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If you missed it, check out Lesson 1 on creating a master meal index!
So you've compiled your family's recipe index and are ready to get started making a plan for the week. I suggest having some sort of dedicated calendar or location in your planner to keep track of your meals & grocery lists. I have a chalkboard on the wall in our kitchen that *mostly* eliminates the repetitive "What's for dinner tonight??" questions!
Ready? Let's get started!
Look at What's Going On:
Open up your weekly calendar and look at everything you've got going on this week and how much time you'll have to make and eat dinner. Any sporting events of the evening? Maybe you need to plan a pre-cooked grab and go dinner for those nights. Spouse is working late and you'll be home alone with the kids over dinner? Something super hands-off (or that they can help with) might be best! Most of our weeknight meals I try to keep simple and quick. My husband is a traditional meat & potatoes guy, so on either Saturday or Sunday evening I'll typically make a big hearty dinner because I know those nights are less busy and he'll be home to help with the kids while I cook. Also, I typically use more fresh produce and ingredients when making hearty meals & sides, so this way (since we shop Saturday mornings) I know none of it will go bad! I even check the weather in the fall/winter months and plan soup for the coldest, dreariest day because I know that's when I'll crave it most.
Get Your Family's Input
The thing about meal planning is it is totally customizable to your family's needs! I want you to take this article as a starting point to figure out what works in your household. My kids aren't big enough yet, but I always make a point to ask my husband if there's anything specific he wants for dinner the next week. Sometimes he has no preference, sometimes we eat Teriyaki Chicken Bowls three weeks in a row. Sometimes he'll come look at my rotation list and point out something we haven't had in awhile that he'd like me to make. This way everyone in the home gets a say in what's for dinner and it's less days for you to have to plan on your own!
Look at What You Have in Your Fridge/Pantry
Before planning, I like to have a good idea of what food I still have on hand. If I have an ingredient that expires soon, I have an excessive amount of, or don't use very regularly, I'll plan a recipe to use that up. Shopping your fridge and pantry is a great way to reduce food waste and save money. A practical example of this is maybe I bought a package of Swiss cheese slices for ham and cheese sliders last week, but didn't use them all. We don't use Swiss cheese a lot, so I'll plan Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta for this week to finish it off!
Open Up Your Recipe Index
If you haven't already, pull up your recipe index. As I mentioned in Lesson 1 (linked at top of the post), I plan out my recipes using theme nights. Mental load in motherhood is REAL, so the more tasks I can automate/think less about, the better. My *very flexible* schedule looks like this:
Monday - Asian Inspired
Tuesday - Mexican Inspired
Wednesday - Soup/Grill
Thursday - Pasta
Friday - One Pan
Saturday - Take Out
Sunday - Hearty
Honestly, very rarely do we have those themes on those specific days, but it gives me a good starting point and then I can shuffle things around based on what the week looks like. For example, we rarely eat take out on the weekend. More than likely, I will swap that with a more involved/time consuming meal from one of my weekday themes.
Rotate and Write it Down
After I've filled in my husband's requests (if he had any) I'll go through each theme and write down whatever meal was listed after the meal we had in that theme last week, essentially just rotating through my index. If whatever meal is next doesn't sound good that week, I'll skip it. I love to track things, so I'll usually make a tally mark next to a meal and keep track of how many times I make each recipe throughout the year. This allows me to clearly see what recipes we don't tend to eat very often and may not particularly love anymore, so I can purge them from my list. If nothing in a theme sounds good, this might be a good night to try out a new recipe!
Again, I want you to create a system that works for you and your family, whether that is using a recipe binder, my spreadsheet, a sticky note system, whatever! Try out different methods and see what's easiest/what sticks!
My goal is that these tips help make meal planning a little less overwhelming! If you need a starting point for your master list, check out these themed meal ideas!
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