This guide provides essential steps for creating a successful family meal plan, covering budgeting, accommodating dietary needs, designing balanced meals, and creating efficient grocery lists. It offers a step-by-step guide and printable calendar to help create personalized meal plans based on food preferences, budget, and schedule. The guide also includes tips for selecting recipes, making grocery lists, and prepping.
Eat This Much offers eight weeks of affordable and delicious meal plans for families of four, featuring pantry staples, slow cooker, low-carb, and vegetarian options. The guide also provides tips on shopping sales, using leftovers, and avoiding food waste.
Meal planning is a tool that anyone with basic cooking skills and nutrition knowledge can access, saving time and money. A simple three-step meal-planning system helps consistently cook meals at home that your family will actually want to eat. The process involves checking what you have, planning your week, making it work for you, being adaptable, using available tools, and dedicating 1-2 hours a week to the menu.
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 meal preparation. By setting up good habits, you can create low-stress mealtimes and pick up when life allows.
The guide includes steps to gather materials, write out dates, fill in no-brainers, and complete the meal plan. This nutritionist-created plan will inspire you to cook and eat more healthily, providing seven days of meals, snacks, and treats.
| Article | Description | Site |
|---|---|---|
| How to Meal Plan for Your Family | 1. Check what you have · 2. Plan your week · 3. Make it work for you · 4. Be adaptable (really key!) · 5. Use tools available · 6. Dedicate 1-2 hours a week to menu … | srnutrition.co.uk |
| 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 |
| Easy 7-day family meal plan | This easy-to-follow, nutritionist-created plan will inspire you to cook and eat more healthily. Nourish yourself with seven days of meals, snacks and treats. | bbcgoodfood.com |
📹 How I Create Weekly Meal Plans (and stick to them!)
When I meal plan, EVERYTHING is better. I save money (sometimes as much as 50%), the dinner time hustle is 100x easier, and I …
What Is The Best Free Diet Plan App?
Here are some of the top free apps for managing weight:
- MyFitnessPal – Available on iOS and Android, it's touted as the best overall weight loss app, with a database of over 14 million foods for effective tracking of calorie intake and workouts.
- Noom Weight Loss Coach – This app helps users with health and weight management through customized coaching.
- My Diet Coach – Offers motivation and tracking features for weight loss.
- Diet Point – A user-friendly app for weight loss planning.
- Mealime – Ideal for customizable meal plans that cater to individual dietary preferences.
- Cronometer, Fooducate, MyNetDiary, Lifesum, and Lose It! – These apps all offer unique features for calorie counting and dietary guidance.
These weight loss apps emphasize nutritional choices, mindful eating, meal planning, and grocery shopping, providing users with tools to achieve health goals naturally and efficiently.
How Do I Make My Own Meal Planner?
Meal planning can be simplified into five steps: Step 1 involves listing your favorite recipes. Step 2 requires you to set up your calendar. Step 3 is about creating a pattern for your meals, while Step 4 focuses on establishing optional guidelines. Finally, Step 5 is where you create your monthly or weekly menu. Before selecting recipes, determine your cooking schedule, as this will inform your meal choices. Utilizing tools like Eat This Much can help craft personalized meal plans tailored to your dietary preferences, budget, and schedule.
This ensures you meet your nutritional goals effectively. The process begins with selecting dinners, shopping for ingredients, and preparing them. You can utilize helpful resources like printable planners and grocery game plans, along with AI-powered generators for fast meal prep. To create an effective weekly plan, review your pantry, pick appealing recipes, and organize your meals accordingly. Make your planning creative by personalizing your templates. This organized approach saves time and money while promoting healthier eating habits, helping to facilitate a consistent meal preparation routine.
What Is A Family Style Meal?
Family-style restaurant dining, also known as large format or casual dining, involves serving food on large platters or in bowls for guests to serve themselves. This communal dining style fosters a homey atmosphere, encouraging social interaction as diners share food from common dishes. Plates and bowls are passed around, allowing each person to take what they like, which not only encourages self-sufficiency but also enhances the overall dining experience.
Family-style meals are beneficial for children as they promote a holistic and enriching environment, nurturing a positive relationship with food and developing social and emotional skills. Such meals help establish healthy eating habits that can extend beyond the dining table.
Family-style dining is often considered a blend of traditional table service and buffet dining, where dishes are placed centrally for easy access. This format allows for sharing, making the dining experience more communal. From classic family recipes like mac and cheese to chicken dinners, family-style meals offer a variety of options that cater to different tastes and dietary needs. They are designed to be easy and comforting, encouraging families to gather and create memories around the table. Overall, family-style dining celebrates meals as shared experiences, fostering community and connection among diners while ensuring everyone enjoys a selection of dishes.
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.
How Do You Structure A Meal Plan?
To create an effective meal plan, follow these six steps:
- Set Aside Planning Time: Dedicate some time each week to map out your meals.
- Inventory Your Ingredients: Assess what you already have in your pantry and fridge, so you don't buy unnecessary items.
- Incorporate Favorite Meals: Include meals you enjoy to make the plan appealing.
- Utilize Leftovers: Plan meals that allow you to use leftovers, minimizing waste.
- Cook in Bulk: Prepare larger portions to save time on busy days.
- Optimize Your Ingredients: Ensure that your meal choices make the best use of the ingredients you have.
Meal planning simplifies the question of "what’s for dinner" for the entire week, making it easier to stick to a budget and focus on nutrition. It’s a valuable skill, particularly for dietitians and nutrition clients, enabling accurate grocery listings based on a well-structured menu that meets dietary needs.
To begin planning, consider your schedule, check your pantry, select recipes, and create a grocery list tailored to your week. A balanced meal includes protein, fiber-rich carbs, non-starchy vegetables, and healthy fats, promoting nutritional health aligned with individual goals and schedules.
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.
How To Structure A Meal Plan?
Making a meal plan can simplify your week and cater to both budget and nutritional needs. Here are six essential steps to follow:
- Allocate Time for Planning: Set time each week dedicated to creating your meal plan.
- Inventory Check: Before planning, check ingredients you already have in your pantry, fridge, or freezer.
- Favorite Meals Inclusion: Make sure to include meals your family enjoys.
- Leftovers Utilization: Plan meals that help use up leftovers effectively.
- Bulk Cooking: Prepare large quantities to save time later.
- Ingredient Efficiency: Ensure your ingredients are versatile to minimize waste.
Using a simplified approach, focus on three main tasks: select dinner recipes, shop for needed ingredients, and prepare those ingredients for the week. Creating a master list of go-to meals will streamline the planning process. Meal planning encourages organization, allows you to avoid stress related to mealtime, and aids in sticking to a budget.
Consider your busy schedule while planning meals, and prioritize recipes that fit your family’s preferences. By following these structured steps, you can develop a weekly or monthly meal plan that keeps your family satisfied while managing your time efficiently. Happy planning!
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.
Is There A Free Meal Planner?
Mealime is a free meal planning app designed to promote healthy eating, helping over 4. 5 million users return to the kitchen, save money, and enjoy nutritious meals. The app offers personalized meal plans tailored to individual food preferences, budgets, and schedules. Users can achieve their diet goals through its calorie calculator and weekly planning features, providing endless delicious recipes suited to their needs. The app allows free access to its extensive recipe database, although it limits recipe saving to 200.
Other notable meal planners include MyFitnessPal, which enables free users to create customized meal plans, and FoodPlanner, a free app with ads that aggregates recipes from over 500 sites. Mealime lets users explore, save recipes, and create meal plans without any fees, while a premium version is available for enhanced features at $2. 99/month. It ensures easy access to meal planning, allowing users to organize their cooking efficiently and healthily, with options to cater to their family's needs.
📹 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: …
Another way to make sure you don’t make the mistake of buying something you already have … take pictures of your pantry(s) refrigerator(s) and freezer(s) the day before or the morning of shopping – when in doubt while shopping…just pull out your phone and look at the pictures! Works like a charm!!
My husband, when we had a young family, was a floating technician in telecommunications. So, he would find himself at produce stands and pick up corn, peppers, and other favorites to bring home. Sometimes this meant a lot of food prep, so we could use it later. The topper was the day he found farmers who were giving away 🍅! Because he was Italian, this was a goldmine. When he came home his car was LOADED with tomatoes. We worked for hours all weekend making spaghetti sauce, his mother’s garlic sauce and chopping the little red nuggets for tacos, BLTs, or toppings on white pasta and pizza. In 2 days, every plastic container was full of something red and because of our freezer and crockpot, along with his frugal shopping, most of it was free. He passed away 6 years ago and I still laugh (and cry) over those memories. In short, when you’re invited to dinner or receive a load of cheap food (like 🍅 tomatoes) you have to just sit back and accept it.
I have a 9″x12″ magnetic-backed dry erase board on my fridge. Whenever I run out of something, I mark it on the board. Before I go food shopping (or before I meal-plan), I take a phone-photo to reference. Before smart phones, before cellphones, I used to have a chalkboard hung up in the kitchen to mark foods as I ran out or to list things I wanted to get. Technology evolves, but need is a constant.
Loved this article 💕 One thing that has made meal planning easier for me is actually making my grocery list on my grocery store’s pick up app. I don’t actually pick my groceries up, but when I search for them I can easily compare prices and see if there are any coupons. So I don’t feel like I’m spending so much more time make my list/looking for deals and I know exactly what I’m buying.
Awesome tips! Meal prep has definitely saved me money in the grocery store and keeps me from straying from the list! I’ve also started freezing the leftovers of meals like soups, chilis, etc (when I end up cooking too much) for quick work lunches for my husband or days when we are too busy to cook and noticed a big decrease in waste!
Great article!! I’ve been meal planning for a few years now, even taught a class at my church! My biggest tip is to make a master list of meals that your family loves separated by protein/main ingredient or category, ex. chicken, beef, soup, new to try, etc. I will do a monthly inventory of the deep freezer and pantry and go from there. Also, Instant Pots are lifesavers!! HAHA
So glad I found this website a few weeks ago! I’ve already watched several decluttering articles, meal planning articles and budgeting articles. Thank you for taking the time to make these all so interesting and informative! I’m a mom of three littles and I feel like things are finally starting to feel manageable! So excited to get my spending on track as well! I have been way over spending every month and I hate groceries going bad (and when my husband asks “whats for dinner” it literally used to give me anxiety because I had planned Nothing… bean burritos again babe?). I’m going with a slightly looser approach to meal planning where I list the meals I want to make but I can make whichever one we are feeling like eating that night or what ever time lends itself to if the kids are crazy or the house needs some extra work. I’m also making great use of leftovers for lunches! 🥳 After perusal this article I’m going to get right on making my pantry, fridge and freezer in stock list! It’s going to take some time but I’m thrilled to think how much it’s going to help me! Every one of those areas is full of food so I know I have plenty of meals to shop from! Can’t say thank you enough!
It made my life so much easier when I started deciding what meals we were going to be eating during the week before the week started. Before that we would usually just wait until we got hungry and then get up and go look in the fridge and freezer to see what we had. Now I have everything planned out and after 10 years of being together I’ve finally gotten my husband to help cook dinner. Sometimes he will cook us a meal he really enjoys or sometimes we will cook together and that is nice, quality time together after a long day at work.
I cook the ground meat as soon as I get home. Most of my ground meat meals have onion so I add it. Many have onion/garlic. Then I bag 2 1/2 to 2 cups (equals 1lb uncooked) and label it. Much quicker on dinner night. Also, what do you do for re-stocking? Do you buy a little each week? This is important for those just learning. I’ve pulled your article for someone I am helping with the whole stock the kitchen/meal plan/meal prep idea. Great content!
Couponing is so time consuming and I just don’t have the time. I started shopping at Aldi’s and use the sales. I need to get back into meal planning because the most stressful part of my day is around dinner time. Your article has inspired me and I look forward to getting the downloadable meal planning lists. Thank you
True confessions. I’m 61 and I don’t meal plan. I’m not opposed to it. And I incidentally do a few of the things you suggest. I guess I’ve never had anybody state as CLEARLY AND SIMPLY as you did in this article. THANKS! I’ve just requested the printables. (((I need to do a good inventory of what’s in our small chest freezer. I’m sure I won’t need to buy meat to prepare any meals for a couple of weeks, at least!)))
Savings tip: check to see if your grocery store has an app. Mine does, and it has additional savings and bonus rewards based on my frequently purchased items. You just tap to add it to your store’s reward card. I’ve saved tons of money that way and it takes just a few minutes to scan the extra deals. Also, if I wasn’t already subscribed, that Schrute Farm decal (and the content, obvi) would’ve definitely pulled me in.
Im new to your website and i love it! Your practical and realistic. I really like how you post things that real moms struggle with day to day like meal planning with out being wasteful and getting many things done in a day by being organized and sticking as much to a schedule as possible. Thanks for the free meal planning printables! Cant wait to try them😁
Thank you so much Kallie for all your helpful suggestions. My daughter and her husband have recently moved in with me and my husband. Dinner time is a huge issue, they both work full time and we are retired and have a few disabilities that make it a bit difficult to prepare dinner. They also eat later than we do. So, I’m always looking for helpful ideas and meals. Thank you so much for sharing this article. I’m going to print your free printables and attempt to use them. I have to try and make dinner easier.
Good article but for me, the shopping part is just common sense and I’ve never spent time on coupons. I don’t print or clip them. I grab them off the store shelf if it’s for products I use. I also don’t throw out food. I either make big quantit and freeze in portions or freeze an ingredient to use later. I always know what I have on hand, fridge, freezer, and pantry. I don’t meal plan but I have things already cut up or cooked in the fridge. I wash & cut up a variety of fruits, vegetables, salad ingredients, plain cooked rice and pasta for a quick stir fry. Just cook up some type of meat which I take from the freezer the night before and put in the fridge. But these are good tips for those who find shopping and meal prep daunting.
Fully agree with the coupon cutting problem. The VAST majority of the time the coupons are only for name brand items, and the off brands are so cheap that even the discounted name brands are more expensive. The only exception for me is e-coupons from my local grocery store which discounts their own off brand products (plus manufacturers coupons, too). The handy search engine makes it so I don’t have to slog through 100 pages of advertising. Just search, click, and save… 15 minutes tops.
I have the dillons app on my phone ( dillons is a kroger store in the midwest) they have coupons on there and some weeks that saves my family a ton of money and all you have to do is go through the list and push a button on the ones you want. Also if you do the scan bag and go option in store the scanner will alert you if there is a coupon and let you add it to your list so you save money that way too
Something that I struggle with is figuring out how to incorporate sugar cravings into my meal planning/grocery shopping. What leads to my second trip most often is a craving for something sweet and feeling like there aren’t any such items in the house. How many sweet things to buy for the week when ideally you wouldn’t buy or eat any at all. Fyi: just me in the house.
Great article some good tips; some I knew and some were spot on for what we do wrong. Any suggestions for a ‘communal household’? During covid my partner’s family bought a large house and had us all move in together. There’s basically 3 former sub households: Parents, Grandkids and their parents, and partner and I. I go through extra lengths as do they to not use up something others have plans for and sometimes we end up with a meal cooked by one group and shared by another. So we have food planned for that gets potentially wasted. Freezer space and fridge space is limited, but we have some nice pantry space.
Ehrmehgersh-I love the kitchen inventory idea and am going to print out some of those sheets. I am thinking about starting a revolving inventory of the contents of our chest freezer (TBH, I have no idea what’s in the bottom of that thing!). Is that too nerdy?? I also agree about coupon clipping. Even the digital coupons. I just end up buying stuff that’s not on my list to save a few pennies.
Thanks very much. Many pertinent points that I will check out. My concerns aren’t so much about costs at all, as they are not having given enough (or any!) thought re evening meals. This is HIGHly inconvenient. Writing meals on the calendar doesn’t necessarily motivate me. Perhaps, I need to spice up my ingredients + recipes… With much respect, please, please, PLEASE DO NOT CHOP OFF YOUR HEAD. article editors will Not be pleased. Please and thanks🙏🏽. Thanks again! Cheers.
I would like some tips on motivation lol you seem to have it all together lol..I’m lacking sleep and omg don’t know if it’s the cold weather but I feel groggy and dealing with a lack of energy…Any tips…or on how to get overwhelmed taking care of a family and household duties would be nice…I’m new at it and omg it just stresses me out working all day and coming home to a disorganized home not too bad but I’m just not on top of it like I used too I’m ok with my home not being perfect all the time.