Hey there! 🙂 I wanted to take this time to help you understand how meal planning can save you both time and money! Whenever I am called in to organize a client’s kitchen, I always include a session called “How to Create a Meal Plan.” This usually catches them off guard, because they don’t think of meal planning as part of organizing their kitchen.
I tend to disagree, because, think about it, where do you plan your meals? In the kitchen. Where do you cook your meals? In the kitchen. Where do you eat your meals? In the kitchen. Since everything that has to do with meals is prepared in the kitchen, it would be a smart idea to create a meal plan when you are organizing your kitchen.
So Why Should You Meal Plan?
The main reason is to save money. We all know that it is less expensive to cook meals at home. Another benefit is that meal planning is healthier, and it promotes closeness within the family. When you eat at home together as a family instead of in a loud, crowded restaurant, you can have more meaningful conversations and hear what everyone has to say.
So now that you know the importance of meal planning let’s get started!
How to create your meal plan
- The first thing you need to do is come up with about 25-30 meals for the month. Make sure they are meals everyone enjoys, so you don’t end up making multiple meals every night. Look online at recipe websites like AllRecipes or Food.com, flip through your cookbooks, and print out or jot down the names of the meals. If you’d like to add some quick and easy Crock-Pot meals the entire family will love, click here. Cooking with a Crock-Pot or Instant Pot is a great way to save time and money when preparing meals.
- Next, take a look at your calendar and begin filling in the days with meals. Save the more complicated recipes for the weekend or days when you have more time to prepare them. If you didn’t come up with enough meals for the entire month, it’s ok to duplicate meals as long as you spread them out.
- Now that you know when you will serve the meals create an ingredients list on your weekly meal planner for each recipe and store the list and recipes in a binder. This way, whenever it is time for you to go grocery shopping, you can jot down the ingredients you need without having to search through your cookbook or search online. Everything is at your fingertips!
- When it’s time to plan your meals for the next month, just carry forward the meals from the previous month, and you’re good to go!
4-Week Dinner Meal Plan
Below is a 4-Week Dinner Meal Plan I created to help my clients out with meal planning for their families. This plan features 28 delicious family-friendly meals that can be rotated from month to month. It also includes a shopping list for all of the required ingredients, which makes preparing dinner a breeze! Click here or on the photo below to check out my 4-Week Dinner Meal Plan so you’ll never have to wonder or hear “What’s for Dinner?” again. You’re welcome! 😉
Do you currently plan out your meals? Is this something you’d try? Let me know! 🙂
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Your meal planning ideas are excellent. Thanks for assisting our readers in the Blogger’s Pit Stop.
Thanks, Kathleen! I’m glad you enjoyed the post! 🙂
Meal planning is a huge money saver for our family. I don’t go to the store as often, that means saving money. Thanks for linking up at Family Joy Link Up this week.
That’s great to hear! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I used to be on top of my meal planning and cooking my family dinner each night. That all ended with the birth of my daughter who is now 12 months. I’m trying to get back on top of it, but I think until she gets a bit older I have to cut myself some slack. Thanks for joining the Family Joy link party! 🙂
Excellent reasons to cook at home! Thanks for sharing this great advice with #SocialButterflySunday! Hope to see you link up again this week 🙂
Meal Planning has really helped our family a lot. It saves us money, and helps us eat healthier.
Hi Kali, That’s so great! I’m hoping more people jump on the meal planning bandwagon so they can see how easy it is to save money and eat healthier. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting! 🙂
I feed 9 people 3 meals a day so meal planning is an absolute MUST! In addition to planning out my dinners for the month, I have a weekly rotation for breakfasts and lunches so I don’t even have to think about those meals. You have some great tips here. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! 9 people to feed…I can’t even imagine what that’s like. I’m so glad you’re meal planning. I’m sure you have many other things to think about! Thanks so much for your comment and for stopping by! 🙂
yes, totally agree, I need to get back to making a meal plan for the month and not just the week. I try not to use our old apartment oven unless I really need to…so crockpot meals are a must. I agree that having a bunch of meals everyone likes makes a big difference as I refuse to make separate meals anymore. Stopping by from #MommyMondayBlogHop
Hi Karen, I hear you! When I used to meal plan only for the week, it felt like I spent so much time planning meals. Now that I have it all done for the month, I don’t plan meals anymore! I love it. When the new month comes, I just move the meals over to the new month. Give it a try. It takes a little while to set up, but it will be so worth it in the end! Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting! 🙂 ~Leigh
This is really great advice. At first, I didn’t see the connection between the two things either but you’re so right.
I used to be better with meal planning. I’ve fallen off a little bit but it’s time to get that going again. Thanks for the reminder.
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You’re very welcome! The great thing is once you set it up, you won’t have to think about it again. Good luck! 🙂
I started meal planning by the month last summer. It is so great! Such a time saver.
Hi Lisa! I’m glad it’s working for you. I agree, it really is a time saver! Thanks for commenting. 🙂