I like cooking. But, I don’t like planning for it or shopping for it. Which is weird, because I love planning in general. I love being prepared, and I like cooking at home, but I have really struggled with meal planning.
For a while, this is what meal planning looked like for me. I would wake up Saturday morning and realize, we don’t have eggs, we don’t have milk. Shoot! We need to go to the store. There is no point going and getting a few things when we need to shop for the whole week. So, I’d sit down and try to figure out what we need. First thing Saturday morning is not a good time for this as I’m hungry and feel rushed to bang out a list so we can run to the store.
The feeling of being rushed would render me useless. I would look at a ton of recipes online and couldn’t choose! It was like a detested paper your teacher asks to you write and you sit at a blank screen with nothing to say. So, inevitably, getting to the store for breakfast ingredients and everything else wouldn’t happen. We’d eat whatever we could find and I would procrastinate on this task all day and be lucky to get to the store and back in time to make dinner.
I started hating Saturdays. I hated this process. It’s like I had a mental block on this area of my life. So, I decided to try to do it every week by Friday evening. This worked for a while, but I procrastinated until Friday and this became a struggle, too, even though it was much improved!
I now have a new system and at this point, I think I have finally figured this out. I thought I would share it as it might be helpful to some of you.
How I meal plan
Grocery Pick-up
I use Kroger’s ClickList. I literally feel that this whole pick-up groceries service is the best thing since Amazon or Netflix. It really is life-changing for me. I detest going to the grocery store. I don’t know why. I would rather clean or do anything. My husband didn’t mind going, but he would call every five minutes and be gone for at least 2 hours, so this would still take a significant chunk of our Saturday. So, grocery pick up for us! $5 is so worth it to me!
Start List
I usually start my list online as soon as my last order is placed or at the very beginning of the week. I start by adding anything I forgot for this week, basics that I know we will need, like eggs, milk, breakfast items, snack items and toiletries. If you don’t use an online service, just start making your list.
Plan one meal per weekday
I plan one meal per day Monday through Thursday. As I plan, I add the items to our cart for that meal. Since each day I only have to plan one meal, it’s way less daunting. So, on Monday, I plan next Monday’s meal. I pull out my planner, which has a spot for meals and I look at what we might be doing that day and I pick the meal. So, if nothing is going on, I pick whatever I want. If I have a lunch meeting at work and can’t get home, I won’t plan a crock pot meal. If we have activities in the evening, then it will be a take-out night. I never plan anything for Friday because we will pick up food, order pizza or eat leftovers.
How I choose meals
To pick meals, I work from a meal planning Google Doc that is a categorized list of our tried and true favorites. I keep all of my recipes in Google Docs, so the list just links to all of them. It’s a quick, easy way for me to scan through and see what might work or sounds good. I also pull recipes from magazines and keep them in my drawer at my desk that I look at. And, finally, I have several Pinterest boards that I will take a look at.
I try to do some recurring things that are easy and favorites, like Taco Tuesday. My husband and kids eat tacos and I make a taco salad. We don’t seem to get tired of this. I usually do one baked foil packet meal each week. For example, I get chicken breasts and add lots of veggies to mine and for the kids and potatoes for or no veggies for my picky husband.
One new recipe per week
I try to plan for one new recipe per week. Then, if I like it, it goes into Google Docs. If not, I toss it or delete the pin.
Plan weekend meals
At the end of the week prior to finalizing my order, I plan the weekend meals. Sometimes, it’s Saturday and Sunday or just one of the nights. Also, sometimes, I plan these during the week as well, if I know what I want to do. Then, I place my order for pick up on Friday night or Saturday morning.
End Result
Now, we start the weekend with a plan for the weekend, the coming work week and food for both. This has made my life so much better. And, another huge bonus to planning thoroughly is that I save money and don’t make impulse buys.
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