Knowing these tips will help you start a meal plan you might actually stick to! Whether you are wanting to start meal planning to save money, eat healthier, waste less food, or go to the grocery store less (or maybe some combination of all the reasons)… the point is meal planning is great in so many different ways! These tips will show you how to make meal planning easier for you!
1. Meal Plan Based on Your Personality Traits
Ultimately the best way to meal plan is stupid simple, and it’s any way that works for you. Meal planning can look very different for everyone, but ultimately, as long as we accomplish the goal of planning out our meals, then it doesn’t really matter how we do it.
Here are some examples of how meal planning might look based on your personality:
- Go with the flow Joe – he likes to meal plan by writing down a list of meals on an old piece of paper, then choosing from those meals throughout the week. Joe mostly only meal plans his dinners.
- In between Sue- she writes down all the meals that she will make on a whiteboard in the kitchen, in no particular order. Sue plans a few breakfasts and lunches throughout the week, plus every dinner.
- In it to win it Jen- Jen likes to know what she is doing ahead of time. She also has a whiteboard, but with all the days written down. Jen plans out each and every meal, including snack times.
Meal planning can be very involved, super laid back, or somewhere in the middle. Doing what fits your lifestyle and personality will help you easily stick with your meal plans.
2. Keep a Running List of All the Recipes/Meals You Know and Love
Keeping a list of meals translates into super-fast, super-easy, meal planning!
Depending on your personality type, this list could be scribbled on a piece of scratch paper, a note on your phone, on some nice stationery, kept in a word document, and nicely printed… The point is, it really doesn’t matter how you make your running list of recipes.
Just make the dang list, you will thank me later!
3. Keep it Simple, (Yet Exciting!) By Making One New Meal a Week
Or even less, depending on your schedule. But trying a new recipe every once in a while means you can slowly add to that list of meals you know and love. Not only that, it’s fun to mix things up!
If you are looking for new recipes to make, my favorite place for new ideas will forever be Pinterest, but you could also always find something to make here too!
4. Plan Easy Meals On Busy Days
If you have certain days of the week that you know will be hectic, be sure to plan SUPER easy meals to make for those days. That way, when you are exhausted, dinner doesn’t have to be a hassle too.
Check out these easy, healthy meals to add to your meal plan:
5. Have An “Oh Sh*t” Meal On Hand
An “Oh Sh*t” meal is basically just a meal that requires minimal or no prep work, in order to get dinner on the table. Think dump dinners, microwave dinners, and anything that you can just throw in the oven. “Oh Sh*t” meals are for those tough days.
You don’t necessarily want to plan for an “Oh Sh*t” type of day, so it won’t be on your meal plan… But sometimes things happen, and when things happen, it’s nice to be prepared.
Check out these healthy “Oh Sh*t” meals I like to keep on hand:
- LOW CARB CHICKEN TAQUITOS | FREEZER FRIENDLY & EASY TO MAKE!
- KETO T.V. DINNERS – A COMPREHENSIVE LIST
6. Easily Stick With Your Meal Plan By Meal Prepping
Having one day a week where you just take a few hours to prep some food for the week will really help you stick with your meal planning.
You don’t want to meal prep everything, but there are certain things that will help you out a ton if you meal prep in advance.
Think recipes that call for precooked meat, vegetables that you can chop, cheeses that need shredding, etc.
Check out these meal prep friendly recipes:
7. Find Ways To Make Meal Planning Fun
One of the greatest things about meal planning is that you can actually plan for fun too! Plan a Friday night family pizza night, where everyone can add their own toppings to your own homemade pizza! Start new traditions like taco Tuesdays, or meatless Mondays. Whatever floats the family’s boat.
The point is, meal planning allows us to be more intentional and mindful about the food we eat. But we can also be a little intentional about the fun & memories we create too!
BONUS TIPS:
Choose something fun (that you also want to use) to write your meal plans on
This could be anything from a whiteboard, a planner, nice paper, your iPad, etc…
Check out these cute meal planners for inspiration:
Don’t forget to go grocery shopping for all your ingredients!
I know this might seem obvious, but remembering to go grocery shopping AND getting everything on the list is easier said than done. It can be super easy to forget an ingredient (or three).
When you make your grocery list just be sure to go through the ingredients of each meal you are planning to make sure it is either in the kitchen or on your list.
Did these tips help you? Let me know in the comments below! ♥
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