Meal Planning 101

Write it down.
That’s the most important point. Plan the work, then work the plan. I used to write my families dinner menu on a laminated calendar that lived on the side of my frig. That way I could see all the other activities that were going on that week, that I needed to plan around. Having the calendar in clear view also communicated the information to everyone else.
These days I put my menu plan on my electronic calendar. It still allows me to refer to the rest of my schedule when doing my planning. It’s also nice to have it on my phone when I am out. I use a phone app for my grocery shopping list as well. It works for me to keep everything together on the one device that I carry with me.
If you are new to the idea of making menu planning, my suggests are to make it fun and visual. Here’s a great printable that I found at Tip Junkie.
whatsfordinner. Isn’t it cute? You might even be able to get the kids involved with this. Try it. You’ll find doing some planning saves you a lot of time in the end.