Meal planning is a must on my weekly to-do list. Without it, we end up eating out too often and having random food that we purchased go to waste. I feel like I have a pretty simple method of planning out weekly meals, so I thought I would share it with you!
How I Meal Plan
The first thing I do is write down our 4 main eating categories: BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER, SNACKS
Then I write the names of each family member and the number of meals I want to prepare for the week. I usually keep it at 4-5 meals because something always comes up and we usually have leftovers too. It might sound unnecessary, but I like to write down the snacks that we purchase too. And before I do this, I go through all the old snacks so that we don’t end up with stale chips at the back of the cabinet.
After making my list, I head over to my computer and hop onto Pepperplate. This is a great free website to not only keep track of your recipes but to put together your shopping list too. You can customize the aisles to match your supermarket layout, and add new categories.
My favorite art about Pepperplate is that you can print out your recipes and shopping lists, or just pull them up on your phone or iPad. This makes my life so much easier! Give it a try (I am NOT being paid by them to say that)! It’s completely free a valuable tool in my planning system!