My Weekly Meal Planning Routine

Hi there! 

If you’re reading this, you’re probably interested in how I meal plan. As a busy wife and mom of 2, I don’t have a lot of free time to spend in the grocery store. I also don’t have time in the evenings to figure out dinner for my family. So after too much wasted time and money, I figured out a way to be more effective in my meal planning. This method usually only takes me about 20 – 30 minutes once a week.  Here’s what works for me: 

1. Plan a weekly menu down to the ingredients.

I have a notebook dedicated to meal planning. I like being able to reference previous weeks for ideas and ingredients when necessary.

In my meal planning notebook, I write out our meals for the entire week (Sunday thru Friday..I rarely cook on Saturdays). For each day, I write out the entire meal and the main ingredients.  I typically meal plan in my kitchen so that can check to see which ingredients I already have.  If I already have something, I don’t add it to the list.

• If I am meal planning and I am not at home or in my kitchen, I write down all the ingredients, but I double check the items I already have and cross them off the list before grocery shopping.  Before, I used to end up with multiple things such as corn starch, potatoes, and lemon juice (random I know).

• Each week I incorporate a new meal (thanks Pinterest), as well as a meal that can last 2 days.  I don’t have the energy to cook every night, and this helps us to not spend too much money on take out.  I also try to utilize my crock pot as much as I can.  I find it most useful to let my dinner cook in the crock pot during the day so it’s ready when we get home.

 2. Finalize grocery list

The additional grocery items are written on the back of my meal planning list for easy reference while shopping.

Aside from the ingredients for our daily meals. We still need snacks, condiments, items for our lunches, and coffee… we must not run out of coffee.  During the week, I usually I add items to my list as we run out. This week we ran out of ketchup, milk, and bananas so I added those things to my grocery list.

3. Shop

I use my Macbook or my iPhone to shop. Either way is super easy!

Now that the grocery list is finalized, its time to shop.  Where and how you shop is totally up to you.  If you follow my social media, you know I am a lover of the Kroger ClickList.  It allows me to shop online from home while meal planning.  It also allows me to reserve a pick-up time that is convenient for me.  I usually pick up my groceries on Sundays between 3pm-4pm, on the way home from swim class with my daughter.  I have heard of other stores with a similar service.  Feel free to check them out to see what works best for you.

I have only been using the Kroger ClickList for a couple of months now, but I love it because I only buy what I need. Plus, I never have to go inside of the grocery store (especially with children).  Also, because I stick to my list, I don’t overspend #winning.

Stay tuned for my blog on how I meal PREP!  I found a way to keep myself on track during the week to save time on dinner prep.