Post by Loupy on Mar 30, 2015 23:43:05 GMT -7
4 Steps to Easy Meal Planning
By: Wardee @ gnowfglins.com/
1. Make a list of your family’s favorite meals that work with your lifestyle and budget.
Be sure to consider “breakfast for dinner”, crockpot meals, and past menu plans.
Aim for 7 to 14.
2. Create a rotating schedule of the favorite meals.
The number of meals you can pull from will help you determine how long this schedule can go — like for 1 week, 2 weeks, or a month.
Factor in “leftover nights” or nights you plan to eat elsewhere. Remember to scale up recipe quantities if you want to be able to serve them for another meal (like leftovers for lunch the next day).
You’re going to put those meals into a calendar — either digital or paper. You’re also going to prepare your recipes. Again, either digital or on paper. If you use paper, keep the calendar and the recipes in a binder.
3. Create a master shopping list for your menu.
If you’ve made a 2-week menu, you know what ingredients you need to buy to be able to make and serve these meals. Keep this in the binder with your calendar and recipes — or if you’re digital, keep it together with your other files.
4. Cook from the menu!
You have what you need and you’ve done all the mental heavy-lifting. All that’s left is to follow the plan. 
