How to Make a Weekly Meal Plan

Making a meal plan is a huge lifesaver, time saver and money saver for us. It takes a little bit of planning but the benefits of knowing what you will make for dinner each night is totally worth it.

Here is how I create my weekly meal plan.

Research Recipes – There are always new recipes I want to try (on Pinterest) but I never have all of the ingredients. So I do a little research and select 1 new recipe to try (not every week). Once I’ve selected a new recipe I add the ingredients to my shopping list.
Make a shopping list – We have a list of essentials that we buy each week like bananas, milk, orange juice, etc…
Shop the sales – If Harris Teeter has a special on London Broil I’ll buy one or two and freeze them.
Survey your stock and make a list of possible meals – After I’ve gone shopping I make a list of all the possible meals I could make.
Select meals based on your calendar of events for the week. – If we have a really busy day I usually plan a slow cooker meal for that day. On weekends in the summer we usually grill out.
Write down your plan and post it on the fridge, calendar or somewhere everyone can see it. You can use this free meal plan printable I made.
Every morning look at the meal plan – I look at my meal plan each morning so I can set out meat to thaw, prep food or pick up any extras I might need. This prevents a 5 o’clock panic.