Meal Planning + This Week’s Menu

So, today I want to talk about meal planning!! Now, I’m not an expert by any means; this is just a what-works-for-me post. If I find a better method then I’ll come back and share that too! 🙂

I generally plan a week at a time. I go shopping either Saturday or Monday for the whole week. Ideally, I would like to plan/shop for two weeks at a time (I think it would save me money), but it just hasn’t been happening. I do enjoy my grocery trip with the kids though so it’s nice to have that excuse to get out with them every week.

I make my grocery list on my phone using the Grocery IQ app. It’s the only app I’ve used for grocery shopping, so I honestly can’t say how it compares to others, but it works great for me!

When planning out my grocery list and meals for the week, I first check what I have on hand and start from there. I try as much as possible to keep my freezer stocked with some of our basics so that I don’t have to buy everything every week. (Check out this post for a list of things I like to keep handy in the freezer!) Obviously, certain things like milk, eggs, bread, produce, etc. I will generally need to buy every week.

I also like to plan around sales. For instance, if Aldi is running a really good deal on whole chickens one week I might plan to make chicken soup one day and another meal that calls for shredded chicken later that week.

Right now the main meal that I plan for is lunch; it’s basically our “dinner” because Pablo works through supper. Once I’ve planned out our lunches (plus supper for the two evenings Pablo is home) I write the meals up on a white board in the kitchen. This helps me remember my plan, plus Pablo likes to be able to see what he can look forward to eating. 😉

I try to make sure to write down the vegetable we’re having with the meal as well, otherwise I sometimes forget to serve them. Oops!

Here’s what’s on the menu for this week:

Monday – Leftovers
Tuesday – Greek salad for lunch, chicken drumsticks w/ red potatoes and broccoli for dinner.
Wednesday – Beef stroganoff sandwiches, raw veggies
Thursday – Baked fish, corn on the cob and green beans
Friday – Stir-fry with brown rice
Saturday – Baked chicken with leftover red potatoes and either salad or green beans
Sunday – Pot-luck at church for lunch, leftovers (probably the beef stroganoff) for supper

I like using the whiteboard because I can be flexible as needed. Sometimes I’ll realize that Tuesday’s meal will be more convenient to make on Monday, or whatever, so I’ll just draw arrows or erase and re-write. 🙂

Now, for breakfasts, we generally eat the same sorts of things so instead of a specific plan I just make sure to have several of our normal options on hand.

These are some of our usual breakfasts:

• Cereal
• Homemade granola and yogurt
• Eggs + toast and/or bacon
• Baked oatmeal
• Fruit/veggie muffins

Supper is kind of my “wing-it” meal, at least for the five suppers a week when Pablo is gone. Caleb and I do a lot of breakfast for dinner, leftovers, sandwiches, mac n’cheese, etc. I do need to get better at making sure we always have some veggies too… it’s easy to be lazy when it’s just me and the kids.

Anyway, I think that’s about it! If I ever get my act together and start planning two weeks (or even a month, gasp!) in advance I will let you know how that goes!

I would love to hear what your method is for meal planning! Or maybe you have an awesome recipe that I need to add to my plan for next week! I’d love to hear from you in the comments. 🙂

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