How to Spend Less Time Meal Planning!
The way I see it, two things are true:
- We all get busy.
- We all need to feed our families and ourselves.
Because of these two truths, meal planning can feel like a chore, can’t it? It often feels like one of those responsibilities like the laundry that is just never done! We feed everyone one night…but they’ll need fed again tomorrow. :). Or maybe you even plan meals a week ahead but it feels like the week goes by in a flash and you’re needing to do it all over again.
I’m even speaking as someone who enjoys cooking and baking, so I’m not complaining about this responsibility …however, I don’t always enjoy feeling like I constantly need to be thinking about WHAT to cook!
If you’re like me at all and looking for a way to spend less time meal planning while also keeping it all easily organized, then keep reading! I’m going to share how I have learned to meal plan over the years and what tools and resources I use to do it.
Weekly meal planning was my go to for a long time. It works well, and I still plan weekly from time to time.
However, what I’ve found to enjoy most, the method that makes me feel like I get a break, the option I choose as often as possible, is MONTHLY meal planning.
Doesn’t it Take Forever to Plan for a Month?
It often takes longer to plan for a month than a night or a week for sure. With that said, though, once it’s done, I don’t have to think much about it again for a whole MONTH! That actually makes it worth it to me!
As you learn to use different tools, develop your own strategy, and incorporate favorite meals…the process becomes quicker and more streamlined the longer you do it.
What Tools Can I Use When Meal Planning for a Week or Month at a Time?
Ok. Let’s talk tools, tips and strategies!
Tools
The AnyList App
I use an app called AnyList. I learned of this app a few years ago and have loved using it ever since. It has way more capabilities than just grocery lists/meal planning but that’s the primary way in which I personally use it. This is not a paid endorsement or even an affiliate situation….I just genuinely use and enjoy this app. 🙂
What I love about this app is the ability to create my own categories in my lists. I have categories in my grocery list for:
- different areas of the grocery store
- different stores I shop at
- breakfast, lunch, & dinner ideas
- go-to recipes
- this week’s menu
AnyList actually has the ability to create several different lists. I could have one list solely for grocery shopping and another list completely set as the meal plan for the week or month. I just happen to like them all in one list where I can scroll up and down and see everything easily. It’s the system that works for me! I’m sure you may find a way to use this app differently than I do, but the app itself is worth checking out in my opinion!
Also, all these features are possible for FREE. You can upgrade to their premium version which allows for keeping a meal plan calendar on the app and importing recipes from websites into the app so you can easily add ingredients to your grocery list. It’s honestly an awesome set up and one I paid for at one time! I just found I didn’t use the extra features enough to keep paying for it so I canceled it and just keep the basic version. 🙂
Did I mention that it has a list sharing option as well? My husband has the app, too, so I was able to set the grocery list as a shared list so he can see what’s on it when he runs to the store and even add things himself.
This is where I like having particular store categories, because if he’s running into Publix then I can move any items I like to get from there quickly into that category while leaving other things I like to get elsewhere alone. Then he can just easily grab the items in the Publix section and be on his way.
It’s a system that works pretty well for us.
I know. Pinterest. It’s not a new idea. It’s not groundbreaking information. BUT I do find it very useful in meal planning.
For years, I’ve used Pinterest to collect recipes that I find and want to make. I have a whole board dedicated to “recipes I want to to try” and “tried and true recipes”. When I’m feeling like making something new, I take a scroll through the first board and choose something to try. If it was a hit, then I move it over to the “tried and true”….if not, it gets deleted.
This has made it easy to quickly get ideas for meals when I’m stuck in a rut!
If I want to use up some foods that I already have on hand, then I also find it helpful to look for recipes with those ingredients on Pinterest. If nothing else, it gives me some ideas quickly!
Going back and forth between my Pinterest and AnyList App is pretty quick and easy, too.
If you don’t use Pinterest for recipes, then this won’t be useful for you, but I wanted to share for those who do!
A Meal Planning Template
In short, this is just a paper that you can write your weekly or monthly meals down on for reference!
It can look a lot of ways though:
- Hanging from a magnet on the fridge
- Pinned to a family or kitchen bulletin board
- Displayed in a picture frame in the kitchen
- Tucked away in a paper or digital planner
- Maybe even within the AnyList app or another app like it
I have our meal plan displayed in a picture frame in the kitchen under our white board calendar. It’s kind of the “command center” of sorts by the the garage door.
I love using it like this because not only can I see it easily for a reminder of what I may need to get out of the freezer that day, but the glass from the frame works as a dry erase surface! I can write down a week or a month’s worth of dinners and then just wipe it down when it’s time to plan again. Super easy and with a nice template it can look cute, too!
I’ve made several of these myself and am providing a free copy of the one I’m currently using at the end of this post….so don’t forget to scroll down and grab that!
Tips & Strategies
I think everyone develops their own way of doing things that works with their unique style and preferences, but to give you a jumpstart, I’m going to share with you some of my tips and strategies that make the sometimes tedious task of meal planning go more smoothly and quickly.
Let’s begin!
Choose Meal Planning for the Whole Month
The time it takes to plan for a month is longer than just planning a week, but if you can carve out the time at the end of each month to plan for the next one, it is well worth it. You spend one morning or afternoon diligently planning and then you are set for FOUR WEEKS. I love that. 🙂
When you think about it, that’s only 12 planning sessions a year. Sounds good to me! Plus, the better you get at it, the faster it goes.
If week by week is all you can do, though, then definitely do that! There are times that I don’t get to a monthly plan and go week by week for a month. It’s still better than day by day for me…I just feel like I have to dedicate more time than I’d like to planning and creating a grocery list at some point every week.
Pick a Day and Have Everything You Need
Spend one morning or afternoon diligently planning….and to be most efficient with your time, sit down with everything you need to knock it out.
For me it looks like this:
- Phone and Laptop
- I usually have my AnyList app open on my phone and Pinterest open on my laptop. It’s not necessary but it speeds things along when I don’t need to toggle back and forth between apps. 🙂
- Any Cookbooks or Personal Recipes
- If I’m in a real time crunch or I’m just not feeling the meal planning thing (we all have those days right?!) then I usually don’t mess with looking through my books. I keep it simple with family go-to recipes and meals in my Pinterest “tried and true” board that I can quickly pull up and jot down. However, sometimes I want my books and recipes within reach.
- Calendar for the Month
- Whether you have it on your phone, laptop, in a planner next to you, or on the wall in front of you, I find it helpful to have on hand. This way I can see what’s going on and when for that month (or week!).
- For example: If I see that we have a late appointment or event one night, then I may choose to plan a crockpot meal for that night or simply dedicate that night to eating out (yes that can be part of the meal plan, too!) Perhaps I even choose to make a larger meal the night before if possible that will create leftovers for that night.
- Meal Plan Template
- Fill it in as you go!
Create Your Grocery List As You Go!
Every time I add a meal to my monthly or weekly menu, I add any ingredients that I’m going to need to buy to my grocery list right then. That keeps me from having to go back later and search through all the recipes to pull them back up when I can’t remember if I needed one or two cans of crushed tomatoes!
You may wonder how I make a grocery list for a whole month of meals, though. Won’t a lot of items go bad before you can use them??
Yes, they would!
So I make my grocery list this way:
- put all non-perishable foods that need purchased for the month on the main grocery list.
- put any perishable foods for week one on the main grocery list
- put any perishable foods that I will need for certain weeks in a category on my grocery list labeled “week 2”, “week 3”, and “week 4”.
- What I love about this is that it allows me to already know what I’ll need each week for the meals I’ve chosen to make without needing to go back through anything. I just make a quick run to the grocery store or make a grocery pick-up order for the items in that week’s list (along with with any staples along the way such a bread, milk, fruit, etc that we may have run out of).
Theme at Least One Meal a Week
- Taco Tuesdays
- Slow Cooker Sundays
- Soup and Sandwich Saturdays
- Wednesday Grill Day
- Italian Night
- Leftovers Night
- Breakfast for Dinner Night
- Pizza Night
- Pasta Night
The list could go on! The point is to take at least one night a week (could be more!) and dedicate it to a particular kind of meal. This makes it so much easier to decide what goes on the menu for those nights.
Every Friday in our house is Pizza Family Game Night. It has been for years now and the kids just know that we’ll have pizza and play games on Fridays. I never have to spend time thinking about what goes on the menu for a Friday…it’s always pizza. And usually take out, too. 🙂 Sometimes we make our own though!
I’ll even bump pizza night to Saturday if we have plans to be somewhere on a Friday night so that I can still have that day of no real planning.
Put Meals on a Rotation
If you’re not someone that likes to add new recipes into the dinner lineup very often then you can keep meal planning extra simple by rotating meals.
Pick 10-15 family favorite go-to meals and just rotate through them over and over.
Don’t mind eating the same meals over and over? Then shorten that list down to 5-7. Eat them every week and your meal planing will be done in no time. 🙂
Be Flexible!
Life happens. And that’s not a bad thing!
You might create a meal plan for the month and then plans and schedules change. That’s ok! A meal plan can be flexible! And it should be. After all, it’s supposed to be making our life simpler and more organized….not stressful, right?!
Maybe you switch meals around to make schedule changes work. If you’re using dry erase, a pencil, or a digital planner for your menu then it’s super simple to make changes…heck it’s easy to just draw arrows or cross things off even if you’re not. 🙂
Sometimes I find that I get to the end of some months and have a couple of meals left that we never got to for one reason or another. If possible, I just move them to the next month’s menu and now that month’s planning just got two meals easier!
Well, I think that was enough for one blog post, so I’ll wrap it up here. 🙂
I do hope that if you’re looking for ways to make meal planning quicker and easier that some of the tips and tools that have worked for me will help you as well!
Now as promised, here is the free download of the Free Menu Template I’m currently using:
If you like this one but maybe prefer a different style, wording, or design, then head over to check out my Etsy shop where I have other options available!
Happy Planning!
