My Weekly Meal Planning System
Somewhere in 2018 I finally accepted that I was responsible for feeding a family of four.
Indefinitely.
Up until then I was spending ENDLESS hours trying to arrange meals and our grocery bill was through the roof.
I became DETERMINED to make meal planning as painless as possible. And as cost effective…..without causing scurvy.
Here’s how we do it. In four simple steps:
1) Shopping List
The first of the week I pull out my grocery list which is pre-populated with our weekly basics. I tuck the list into our kitchen drawer and throughout the week we highlight and/or add items as we run out.
The pre-populated list is really where the magic happens. The day I figured out I didn’t have to write ‘bananas’ every week was a happy day.
2) Meal Plan
At the end of the week I spend 15 minutes (or 2 hours if a toddler is helping) planning next week’s meals and finalizing our shopping list.
I plan our meals based on two main factors:
our schedule that week
the food we already have in the house
In an average week I normally only make about 2-3 complete dinners. The other nights are either leftovers, take-out or “no-cook” meals (grilled cheese, eggs, etc.).
3) Shop
The next day I take my list and hit the store.
My Shopping “Rules”:
we only shop once a week
weekly budget is $125
I always go to the same store (except for diapers +wipes)
I don’t base my plan on sales - but I do price match (cheese + grapes allllways!)
4) Cook
I choose a block of time during the weekend to do all the cooking/meal prep for the week. During the week we get home about 5pm and we eat about 15 minutes later. Monday to Friday our house is re-heat-ville.
The length of my cooking block varies. In our current season I might spend 2-3 hours. But when the kids were really small I was stoked to prep carrot sticks + half a dozen hard boiled eggs.
Whatever your ‘system’ looks like make it work for YOU.
Are you at home with kids all week and prefer to take weekends off from cooking - I hear that. Maybe Wednesdays are your ‘free’ days. Maybe you’re at hockey practice 4 nights a week and breakfast is your special time together.
MAKE. IT. WORK. FOR. YOU.
My Final Words: Please please PLEEEASE be gentle on yourself. A meal plan shouldn’t increase stress. A plan gives you permission to feed hot dogs any night you want!
Oh - and one small note on family meals - they are lovely and I highly recommend them. Even on nights when I spend more time cleaning up messes than in my chair, dinner is still almost always the best part of my day. Not the easiest. But the best.
Happy Planning Mamas,
Mary Ann K. xo
p.s. visit our shop for the meal planner above.
p.p.s. follow us on IG for more meal planning inspo.
