Planning your meals in advance will save you a lot of time. It will also reduce your stress, and help you eat healthier all throughout the week. 

Instead of having to scramble to decide what you will make for dinner each night, a well-thought-out meal plan will help you stay organized. With a little preparation, meal planning can be effortless and enjoyable at the same time.

Start with a Simple Weekly Meal Outline

The first step to doing a successful meal plan is to create a basic outline for your meals each week. You don’t need to plan every single detail, but you should have a general idea of what meals you will prepare. 

This will help you stay on track. You should consider your schedule and plan simpler meals for days when you are your busiest, while leaving room for flexibility.

A good approach is to make sure you assign meal types to each day. For example, you might have pasta night on Mondays, and then stir-fry on Tuesdays. You can have a slow-cooked meal on Wednesdays.

Even with all your planning, there may be a night when you prefer take out, and this is allowed. Enjoy some Chinese food or order the best pizza in Minnesota, if you like. A cheat day is allowed.

Create a Grocery List Based on Your Plan

Once you’ve decided on meals for the week, you should create a shopping list that includes all the ingredients you will need. Organize your list by category, which means you can have categories such as produce, dairy, and pantry staples. This way, you can shop efficiently without having to worry about forgetting anything.

When making your list, always check what you already have at home. This is the best way to avoid unnecessary purchases. This is also how you prevent waste.

It also helps you to use up ingredients before they begin to expire. If possible, you should try to choose recipes that use overlapping ingredients. This makes it easier to buy in bulk and reduce your food costs.

Prep Ingredients in Advance

One of the biggest time-savers in meal planning is prepping ingredients. You should set aside some time at the start of the week. During this time, you can wash and chop vegetables.

You can also marinate proteins and portion out snacks. Storing prepped ingredients in airtight containers will make cooking throughout the week faster and a lot more convenient.

Batch cooking is another great strategy that you should try. You can prepare large portions of grains, as well as roasted vegetables, and sauces. You can then store them in the fridge or freezer for easy use at any given time. Having ready-to-go components on hand  is going to make assembling your meals quick and stress-free.

Start Planning

Once you start getting organized when it comes to meal planning, you will find it so much easier to effortlessly prepare meals for you and your family throughout the week. It will take a lot of stress out of eating, and this can make healthy eating a whole lot easier.

Anna Jones
Latest posts by Anna Jones (see all)