little Miss Ariel! It appears that you are DETERMINED to get me meal planning 😠 Here I am, happily chomping on frozen yogurt and candy bars for dinner, and YOU come along interrupting me with Meal Planning Options. Well, I never! Ok…ok…..you twisted my arm…….grrrrrrrr. Guess I’ll just have to cooperate. (My son ratted me out, didn’t he??!) 😆😄😂🤣😅😆😁