Ok I am taking the meal planning by the horns. To save money I plan my meals for 1 -2 weeks (at payday) and only buy food that goes with it, plus staples. But I hate the process of figuring out what to cook. If it doesn’t sound appetizing at the moment I nix it off the list. Which is silly. And this silliness leads to horrible procrastination.
So I am making 2 lists. One is a Common Meals list with foods listed by type (Italian, Mexican, Asian) and then sublisted by protein (chicken, beans, eggs). This can be updated constantly.
Next list is the actual Meal Planner with 6 dinners worth of premade selected meals and one day open for leftovers or eating on a relative's house. This was inspired by the Saving Dinners book.
To make the list I started each week with:
1 Mexican/ Beans
2 Italian
3 Beef
4 Soup
5 Chicken
6 Fish/Eggs
7 Leftovers
This gave me something go with when planning but I changed it around a lot as I went. Then I filled in actual meals for 6 weekly plans. Tried to keep the week diverse with easy to prepare, budget friendly and only one “spendy” dish. Right now I am focusing on Fall/Winter type foods and eventually will have something for Summer foods too.
Here is one sample week:
1 Bean burritoes - easy
2 Chicken alfredo with broccoli and pasta
3 Hamburgers with green salad - easy
4 Pork chops with grilled onions and green veggie
5 Minestrone soup with chicken – freeze extras
6 Salmon steaks with green veggie - spendy
7 Leftovers
The meals are not in order, so I can make whatever I want each night or what makes sense with our schedule.
I am SO hoping this makes things easier and I don’t somehow fight it once I start using it LOL
Rhianna
So I am making 2 lists. One is a Common Meals list with foods listed by type (Italian, Mexican, Asian) and then sublisted by protein (chicken, beans, eggs). This can be updated constantly.
Next list is the actual Meal Planner with 6 dinners worth of premade selected meals and one day open for leftovers or eating on a relative's house. This was inspired by the Saving Dinners book.
To make the list I started each week with:
1 Mexican/ Beans
2 Italian
3 Beef
4 Soup
5 Chicken
6 Fish/Eggs
7 Leftovers
This gave me something go with when planning but I changed it around a lot as I went. Then I filled in actual meals for 6 weekly plans. Tried to keep the week diverse with easy to prepare, budget friendly and only one “spendy” dish. Right now I am focusing on Fall/Winter type foods and eventually will have something for Summer foods too.
Here is one sample week:
1 Bean burritoes - easy
2 Chicken alfredo with broccoli and pasta
3 Hamburgers with green salad - easy
4 Pork chops with grilled onions and green veggie
5 Minestrone soup with chicken – freeze extras
6 Salmon steaks with green veggie - spendy
7 Leftovers
The meals are not in order, so I can make whatever I want each night or what makes sense with our schedule.
I am SO hoping this makes things easier and I don’t somehow fight it once I start using it LOL
Rhianna
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