Meal Planning Made Simple
One of my recent goals was to create a more streamlined plan around how we grocery shop, meal plan, and prepare our weekly meals. For me, being in the kitchen is usually a stress release and great joy. I love exploring and creating new meals, but this can also be my downfall. When I don’t have enough of a plan, I am paralyzed and only want to order take-out. If I structure myself too much, I don’t have enough room for my creativity or experimentation to kick in.
With all this considered, I set out to find the balance of structured, yet flexible. I think it will always take adjusting here and there depending on what the week holds.
Our household has always strived to eat healthy, well-balanced meals, but we were falling off the habit of doing so. We were having more sweets than usual, eating out more, and not making time for meal planning and prepping. Honestly, our food spending was taking over our budget. I set this intention so we could keep both our health & budget in check.
The 3 main habits I set out to establish with meal prepping and planning:
Spend less
Plan more
Create room for flexibility & creativity
Let’s start with the practical steps I took...
Firstly, I set aside an hour to 1. look at the week ahead, 2. check store sales, 3. plan meals, and 4. create my grocery list. This can be on Sunday if it works for you, but really any day of the week works. For me, since I work from home and my schedule is really flexible, I try to get to the store on Wednesdays so I can hit the overlapping deals that certain stores tend to have. I will break down the four parts to this planning hour.
1. Look at the Week Ahead
This includes looking at evening plans and events to determine what you will cook and when. This is also where flexibility comes into play. I gave myself 2-3 “flex evenings” for eating out, eating leftovers, or hosting/ taking a meal to friends. I leave myself room to breathe in the kitchen.
2. Check Store Sales
My husband introduced me to an app called flipp, and it has all the store’s flyers in one place. You can add things from different stores to your list straight on the app. When it comes to my produce & protein selections, I base them mostly on what’s on special. This helps us save a little here and there. It also gives us some wiggle room for when I am at the store and see something I want to try that isn’t on the list. (This is a habit I am trying to break or do less of, but sometimes there’s a chocolate bar or new tea I really want to try!)
3. Plan Meals
I plan 4-5 meals for the week and assign one for each night. I combine new recipes I want to try with tried and true meals we already know and love, which I refer to as Colton Staples. I do this method so that I am not completely starting from scratch each time I am in the kitchen or constantly re-reading a recipe to make sure I get things right. This helps me to feel comfortable with the meals we love and whip them up quickly, but also challenge myself with new methods, flavors, or grocery items. I am always pinning meal ideas on Pinterest or browsing our cookbooks, which helps us from getting stuck in a rut of eating the same thing all the time. At the bottom of this post, I Included a list of resources and bloggers I use to gather our meal ideas.
When it comes to planning meals, I also think about making enough so we have leftovers for our lunches or for a night when we want something easy.
fish & grits
creamy chicken chili
tuna melts
taco pizza
homemade bread
4. Create my Grocery List
There’s a method to my madness here, I promise! It works for me, but find a process or system that works for you.
How I navigate grocery shopping:
Create an “Essentials List”
This is wonderful for when I am at a loss for what to make that week and already out running errands. Many of our family staples include the ingredients on the list or make it easy to come up with simple meals. I encourage you to come up with your own list to help make the grocery shopping experience less burdensome. This list would also be helpful for sending someone else to the grocery store in your place. Here’s an example of our Essentials List:
Choose 2-3 protein options
Protein is where you could spend the bulk of your grocery budget, so I try to be choosy. I select what’s on sale and what can be used in a multitude of dishes. If something is a really great price, I allow myself the flexibility to pick up extra to store in our deep freeze.
Divide your list by store & then into store departments
I shop at mostly Sprouts and Costco, but occasionally Aldi as well. I list out each of these places and add the items I am going to purchase at each. I cross them off as I go so I don’t buy double. If I have other errands to run near another grocery store, I consider stopping there instead. The more I frequent the same stores, the faster I can get in and out. I also try to organize my list by department so I can grab everything in one area and move onto the next. This technique is what my husband loves and calls efficient!
Produce: Organic vs. Non- Organic
Since we like to eat good quality foods yet stay within a budget, the question of organic or not comes to mind. I use a resource that comes out each year by The Environmental Working Group called the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen that addresses shopper’s produce pesticide concerns. You can find it here. I find it extremely helpful in deciding what to buy organic and what isn’t as high a priority.
A few other tips:
Try baking bread at home: It’s been a fun skill for my husband to learn and I love that I get to reap the benefits! We sometimes make two loaves and give one away or use half for a loaf and the other half for focaccia or pizza dough later in the week.
Try grocery pick up: We tried this for the first time during this month of habit-building and it made it extremely easy to stick only what was on the list. This is especially great for moms with busy children or those who work full-time and can swing by after work. The downfalls are you don’t get to make your own product selections, there could be price markups, and if they are out of something essential you’d have to run elsewhere for that ingredient. In this stage of life, it’s easy for me to go to the grocery store without much hassle when we need to re-stock.
Make room for pantry items or any sales: Having easy, grab and make pantry items can make your time in the kitchen even more effective. Even adding a grain as a side to your meal can make it stretch further. I included a list of pantry items we keep on hand at the bottom of this post to get your wheels spinning!
Think about lunches and leftovers: My husband tends to take lunch to work every day so I have to think ahead about what will be easy for him to pack. Since I work from home, I can make whatever we have here on hand so I don’t need to overthink this too much.
I will also share a few things that didn’t work perfectly, some changes I made along the way, as well as how I felt during the process.
At times I wasn’t excited to make what was on the menu for the night, so I would swap things around to what sounded more appealing.
There was a decent amount of planning the first few weeks, but by week 3 and 4 I got into a groove of things and it went much faster.
I will admit, I didn’t always stick to my list, but planning specific meals definitely helped me cut back on buying extras.
Overall, this method of structure, yet flexibility really worked for me and I think it will continue to moving forward. It set me up for future success when it comes to saving money and making a plan. I now know I can do it! I can stick to a meal planning method while still getting creative when I want to!
A couple of things I still want to implement:
-dry erase boards on freezer & pantry spaces
-incorporate more meal prepping time into my day-to-day (cutting veggies, having healthy snacks on hand, etc)
Pantry Items I always have on hand:
Grains: Oats, Rice, Quinoa, Farro, Pasta
Flours: Almond, Gluten Free, Pastry, Whole Wheat, White
Sweeteners: Agave, Local Honey, Coconut Sugar, Cane Sugar
Sauces: Curry, Tomato/ Pasta, Simmer Sauces
Nuts: Almonds, Cashews, Pecans, Walnuts
Canned Proteins: Tuna, Salmon
Canned Coconut Milk
Beans
Onions
Potatoes
My Go-To Resources & Food Bloggers:
“Cook Once, Eat All Week” cookbook by Cassy Joy Garcia
Magnolia Cookbooks: Vol. 1 & 2 by Joanna Gaines
Danielle Walker from Against All Grain
Cookie & Kate
Minimalist Baker
I hope you learned some tips and are encouraged to simplify your meal planning and prepping process! Comment and let me know what was helpful or what you have questions about. Happy planning!
Xoxo,
Paulina
