How many times have you asked yourself that same question? How many times have you opted to order pizza or give your kids cereal because you had nothing planned?
I am here to help. Dinner can quickly become a problem without the right kind of organizing, so my husband and I developed a meal planner that works well, is hassle free and allows you not only to plan your meals in advance, but also allows you to save time and money. Here’s how it works:
1. Sit down with your family and decide on 28 meals you all enjoy (include a night to eat out or order in and a free day where everybody fends for themselves, or has leftovers. When planning mine, I try to plan meals that can be re-used in the next day meals, ie: Wednesday – pot roast, Thursday – Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches).
2. Use a calendar, like the one in excel, to make a calendar for each month that you want to plan meals in (this can be as far as a year in advance if you want to).
3. Take those 28 meals you came up with and rotate them through your calendars. Make sure you check your calendar against your kids’ school calendars and yours, so that on those days when you have something at night, you plan an easy meal, or a crock pot dish.
By doing this, you can essentially make your monthly shopping list the same, with the exception of necessities. It will also allow you to buy some things in bulk, knowing that they will be used.
Once my calendar is done, I place it on the refrigerator next to my children’s lunch menu and everybody knows what we’re having for dinner that night. Check your calendar in the morning, because there will be more times than not that you can prepare dinner during nap time or some time in the morning, freeing you up in the afternoons.
If you have any questions about how this works, or would like to see a sample, leave a comment here.
For some great recipes to try, visit our Food Blog!