Planning Ahead Series {Part 2}: Meal Planning Basics
I no longer remember what our meals used to be like before we learned how to meal plan. I’m sure it was a black hole of mac and cheese, hot dogs, and Hamburger Helpers. What I do remember is my first experience with meal planning.
I had left my professional career for something new, so I had to drastically revise my financial spending and budget. Living 20 miles away from town, it no longer made financial sense to run into town on an impulse. Every trip and gas expense had to be accounted for and worth the while.
What Is a Meal Plan?
Meal or food planning is a strategy used to sketch out what you are going to eat on a particular day, week, or month. It’s a great way to plan and track your food intake and makes grocery shopping much easier.
This article about meal planning basics will cover everything you need to know to create an effective meal plan suited to you and your family’s needs. I’m going to describe my process along with everything I’ve learned so that you can have an easy start off point and transition.
How to Start Meal Planning?
I knew the only way to start this shift was with a plan. As I researched how to save money, couponing, and live on a budget, I stumbled across an incredible resource. The Money Saving Mom blog saved me when I was overwhelmed by the concept of couponing, planning meals, and revamping our budget.
Crystal Paine, the wife and mama behind MSM, shared her experience raising her family on a very tight budget. And she broke the task down into doable, actionable steps. Her freebies included several templates for meal planning, and that is where my meal planning journey began. Suddenly, a previously huge task seemed relatively simple. I had a jumping-off point to get me started.
Over time, my family’s meal plan has shifted and changed. I’ve tried out a variety of templates, but I keep coming back to the ones I’ll be sharing with you today. My preferred format is a weekly table that lists all three meals. I print two copies to get a two-week meal planner I can work with. (You can check out my revised version by clicking on the button below):
But I won’t lie to you. There is a learning curve as you train yourself to do this new thing. It takes a minute to get into the habit and put in the time and energy to plan things out. But believe me, when I say this, the outcome is absolutely worth it.
The Meal Planning Basics
At this point, meal planning is so ingrained in me, I actually had to think about how to break it down into the basics for newbies.
The following are my top tips for getting your meal plan set up. Use these as your meal planning guide, but remember that all of them are in reference to my twice-monthly meal planning and grocery shopping system.
1. Cross-Reference Your Calendar
The first thing I do when meal planning is check what events we have coming up on our calendar. I mark any events or occasions we are attending, so I don’t plan to cook those nights. And if I’m aware a particular day is going to be busy, I’ll choose an easy-to-make dinner for that day. I’ll also consider if we’ll be having company over and what would be easy to assemble or prepare ahead of time. Just think ahead and plan for success.
2. Shop Your Pantry and Fridge
Now this may sound a little silly, but I can’t believe the things I’ve found in my pantry and freezer that I totally forgot having. So, before anything else, I look at what I have to work with at home. I note down anything close to expiring and consider any other items I have on hand that I would like to try out over the next couple of weeks. Any leftovers from previous meal plans are penciled into coming meal plans as well.
3. Choose Your Recipes
Once that’s done, gather up the recipes you plan to make over the next couple of weeks. You can have a daily theme for dinners throughout the week to help you simplify the process (i.e., meatless Monday, taco Tuesday, Italian Wednesday, leftover Thursday, and pizza Friday). Or you can save your favorite recipes online or in a binder as your go-to meal options.
Neither of those is my style. Instead, I like to constantly try new recipes and change things up. There is no system or theme and no true favorites (unless you count tuna sammies). Mostly, I choose new recipes for my meal plans.
4. Utilize Leftovers
Well, I like to constantly try new recipes, but that doesn’t mean I make something new every night. In fact, I try 2-3 new recipes a week at most. Instead, I rely on leftovers, viewing them as a fun challenge. Generally, my family will cook large portions of a new recipe (even doubling or tripling it). Then we plan for leftovers the next day and a revamp of those leftovers the following day.
My quick go-to change-ups for leftovers include turning the meal into a salad or adding eggs to create a unique scramble with leftover meat and veggies. I’m open to ideas on this and often just find something online I can make work with what we have at hand.
Not to mention, Mr. Perfect is pretty gifted at coming up with good eats from any leftovers lying around in the fridge. Leftovers don’t have to be boring; the more you utilize them, the less you will have to cook from scratch.
5. Fill Out Your Meal Plan
Once you have a clear idea of what you have at home, the events on your calendar, the recipes you want to try out, and a plan to utilize leftovers, you can take a pencil and a piece of paper and fill out your meal plan. You can also type it out or even use a digital planner, but I’m a bit of an old soul.
And though my generation is just as hooked on technology as others, I like to bust out my pencil and eraser when working on my meal plans. I also like to cross off the days after they’re done. Crossing things off a list is just so satisfying, isn’t it? I blame my mother for this OCD complex. (If you are reading this Mama,… I love you!)
What Works for Me
As I said earlier, my meal planner is a two-week time planner based on my twice-monthly planning and shopping system. Two of these equal four weeks or one month! If you give this system a go, you too will end up adding your flavor to the mix over time, customizing things to fit your personal needs and circumstances. My hope is only for my posts to give you a starting point.
Oh, and my real-life meal plans aren’t quite as pretty as these presume. There are scribbles, cross-outs, arrows representing flopped meals, and even notes to remind me of events we have going on, certain nutrition goals I’m implementing, or reminders to drink my water.
I add notes to remind myself to take ingredients out of the freezer the day before a recipe calls for them. I also like to include specific ideas for my family’s lunches and will even add days I want to bake treats for care packages or special occasions.
Your meal plan can be whatever you want it to be. All you need is to start somewhere. And in case you were wondering what a typical meal plan here at the Sheley household looks like, here’s a sampler for y’all (please don’t judge me):
| WEEK 1 | |||||||
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | |
| Breakfast | Scrambled Eggs with Breakfast Potatoes *Bake 2 Loaves of Gluten-Free Bread (Freeze One for Next Week) | Left Over Eggs & Breakfast Potatoes | Left Over Eggs & Breakfast Potatoes as Breakfast Burritos | Cereal | Coffee & Leftover Breakfast Burritos | Cereal | Scrambled Eggs with Guacamole & Bacon |
| Lunch | Salad | Left Over Gluten-Free Garlic Toast & Salad | Gluten-Free Tuna Sammies | Gluten-Free Tuna Melt | Leftover Hamburgers & Fries | Leftover Burgers & Fruit | Leftover Elk Roast on Salad |
| Dinner | Gluten-Free Garlic Toast with Gluten-Free Pasta & Basil Marinara, Chicken Asiago Sausage & Ricotta | Left Over Gluten-Free Pasta & Salad or Steamed Veggies | Left Over Pasta & Garlic Bread and/or Salads | Hamburgers on Gluten-Free Bread with Sweet Potato Oven Fries | Cheeseburger Salads & Fries | Elk Roast & Veggies | Leftover Elk Roast and Veggies & Sautéed Greens |
| WEEK 2 | |||||||
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | |
| Breakfast | Leftover Eggs with Guacamole & Bacon | Guacamole on Gluten-Free Toast | PB & J Gluten-Free Toast with Tea and Honey | Cereal | Hummus on Gluten-Free Toast & Coffee | Cereal or PB & J Gluten-Free Toast | Protein Shake or Greens Smoothie |
| Lunch | Leftover Elk Roast Open Face Sammies | Green Smoothie or Leftover Elk Roast Sammies | Leftover Pasta & Butter Parsley Sauce | Leftover Hummus and Roasted Veggies on Salad | Greek Yogurt, Nuts, Fruit & Granola Bowls | Salads | Leftover Gumbo & Veggies |
| Dinner | Pasta with Steamed Shrimp & Butter Parsley Sauce | Leftover Pasta & Butter Parsley Sauce with Salads | Hummus & Roasted Veggies with Pita or Naan | Loaded Baked Potatoes | Leftover Loaded Baked Potatoes as Twice Baked Potatoes | Gumbo over Rice & Veggies on the Side | Breakfast for Dinner (Pancakes + Bacon + Eggs) |
As you can see, I like to include a plan for each meal of the day. I may not stick to it 100% of the time, but having it planned and knowing I have everything to make it helps me make healthier choices throughout the day.
I’m also not always super specific about my meals. As an example, look at the day dinner just lists elk roast and veggies. But to me, that means I’ll need to take the roast out of the freezer, and my dad will season it however he wants. The veggies will be a side dish, most likely grilled or roasted, but entirely depending on what is in season and what we have on hand.
.Meal Planners
Some More Meal Planning Tips
- An easy way to meal plan is to set aside a specific time each week for it. This can be in the middle of the week or during the weekend, whatever works for you.
- Many people plan based on servings to minimize food waste, but you don’t have to be worried about leftovers. If you end up making more than you need, refrigerate or freeze the rest in meal-sized portions. You can even make extras on purpose to prevent an ingredient from going to waste or when you need a bunch of leftovers for the week. Pies, curries, stews, and casseroles are excellent options for this.
- If you’re on a tight budget but still want to incorporate lots of fresh fruits and vegetables in your meal plan, look for seasonal items. Fresh produce is less expensive when it’s in season.
- Chicken and beef don’t have to be your only sources of protein. Incorporate plant-based foods like beans, lentils, dried peas, and tofu into your meal plan for some inexpensive, great-tasting protein. And don’t forget about fish!
- Make a shopping list based on your meal plan and stick to it. Also, if you can, avoid shopping on Sunday afternoons. Instead, go first thing in the morning, late in the evening, or during the week to skip the crowds, long lines, and picked-over produce.
- For those too busy over the week, make-ahead meals are your friend. Clean and chop all your vegetables in advance and prep any meat, so all you’ll need to do on weeknights is grab and cook. Or you can get pre-cut frozen vegetables.
- It also helps to seek out ingredients that speed up prep. Canned beans, grains like quinoa, barley, or couscous, and pre-made pizza dough or pie crust can all help you save precious time and make cooking more manageable.
- Always have some backup options for when things don’t go to plan. Frozen meals, soups, cooked pasta, tinned tuna, and other ready-to-eat foods are great.
- Save time and money by planning dishes with overlapping ingredients. You can cook the common ingredient in bulk and store what you don’t use for later.
- When creating a meal plan, include foods you and your family love. And if you’ve got dietary restrictions, opt for meals like tacos, salads, pasta, and bowls that you can easily add and subtract ingredients from.
Wrap Up!
I sincerely hope seeing how I put together my two-week meal plan and sharing my templates helps you get going with this whole meal planning concept. Depending on the circumstances and my mood, I generally prefer two styles of meal plans.
The first one and my current go-to is a calendar/table style with three meals marked for each day of the week. The second one is a list-style format which I use when I need a bit more flexibility built into my schedule. It has a three-column list for breakfast, lunch, and dinner where I note down 7-10 recipes to make over the next couple of weeks.
So, what are you waiting for? Give meal planning a try today, and let me know what you think!
