My 4 Top Steps to Meal Plan Success
1. Taking a survey of what’s in my pantry, fridge and freezer.
Goal- use what I already have- because it’s already been paid for and there is nothing worse then having to throw away something because it didn’t get used before it’s expiration date.
2. Review our schedule –
- this helps to have meals that are realistic for what activities are going on
- looking over the scheduled for the week helps me plan which meals I should make a crockpot meal for, or that I need to cook something ahead of time
3. Plan the grocery list at the same time as meal planning and surveying fridge/freezer/pantry
I have tried many different grocery lists. This is my favorite and what we are currently using. On Google Keep making lists and sharing them is super easy! Then multiple people can add to lists and if they pick items up they can select it so that it gets taken off of the list!
4. Prep ahead of time
- Cook or prep meat
- Wash and cut veggies
- Separate things into containers as needed
Basically anything that will take a step or 2 away the night of your meal is helpful to do before hand!
Monday:
Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole by PaleOMG
Someone waiting for something to drop 🙂
I didn’t get to make this last week like planned, so I made it Monday morning before I went to work. Then I just heated up some when I got home. It was soooo delicious 🙂
Tuesday:
Leftovers
Wednesday:
Beef Taco Casserole by Fed and Fit
Thursday:
Spaghetti & Zoodles
- 1 lb of hamburger
- 1 lb of sausage
- 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
- oregano, parsley, garlic
- 2 zucchini (or you can buy pre-made zoodles)
Cook hamburger and sausage in a skillet until done.
Add sauce and spices
For the zoodles- you can now buy pre-made zucchini noodles OR you can make your own!! I use an attachment on my mixer- see it linked here.
Friday:
Cool Ranch Tacos (I make a few edits to her recipe)
These are super, super easy & here is what you need~
- Chicken Thighs
- 3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons of Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 Taco seasoning packet (or click here for a homemade version)
- 1 Ranch seasoning packet (or use a homemade version-1T dried parsley, 1tsp garlic powder, 1tsp onion powder, 1tsp dried onion flakes, 3/4tsp dill, 1/2tsp pepper, and 1/2 tsp salt)
*Throw everything in the crockpot, Cook on low all day, at least 8 hours
Holy Cow- it doesn’t get much easier than that!
Saturday:
Loaded Cauliflower Casserole from Cook Once Eat All Week Cook book
Sunday:
Chili
Chili (This is another recipe that I made ahead of time)
- 2 lbs hamburger
- chili powder, garlic powder, cumin paprika, salt and pepper
- 1 can kidney beans
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- Cook hamburger until done
- Add all ingredients to a crockpot
- Cook on low 8 hours, let cool
- Put into freezer bags (if making ahead of time)
For this meal, we can just put the chili in the crockpot on low in the morning and it will be all ready to go by dinner!
My Favorite tools for the kitchen:
Happy Meal Planning & Thanks for stopping by!! If you need even MORE meal planning ideas check out Organizing Junkie
Thanks,
Faith ♥
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