Meal Planning

The moment I told Joel we were having our third boy, he responded with one thing… “They’re going to eat us out of house and home!” My kids eat a lot now and they’re all under three. I can’t imagine three teenagers. 

 

Other than my husband becoming a millionaire, we’re going to need to learn how to stretch a dollar. One way I do that now is meal planning. Oh the dreaded meal planning. Most singles or couples without kids laugh when I say I meal plan. They comment on how much work it is and how it’s not worth it. Although, three boys later… I think it will be worth it. It also saves us a lot of money already! 

 

I’m going to help you out. I’m going to teach you a few things to make meal planning easy and possible!

 

Keep it simple     

Choose recipes you and/or your family have had before and like. Then you can add a few new recipes. Be careful not to overload yourself on new recipes. If you try a new one and like it you can add it to the list of we love it recipes! 

 

Keep ingredients in mind

When you are choosing your meals, keep in mind how much of your ingredients you will be using. If you decide to make pulled pork sandwiches and coleslaw, you will probably have extra cabbage on hand. Instead of wasting it, you can make another meal using cabbage. This helps stretch your ingredients. 

 

Plan a few leftover meals

We call this fend for yourself nights. Chances are you will have enough leftovers for a few meals. This is great for those busy days where you’d rather binge watch your favorite show than head to the kitchen and cook. 

 

Stock your pantry with some basics

Think about the meals that you typically cook through out the week. What are the basics you tend to cook with frequently? In our house we use a lot of rice, black beans, bread, and Indian spices. Our pantry ALWAYS has plenty of those things. 

 

Get a calendar

Get a calendar and put it on your fridge or use your phone’s calendar. Write down the meals you choose for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Write a grocery list based off your meal choices. You don’t have to stick to the exact meal you schedule for each day, but it gives you a list of meals you have groceries for.