Delightful (and Easy) Meal Planning

Let's be honest that the thought of meal planning is not a great one. You read all of these Pinterest and blog posts about how to make it easy plus they say it is life changing. 

Guess what it is really life changing because it makes your life so much easier. I have been meal planning for a while and am always looking for good ways to do it. There are certain things I want o achieve out of meal planning and when you determine that, I think that meal planning can be delightful and easy. 

The things I like to achieve are:

1. Less grocery shopping and trying to shop biweekly and even monthly though honestly for my family biweekly works the best. I notice two weeks are about how long goods that spoil last like milk and eggs. 

2. Having a easy go to menu and rotating it on a regular basis. I guess this means it can't always be taco Tuesday (though my youngest would have it every day if I made it). I am fine if that works for you but I get burned out with meals when I have tried that but if it works for you go for it. 

3. Cheap buys and buying what's cheap. I spend a few minutes to see what is on sale each week and tailor my planning and menu to that. It would be nice to have steak every week but I only get it when it really is on sale. Pork tenderloins are great to stock up when on sale and one can stretch two to three meals in my house. My kids love pulled pork so that is always a go to. 

4. Efficiency which means, I am not all about going to multiple stores. Lots of meal planners bounce from store to store, but I guess I am lazy in the regard. If I can't get it at one store, than I just don't get it but I also adapt as well.  This is why it is always a good idea to know your store and know their advertisement. For example, I know Aldi's and I know what I can and can't get there so I may shop there one week and than do Kroger's the next time. I than get variety of things without having to store  hop. 

I love to have my calendar laid out for the month so I created a fun and easy way to fill in with my meals for the month. I also mark down the times we go out to eat. We always do Sunday morning breakfast and Pizza night on Friday.

Here is my August plan

Here is a blank calendar to print out 

I also have this fun planner insert I got from Michaels which can break it down per week as well and help me remember likes and dislikes. Plus it also has a pantry and fridge inventory list so I always know what I have on hand for planning purposes. 

I can easily stick this in my purse for when I go shopping. I also can use the cloud and one drive on my phone to pull up my at home list if needed. 

I want to have a quick and easy way to plan and get the stuff I need so that I have more time for other things like work and crafting of course lots of crafting.

Thanks for stopping by!