Domestic Diva 76
Home Decor – Organization – Cooking – DIY – Family – Travel
Meal Planning 101
I have been a meal planner for many years. First I started meal planning with my daycare where I created a 6 week rotation menue. This was very helpful and I recommend it to everyone that does daycare. It takes a guess work out of everyday meal prep and saves you money. This worked out so well for me that I decided to Meal/Menue plan for my family life. I decided I was going to plan all the meals not just dinners. I also decided that I was going to plan out my dinners monthly. This step I don’t always do but I like it when I do do it.
So how do I Meal Plan? First things first, there are few things to consider. Things like:
- Your families schedule
- Your schedule
- Special occasions
- What is in your freezer
I try to include few new recipes every month and also include the staples every month. Some of my staples are:
- Turkey or Beef Spaghetti
- Chicken Burritos
- Chicken Stir fry
- Turkey or Beef Chile
- Chicken and Beef Stew
- Home Made Pizza
- Roast Chicken
- Roast Pork
- Pot roast
- Fish (Salmon or Cod) – at least once a week
- Soup
- Butter Chicken
- Thai Chicken Curry
I am also always on a hunt for great slow cooker recipes to include in my menue especially on those busy days.
Once I have picked out my meals for the month or a week if you are doing weekly planning, I look at my schedule and see if we are doing any entertaining, going out for dinner or traveling on weekends. Once I know my schedule I assign dinner to each day.
For my weekly Planing I plan out my breakfasts first. Here are some of my staples
- Veggie Omelet
- Greek yogurt with fruit and granola
- Egg sandwich with Canadian bacon and english muffin
- Smoothie
- Oatmeal
- Eggs
- Waffles or Pancakes
I wake up early so I usually have enough time to make breakfast for my family.
When it comes to my lunches and my kids lunches I try to use up the leftovers as much as I can. I always make more for dinner so I can use the leftovers. In case I don’t have enough or we had fish (not too nice the next day) here are some of the other food I use in my weekly lunches
- Home made pizza pocket (I always have these in my freezer)
- Sandwiches with meat
- Wraps with meat
- Grilled Cheese
- Soups for the freezer (I always have soups in my freezer that I freeze after I make them)
- Salads with meat or hardboiled egg
I also have a five after schools snacks that I always use. These are:
- salsa, guac and corn tortilla chips
- apples and peanut/almond butter
- banana nut butter sandwiches
- veggies and hummus
- cheese and dried sausage and pickles
For my weekly Menue plan I use at this time the Recollections Menue and Recipe Planner.
I also have a sticky sheet in my pantry where I write out my weekly breakfast and dinner so my family can see it. It works like a dry erase board so every week I erase and start new.
Once my weekly meal plan is ready I make a grocery list and I do an inventory of my fridge, freezers and pantry so I know exactly what I need.
Is this perfect? No but it does work for me and limits food waste and number of times we eat out.
Hope you find this helpfull
Happy Reading
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