Tips on Meal Planning 101

If you could enter my mind for a day (which may just be a scary invite!) you would know that I’m a mom of process. I like to break everything down in baby steps and see my way to the finish line. After I make a process or have a specific order, I rarely steer off track. When a system is in place, I find the task to be manageable, effective and efficient. I try to make systems for almost everything I do and I do  mean everything. I should probably also point out that Motherhood has changed me. Hasn’t it changed us all in someway? I didn’t always think this way. Now, every little detail I can muster up has been a thought in my head. This is just the beginning. Welcome to Tips on Meal Planning 101.

Prior to mommy hood, my boyfriend (now husband) and I would be on a very tight budget. I mean Roman noodles and boxed mac n’cheese daily. To this day, I still can’t eat Ramon noodles! We would stop at fast food joints and nothing was ever planned out. As we both transitioned from teenagers to adults, we have made lots of changes. Looking back, I know I felt like I “never had any money” but the more I think about it the more I realize I did have money, it just wasn’t spent wisely.  By just making a shopping list and STICKING to the items on the list, we could have saved money!

I want to share my tips with you so you can:

• Learn how to make a systematic process that works well with your schedule
• Save money
• Save time

CREATING A WEEKLY LIST

Every Saturday, I create the menu for the week. This can be an easy task if you make it into one OR it can be quite the challenge. Here are a few suggestions to make recipe planning easy and simple.

Suggestion #1:

Some months we eat the same foods over and over. I create a meal schedule for the week and then rotate one item out every week. For example:

Monday – Tilapia Tuesday – Pasta and meatballs Wednesday – Chicken and potatoes Thursday – Mexican Tortillas Friday – Pizza Saturday – Pasta with Peas Sunday – Chicken and waffles

Then the following week, I would rotate one dish out and replace it:

Monday – Tilapia Tuesday – Pasta and meatballs Wednesday – Chicken and potatoes Thursday – Mexican Tortillas Friday – Pizza Saturday – Pasta with Peas Sunday – Salmon cakes

Continue this method for the whole month. It makes meal planning very simple!

Suggestion #2:

If you find recipes you like, SAVE THEM!

On my computer under the Favorites Folder – I make a new folder weekly. I title it with the date. For example the main folder title is: Recipes. Inside Recipes are many folders with the current weeks date, for example: 4.14.13. When I click in that weeks date folder, I have different sites that I have save recipes for.

I also have a second folder called: Make Again

When I’m finished with the current weeks meals, I transfer my favorite recipes from that week and place in a new folder called Make Again. This way, I have some tasty recipes on hand and ready to … make again with any time searching!

Suggestion #3:

The old fashion way, get your cookbooks out and start flipping and marking! I have lots of cookbooks and I pick one book and fold pages to what looks good or is easy. Sometimes its nice to go back to an “oldie” and reconnect with those favorite recipes.

Where do you find recipes? Easy!

• Quick Search for specific recipe
• Search: Easy dinner recipes / healthy recipes / quick dinner recipes
• Pinterest! If you haven’t been on pinterest, you have no clue what you’re missing and you need to do so ASAP!  Use it like you would use google.com – just do a search. And you can find me too by clicking here

More tips:

• Start with main dish: meat, fish, pasta, pizza…build side dishes around it or a nice big salad always go well
• Go with what you are in the mood for.
• Decide on what is easy and for you. If you know you have to take the kids to ballet and baseball practice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays – don’t make big meals. Perhaps make two baked pasta dishes on Sunday, eat one Sunday and freeze the other for later in the week. Heat up and go. Use meals such as pizza on time-crunched nights as well
• Budget. If you are on a strict budget, I can’t stress to you enough that you must know your store well. I can pretty much name the items I use weekly and how much they cost. I can tell you on the top of my head that two baked ziti dishes are going to run me $11. You need to know your store if you are working on a budget and it doesn’t hurt to know other stores as well.
• Shop locally! If you shop from your farmers back yard, it won’t cost you nearly what you pay at the stores. Get to know them!

By preparing a list of meals ahead of time, you are preparing yourself for a quick shopping trip as well. You will already know what you are serving that night, what you are making tomorrow and you NEED NOT TO WORRY about anything because you are prepared! Please don’t just stop at dinner, prepare breakfast and lunch as well. By taking the extra time to plan your meals, you are saving on headaches, wasted time and the burning question kids always ask, “MOM! What’s for dinner?!”

Let’s look at more advantages to preparing a weekly meal schedule:

• Make healthier choices
• Stick to budget because you stick to the list!
• Saving time for that weeks dinner “crunch.” There’s no second guessing what’s for dinner
• Stress-free! One less thing on the list to do for that week

Want to know what your next steps are? Of course, they are planned – because YOU ARE PREPARED! Look for a new post coming called Tips on Shopping 101. You will learn

• how to make your shopping list
• how to shop when you’re in the store
• what days to shop on
• how to be prepared!

Yes, there’s a system to shopping as well! Do you have a tip on preparing meals? Be sure to leave me a comment with your Meal Planing 101 tips!