Meal Planning Made Easy
By Neena on Mar 19, 2007 in Food and Nutrition, Just for Moms, Shopping
Probably because it is hard for me to think that far ahead even if it is already 5:30p.m. Add afterschool activities and sports to that and cereal begins to look like the only option.
Recently I purchased a calendar for the SOLE purpose of meal planning. It is a two page per week layout. Every weekend I sit down with this meal planning book and write down what I plan to serve each evening.
Making kids lunches can also be challenging, so I make notes regarding this as well. By laying it all out I can easily see if they plan to buy lunch, if I must make lunch, or if they can take leftovers from the previous evenings dinner.
If I am feeling really organized, I can even grab my coupons, the grocery store circular and my recipes and put together a shopping list at the same time.
I must stress that I use this calendar for meal planning ONLY. I do not clutter up the space with daily activities and appointments. This helps me to stay focused on my task and is also easily referenced throughout the week.
The calendar that I have chosen for meal planning is the Mom’s Plan-It Calendar. The great thing about this one is that it has a bookmark sized grocery list on the left hand side that is perforated. So, you can make your list as you plan and easily rip it out and take it with you when you go shopping.
So, is there always a hot meal on the table in our house? No - but we have definitely seen some improvement!
4 Comment(s)
By Nilam on Mar 20, 2007 | Reply
Wow! This is a great idea! Maybe this will make me more organized and maybe even help me…gasp…cook dinner once in awhile! If I have the ingredients on hand, the cooking should be the easy part.
By Neena on Mar 20, 2007 | Reply
Let me know how it works out for you.
By Anonymous on Mar 21, 2007 | Reply
I love this idea — I tried to use my everyday calendar awhile back in this way, but like you said, it was way too confusing with the million other activities on there. How much time do you spend putting together the menus—do you include side dishes? I’m tired of being at the grocery store every day, something like this could help me. any tips in the shopping area would be great.
By Neena on Mar 21, 2007 | Reply
Anonymous,
I am glad to be of help. As to the time involved - it depends how much time I have! Including all the details (side dishes, etc.) makes the week go more smoothly but takes more up front planning. At a minimum I get the main dishes planned but I do like to include more information like side dishes and the kids lunch plans. Usually, it takes me about half an hour to plan and go through my coupons and the store circular. Look for an upcoming post on shopping tips - and thanks for the feedback.