If you google "Meal Planning" you'll find tons of different recommendations, charts, and how to's.  That's cool, but I don't have time to figure them out.  I've settled on a simpler method.  This is how I meal plan.

First, gather your stuff.  I grab my shopping list, it's the white board.  I saw it one day in an office supply store and I splurged on it.  It was $9.99.  I don't spend money easily (lucky for Jason). It has been the best $9.99 a woman can ever spend.  Every time I need something I write it down immediately.  Now I almost never forget stuff I need.  There is nothing more grievous that getting multiple kids to the store and back and then realizing you forgot the eggs.  Or the cheeseballs.  I'll spend money on cheeseballs any day.  Now I'm distracted by cheeseballs!  Focus!

You'll also need two slips of paper.  The slips of paper come from all the papers my kids bring home from school.  Teachers love to send stuff home on colored paper!  And I love colored paper that comes home free.  I just cut it into strips and use the back.  Boom, baby!  Colored paper for free!  Actually I just realized it was purchased with my tax dollars.  Sigh.

Lastly, you need your favorite recipes.  Maybe you don't have any yet so you'll need to sit down in front of this amazing blog and use that.  My favorite recipes are ones I print or clip out of magazines and keep in the binder.  Also, my sister and I each made cookbooks on Heritage Makers with our family favorites.  Also, I once compiled a "menu" with all the recipes I cook frequently.  I also like to use the weekly grocery ads for inspiration.  If you don't have a place where you keep all your recipes, I recommend starting with a binder. Buy low!


Now that you have your shopping list, your slips of paper and your recipes, get a pen!  Aren't you glad I'm here?

One slip of paper is for the store (it's awkward to take the white board, and my kids have erased it in the car), and one for your meal plan.  I'm a WalMart shopper, so I write that on one sheet (and any other errands I need to run, like going to the bank or getting gas or going to the post office).  On the other sheet I write down the days of the week.



Next, check your schedule and write down events you have that might interfere with cooking.  For example, Saturday is Date Night, Tuesday is Boy Scouts, and Friday night is a Daddy Daughter Campout.  I don't want to end up planning a big meal on Date Night when we're going out, and on Boy Scout night I know it will be hectic getting kids and a husband off to mutual.

Next, flip through your favorite recipes and start filling in your days.  On Date Night the kids will be eating Mac and Cheese, leftover spaghetti and applesauce and carrots.  On Boy Scout night we're having easy freezer food (like chicken nuggets and french fries or a frozen pizza) so I can be available to help find scout shirts and Scout books.  On Wedneday, when I have nothing going on I'm hoping to make calzones since it's more time consuming.  We're having leftovers on Daddy Daughter Campout Night since I'll be prepping camping food with said daughter.

As you write down each recipe, check the ingredients to see what you need to buy and write it down.  Add anything else from the whiteboard shipping list (like vitamins, a bridal shower gift for a friend's daughter, and church shoes for Liz).



Then shop with your shopping list and clip your meal plan back on the whiteboard so you won't misplace it.  I refer to it through the week.  Sometimes the plan changes and I feel like BLT's instead of calzones so I switch it around.
The best time to meal plan is when you're NOT hungry.  The worst time to meal plan is dinnertime.  How do you meal plan?