How I Do Weekly Meal Planning

When I do my weekly planning, one of the key pieces of it is meal planning. I do not like spending time during the week trying to figure out what’s in the fridge or if the items are defrosted. By the time it we’re ready for dinner, the last thing I want to do it more decision making. So there’s a few tips I’ve found helpful for me when it comes to meal planning. As always, take what’s helpful and leave what’s not.

Tip 1 – Document

This could sound completely nuts to you, but I am taking pictures of my fridge or freezer every few weeks to make sure I know what’s in it. It makes meal planning when I’m not in my kitchen much easier. I’ve tried the meal inventory lists too, but I’m not good at keeping up, so a picture, or sometimes a video of our deep freezer is helpful for me. This also means I try to keep our fridge decently cleaned out so we are using what we have instead of buying more.

Step 2 – Braindump Some Ideas

If you just took your videos or pictures of your fridge/freezer or if you just know what’s in them, write out some main ingredients, usually proteins. I find that if I know what proteins I have (usually meat), then I can come up with some options and sides based on that or figure out what I need to add to the grocery list.

If you want to take this a step further, keep a running list on your phone of go to meals for your family. If you make let’s say 4-5 meals a week, see if you can brain dump about 25 or so options. I know that sounds like a lot, but that’s almost 2 months of meals before repeating them. Pick items you know your family likes and then maybe add in some new ones you want to try. Again, this makes the planning easier if you have this list ahead of time.

Step 3 – Plan What You Know First

Now that I have an idea of a few meals for the week, I look at my weekly planner and figure out how many meals I actually need for the week. Usually I plan out about 3-4 dinners with leftovers for lunches and then some quick assembly breakfasts.

I plan what I know first, meaning I know usually Thursday we are going out for Date Night and Friday we’re going to have pizza. On Saturday we’re usually flexible since we are often hiking or camping so that one may be ordering out or making something we were craving. I know Sundays tend to be leftovers or crockpot items, so then I really only have to plan out Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Tuesdays tend to be something taco-ish and with the amount of venison we have, it’s usually some version of a quesadilla, crunch wrap, regular taco, or something similar. So then that leaves Mondays and Wednesdays to plan out.

• Thursday – Date Night
• Friday – Pizza Night
• Saturday – Sabbath
• Sunday – Leftovers or crockpot
• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – TBD

This may seem backwards to you, but it works for me, so that’s what I work with. I also try to plan our meals with enough for leftovers for Teddy’s lunch. Sometimes I’ll have leftovers too or I’ll defrost some meal prepped soups or make something for lunch.

Step 4 – Get Groceries

At this point, you have a pretty good idea of what you plan eat each day at least for dinner and now it’s time to figure out what you still need to make the meals happen. I use Shipt for groceries because I find grocery shopping a waste of time. Some people find it relaxing, I am not one of them. So I am normally pulling up Shipt while meal planning and adding immediately from the store what we will need for the week. I do dinners first, then breakfast options where I try to make sure we have a few options on hand – fruit, sandwiches, items for eggs, or oatmeal. Then I’ll add any extras for lunches or ingredients we just need on hand.

I place the order for Monday delivery and then I’m all set when I’m making dinner and have what I need. Again, Shipt grocery delivery where I don’t have to leave my house has been a convenience I fully enjoy.

Wrap Up

That’s it. The more you do proactively, the quicker this goes. The things you may find odd (or you love) where I take pictures of my fridge and freezer, as well as having a list of go to meals, and then planning the week in reverse make meal planning really easy for me. In terms of my weekly planning, I spend maybe 5 or so minutes on this, potentially 10 if I need to double check for ingredients. It really is quick. But again, I’ve set up a system to make the rhythm much easier. Consider what may be helpful for your own meal planning routine and then do what works for you!