A Simple and Effective Meal Plan In 3 Easy Steps

Whether as a means to shed a few pounds, get healthy or just to get organized when it comes to meal time, creating a simple and effective meal plan will help you get going in the right direction and stay on course. There are many ways to create a meal plan. There are a lot of elaborate spreadsheets and standardized shopping lists, which tend to leave out items you actually buy. Meal planning doesn’t need to be complicated, time consuming or require anything more than a piece of scrap paper and a pen when you’re first starting out. Of course, if you are technically adept and simply can’t do anything without a keyboard then feel free. My point is not to over complicate it or you will never use it.

Meal planning in our home has eliminated the question “What’s for dinner?” since it’s posted on the fridge where we can all see it. It has also cut out the fast foods or convenience foods that is pretty typical in a home with minimal to no meal time organization. Did I mention this has saved us a lot of money? Here are the steps I take to create a bi-weekly meal plan for our family.

Meal Plan: 3 Easy Steps

Step 1. Make a list of meals. Using a full sheet of paper make a list of meals that your family likes to eat (don’t include fast foods here). Ours includes homemade macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, pitas, tacos, roast beef, chicken a la king, wraps, stir fry etc… Once you have the usual suspects written out, it’s nice to include meals that you enjoy but rarely make or those that you’ve been dying to try. This list should have around 20 recipes on it to make sure there is enough variety from week to week.

Step 2. Pick and choose. I use a recipe card and across the top we put the days of the week starting on the day after our grocery shop. We do groceries every second Thursday so across the top of the card I write F, Sat, Sun, M, Tu, W, Th. If I know we’re having dinner with my folks on Sunday I draw a line through that day so I don’t plan for an extra meal. Once you’ve identified the days you need meals for use the list from Step 1 and pick and choose meals writing them under a specific day of the week. I always cook a bit extra for leftovers it saves on money and almost every second night I don’t have to cook!!

TIP: Try and plan for recipes requiring fresh veggies or fruits to be near the beginning of your two week plan. This way you can use fresh ingredients before they go bad and you’ve saved yourself another trip to the store and money!

Step 3. Make a shopping list. When I’m done I have about 7-10 meals planned out for the coming two weeks. My shopping list is always written out on a recipe card and I try to stick to one side. I list ingredients required only for the meals I have written out and which we don’t already have at home. Other items that go on my list include those that we are running low on such as toilet paper, toothpaste, soaps, dog food, coffee, jam etc…

TIP: Include items on your list that can be eaten as light nutritious snacks in between meals. Raisins, trail mix, dried fruit and nuts are great examples of nutritional snacks and can all be re-packaged into snack sized re-sealable bags to grab as you’re heading out the door.

You may find this takes a bit of time initially but trust me, it saves you a ton of it during the week and don’t forget about the stress it reduces! Following a meal plan will help you eat healthier meals that suit your family’s taste while reducing or even eliminating fast food from your diet at the same time.

See also:

5 Tips for a Quick and Efficient Grocery Shop

Photo courtesy of Gio JL