3 Tips for Family Meal Planning
I’ve been working over the Summer to implement new routines for success and organization, and out of that came a meal planning routine. Prior to this, my family would ask me everyday, “what’s for breakfast”, “what’s for dinner”, “can I have a snack”, and the list goes on. Needless to say, I got tired of that. Also, as a result of not pre-planning our meals, I was doing a lot of ordering out. I finally had enough and decided to come up with an effective meal planning system, and I’m sharing it with you. Best of all, the steps I’m sharing will save you so much time weekly.
Plan meals once for the entire week
I used to figure out meals everyday. For some that may work. It actually used to work for my dad. He would think about what he wanted for dinner at work, go to the grocery store after work to get items for that meal, and then cook when he got home. However, that system doesn’t work for me at all. A lot is thrown at me on a daily basis, I have 4 kids to care for, work and the list goes on. So I crave systems, organization and pre-planning as much as possible.
What has been working for me is to plan meals once for the entire week. I typically do this on Fridays or Saturdays for the week ahead. This usually takes me no more than 5 minutes. Some things I consider when choosing meals are:
Our family schedule for the week - If I have to take the kids to sports practices on a certain day(s), then I may plan leftovers for that day and will plan to cook a meal the day before with enough servings for 2 days.
What I have taste for - If I’m over chicken, I’ll cook something else we haven’t had in awhile like crab cakes.
Quick and easy meals we all enjoy - The easier and faster it is to make the meal, the more likely it will be added to the weekly menu.
A new recipe I want to try - I don’t do new recipes every week, but at least a couple times a month, I like to open my cookbook and try something new. I almost always love what I make, and so does my family.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner - I plan all 3 meals for the day. Yes, breakfast, lunch and dinner. This was really helpful over the summer when the kids were home. Now, that doesn’t mean I never deviate from the plan because if I decide I don’t want spaghetti, I’m fine with changing it up. But I feel more sane going into the week when every meal is planned out.
Dining out/take out - For me, meal planning doesn’t mean that I never eat out. Our family enjoys dining out, and I don’t prefer to cook daily. So while I love making sure we have home-cooked meals throughout the week, I also incorporate breaks from cooking with take out.
Pick a day to buy all of your groceries
Similarly to planning meals once a week, I try to buy groceries only once a week. I do this for 2 reasons. One, to be done with meal planning completely in 1 day. I love checking things off my to do list, so being done in a day is the best way for me. Two, this helps me with managing my budget. If all my groceries for the week are ordered in advance, this helps minimize the chance of me ordering out more than I planned for.
Before I buy groceries, I check to see what items I already have for my meals that week, and simply buy the rest and any other necessities we need for that week. The basics I buy are:
Meats
Starches, Veggies and Fruit
Eggs, Bacon and Pancake/Waffle Mix
Bread and Milk
Snacks
Drinks
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Share the menu with your family
There are 2 ways to do this. You can share the menu with your family after you’ve already decided on the meals for the week, or you can include them in the decision making process by asking for their menu requests. Completely up to you! I tend to go the first route, since I know well what would work for everyone. To avoid the what’s for dinner questions, I send out the menu for the week via text message in our family group chat. This makes things easy, and then everyone can refer back to it later in the week if they need a reminder of what’s on the menu.
All of these simple steps can be done in as little as 30 minutes, so again this saves you tons of time! If you need more ideas, here’s an example of what my weekly dinner menus can look like:
Sunday - Air Fryer Salmon, Kale Fried Rice, Broccoli
Monday - Leftovers
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday (chicken and beef tacos)
Wednesday - Chili, Rice, Corn, Cornbread
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Pizza (Delivery or Pick up)
Saturday - Take Out or Eat at a Restaurant
I hope this helps make your family meal planning much smoother! Let me know if you plan to try this system.
Have a glowing day!