As a mom of two under two, life is busy, to say the least. I love my job as a wife and mother. However, at times it can be a bit overwhelming when I feel everything is not in order. It's easy to forget things when my focus is on my babies all day, every day. I have learned if I do not write things down, I will not remember them. Implementing these few simple tips has helped me become much more organized. And has made my life simple.
Today's tip is Meal Plan. Meal planning is essential to simplifying your life. Going to the grocery store without a plan is a recipe for disaster. Trying to think of meals off the top of your head is difficult, and trying to remember what those meals were later is just as hard. Making a meal plan helps you prepare yourself for your grocery run. As well as helps you remember what you intend to eat. Not only does it help you be more prepared it also helps you save money too. Meal planning is going to save you money in two ways. A. You're going to the store with a plan which makes you less likely to pick up unnecessary items. B. You planned how your ingredients will be used, making them less likely to go to waste.
Before you ever make any plans for meals, check your calendar. If you have a birthday party on Monday, don't waste time planning a meal that you're not going to make. If you are going to be shopping on Wednesday, plan to have a crockpot meal. Church on Thursday plans for an easy-to-clean-up meal. You want your meals to fit into your life or you are not going to make the meals you planned to make leading to groceries being wasted. If you plan to make a meal that is going to take two hours to make, on the same day you are going to be gone all day. You will more than likely hit a drive-thru on the way home instead.
Things on Hand
To begin the meal meaning you’re going to need to do “shelf shopping” first. This means going to your pantry, refrigerator, freezer, etc. where you store food, and making a note of what you already have on hand. Maybe you made spaghetti last week and you have a fourth of a box of noodles left. Make a note of that, while you might not be able to make an entire dinner out of a quarter box of noodles, you can make them into a side dish. Maybe you planned a meal for the previous week but unexpectedly went out to dinner instead. You have an entire meal already on hand. This also helps prevent you from buying multiple boxes of the same thing. 🙋🏻♀️ (I have been guilty of this before. I have had five packs of tortillas on hand.)
Planning Meals
Once you have checked what you already have on hand. Start building your meals for the next week. You already know one meal is going to have a side of noodles and another meal is already planned out. After you have your meals planned out based on the ingredients you have on hand, you can go to Pinterest or your favorite cookbook and come up with more meals. As you work on building your meals keep in mind the ingredients each meal may need. If your meal on a weeknight is tacos, and you use lettuce with your tacos, plan for a salad for a lunch another day. This will keep your ingredients from going bad. Especially for your meals that are using perishable items. Also, write in when you plan to eat your fruit. This is an item that goes to waste on a lot of people. Write down the banana at breakfast and the strawberries after dinner.
Another tip to keep in mind, prep for another day. What this means if you're having chicken, cheese, and rice on a Monday. Make extra rice to refrigerate for refried rice later in the week. This might take some logistics in your meal planning but your week will go much smoother if you have everything already planned out.
Pro Tip: Plan your meals and then use your favorite grocery pick or delivery service. Once you have finished your meal plan you also finished grocery shopping.
I have created a meal plan sheet printable for you to download for FREE. Please like, comment, and share this post on your Pinterest or wherever you read your favorite blogs. Click here for a free meal plan printable.
