Meal planning doesn’t have to be a chore. It can be a fun family event by asking for their favorite meal ideas!
My husband is our “Head Chef” at the house and he is an awesome cook master! I think he missed his calling and should have been a Sous Chef at a fancy restaurant. Not only is he awesome in the kitchen, but he loves it. I’m so glad it’s his favorite hobby. Yes, I know how to cook, but I don’t like to, so this is a match made in heaven.
Matt also does the majority of the grocery shopping. We have weeks where we don’t sit down together to plan the week’s meals; and let me tell you, I’ve compared the grocery receipts from planner weeks to unplanned weeks – BIG difference! We seriously save a lot of money when we plan.
Meal planning doesn’t have to be a chore. It can be a fun family event by asking for their favorite meal ideas!
The meal planning inserts have proven to be a customer favorite! On the left hand side is a week laid out to write down your planned meal. On the right is a convenient grocery list to write all of the ingredients down for each meal.
Regardless if you have a family to feed or if you are a single person cooking for just yourself, planning ahead makes your week of cooking easier and much more economical.
My mother has been cooking for one for years. She likes to cook once and eat twice, as she likes to say. She will bake two chicken breasts, one “chicken cinnamon” and one “salsa chicken” – then she has dinner that night and the second piece for lunch the next day. She also makes veggie packets ahead of time – combining broccoli, potatoes and carrots in an aluminum foil packet along with olive oil and spices, and viola, her side dishes for a few days.
Running out of ideas of what to make? I love to scroll through Pinterest and save my recipes along with scanning through my recipe cards that I’ve collected over the years. This way, when it’s time to plan, I have many options to look through and plan out. We have a board called “Matt’s saved recipes.” Click the Pinterest board photo here and it will take you to our recipe collection.
So as you prepare to jot down your weekly meals, i.e., sloppy Joe’s, tuna noodle casserole, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, just to name a few – make a list of what you need for each on your grocery list: hamburger buns, ground beef (2), tuna, macaroni, etc.
You can also flip back to previous weeks if you need more ideas of what to prepare for the week.
This is also so convenient if you pack lunches for the family. This is where leftovers can be helpful! You have made your lunches easier and have saved money and not thrown food away as well!
Season everything with love!
