How to Meal Plan

Does Meal Planning exhaust you? Do you feel defeated before you even begin? Are you one of those people who need to be completely organized before you start something? You are not alone! When I first started meal planning, I thought I needed weeks worth of food, stacks of recipes and all the time in the world. The fact is I didn’t need anything more than a pen and paper. Ready to learn How to Meal Plan?

Let’s chat for a minute about the benefits of having a meal plan. The two major reasons for meal planning are to save money and to eat healthier. But beyond that, meal planning is actually very satisfying. I like being organized and having my meals planned out, seems to relieve the “what’s for dinner” stress.

Meal Planning saves money

I’m about to tell you an embarrassing truth about my husband and me. A few years ago, I decided I was going to tackle our budget and try and reign in our spending. We just didn’t seem to pay enough attention. So, I read a few blog posts on the subject and each suggested we go through the last three months and see where we actually spent our money.

Let me tell you, we were in shock. We were spending over a thousand dollars on food. This was nuts. The highest portion of this was spent eating out and we weren’t even indulging in nice meals, really what a waste. It was mostly fast food and it adds up so quickly. I started meal planning and now we plan ahead for a meal out.

We do give ourselves one night out a week, which is usually take-out, sometimes it’s a five-dollar pizza, but it’s a night where I don’t have to cook and I look forward to that! We have a set amount we’re willing to spend and we stick to it. And guess what, we have savings for the first time in a long while.

Learning How to Meal Plan also saves your waistline

We all know that fast-food or eating out is not the healthiest pick, don’t get me wrong there are some great options, but are you choosing those? We don’t. For me, eating out is an indulgence. And it’s supposed to be! Restaurants are not worried about the calorie count. The portions are huge and the food is cooked in fat and sugar so that it’s super flavourful. The problem with this is that too much of either tends to lead to weight gain.

Besides saving money, having a meal plan also means you know what goes into your dinner. You can find ways to cut down on extra fat and sugar and ultimately save those calories. If you’re still in the mood for a meal that feels like an indulgent night out might I suggest this Sausage and Crispy Brussel Sprout Flatbread? It’s so good and restaurant-inspired!

A quick Meal Planning Tutorial

Here’s how to use the Weekly Meal Planner. I only plan the dinner meal for each day of the week, so I only included space for that. We tend to eat the same things for breakfast and lunch is usually leftovers or something quick, but there is a space to write down breakfast and lunch ideas if that’s important for you and your family.

I’ve heard a lot of people say they plan their meals around what their kids or spouse like. I don’t do that. In our house, you eat what is served and that’s that. I figure since I’m putting in all the effort, it’s my choice. A lot of people don’t realize that cooking a meal is much more than just heating up some food. It’s meal planning, inventory-taking, grocery list making, prepping, cooking, and finally cleaning. It’s way more complicated than we think. So, when I meal plan the meals that are included are my favourites or new recipes I want to try. No one complains and it works for us, but you do you!

If you’re looking to save extra money? Start by shopping your freezer to see what proteins you already have on hand. Then, check out your local flyers and find out what meat is on sale. If you’re lost for a recipe idea for that particular protein, you can search for recipes on Pinterest, or do like I do and skip the sales and just get what you want.

Write down the meals on whatever day you think you may want to serve them. Don’t worry if Tuesday’s meal becomes Friday’s or whatnot. You know what six meals you plan to cook for the week, so if they get switched around a bit, no big deal. Stay flexible. My tastebuds and how much time I have to prep a meal dictates what gets served on a particular night, more than what’s actually written down.

If you’re planning a meal based on a new recipe, write it down! I made an extra space to include the recipe name or website. I have forgotten to mark down where I found a recipe in the past and have had to change my whole plan. So, I made sure there was a spot to jot it down.

Next, going through the recipes, take a quick inventory of what you have in the pantry and add the missing ingredients to the grocery list on the right-hand side of the weekly meal planner. I did a meal planning challenge with Chelsea from a Duck’s Oven and she mentioned at the end of a week of good meal planning you will have very little in your fridge. At first, this gave me heart palpitations, but it makes perfect sense. If you’ve eaten up all or a majority of the food you purchased, you planned your meals properly.

When I designed the meal planner, I did give a little extra thought to how I wanted this to work for you. I’m not someone who goes to the grocery store with a full-sized sheet of paper. So, I designed this planner with that in mind. This sheet is meant to be folded into thirds. So, when you pull it out of your bag, it’s a much smaller piece of paper, more manageable.

I like to plan and this weekly meal planner makes my days feel a bit more organized. I like writing my meals on paper, so I can go back and check to see what I’ve planned for. There is no more last-minute “what’s for dinner” dilemmas. And my fridge is always full of exactly what I need. It makes my evenings easier.

For a free copy of my Weekly Meal Planner please click the link below.

weekly meal plan Download

If you really want to take this Weekly Meal Planner up a notch. Ask your local printer to turn this into a notepad for you. It’s fairly inexpensive and you could add a few magnets to the back and stick it to your fridge if that’s your thing! However you choose to use this planner, I’m sure it’ll be a helpful tool in your home, too.

If you loved learning How to Meal Plan, check out these other fun posts, I’m sure you’ll enjoy:

If you get a chance to make this or any other recipe on the blog and want to share. Please feel free to tag @candyjarchronicles or use #candyjarchronicles on Instagram, so I can see your post. I’d love to see what you’re cooking in your kitchen!

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