The dreaded chore of groceries! One of my least favorite chores is grocery shopping. If you didn’t catch my post on how to make grocery shopping easier, check it out here! While I hate the actual act of grocery shopping, making my grocery list is a different story. I love to plan so having my meals laid out is something that takes a lot of stress off me once it’s done, and then creating my grocery list from there is so easy once I have my meal plan.
For me, the hardest part of meal planning is choosing a balance of foods, choosing a balance of simplicity, and choosing a balance of new meals vs. meals we have had many times before. Also, I try to strategically plan my meals so that I will have leftovers to take for work Monday through Friday. I also do have to remember that I am not just cooking for myself because if I was, I would be having tacos every single night!
Below are my guidelines I like to follow when choosing what meals I want during the week. I know it seems like a lot, but now that I have been following them for so long, it’s pretty simple. It’s more about being intentional with my time and health priorities.
Balancing My Food
The first thing I like to consider is if I’m eating a balanced diet through my meals. Is one meal heavy in carbs? Okay then some of my other meals are going to be heavy in vegetables. How many times am I eating red meat this week? Did I plan for any good sources of protein? Not every single meal I cook is balanced, or even healthy. So when I say balanced, I don’t always mean we eat balanced every single night. One night we might have processed pizza, but the other nights we are probably eating something loaded with vegetables, quality protein, or healthy fats.
A couple things I like to keep in mind:
- Only have rice once a week
- Spread out heavy carb meals
- Try to have only one pasta dish a week
- Rotate meat (see below point on choosing meals)
- Vegetables with every meal
Balancing Simplicity
This one is fairly straight forward. My rules are no elaborate meals during the week. I don’t have time to cook extravagant meals during the week and when I try to I just get frustrated and stressed about time. I have about an hour window to cook and eat dinner so simple meals are a must. If I want to try something fancy or a new recipe that seems tricky, I’ll save it for the weekend.
Friday Nights
This one piggy backs on the guideline above. No extravagant meals on Friday nights, or better yet, no meals on Friday night that take effort! I like to come home on Friday and relax with my babies! It’s the only weekday night that isn’t totally structured. I typically like to just have a frozen pizza on hand and pop it in the oven. I have learned that when I plan meals on Friday nights, they typically don’t happen and I end up having my husband pick up take out. This way I don’t spend extra money on eating out.
On the other hand though, if there is room in the budget for eating out, there is nothing wrong with scheduling eat out meals. If I know I am not going to want to cook or I have been wanting to go out, I will schedule those meals in. Also, I don’t feel guilty if all my plans collapse and we end up eating out. Life is hectic and it happens sometimes!
Choosing Meals
When I choose meals for the week, I choose one thing from the following categories:
- Meatless
- Ground beef
- Chicken
- Sausage
- Fish
I try to do a variety of meats throughout the week so it’s a little more balanced. If I’m struggling, I will then go by type of food. So like Mexican food, Asian food, etc. This can be helpful because I know chicken is really easy to make an Asian dish with and it gets the ideas flowing.
Other things I consider when choosing meals:
- Are we planning on eating out?
- Will all meals be eaten at home this week?
- Does our budget allow any wiggle room or is it tight?
- What is the weather like? (cold weather = soups, warm weather does not!)
- What are our weekend plans? (should I plan for meals during the weekend?)
My family plays a role in the foods we eat as well. Most the time I ask my husband if there is something he would like to eat that week so I can incorporate what he wants as well. Most the time he tells me he doesn’t care so normally I’m on my own. I also like to incorporate foods my kids will eat. I have picky eaters (see my post here!) and I do not make them special meals, but I do try to make something I know they will eat. I typically always make a pasta dish that is simple every week because I know my kids will eat that. Or I’ll try to make something like burgers and have mac & cheese on the side so I know they will at least eat that!
Portion Sizes
This is kind of an odd thing to consider when planning meals, but I like to take left overs for my lunch so that I don’t have to meal prep my lunches and I don’t have to go out to eat on my lunch. When I meal plan, I meal plan for Sunday through Saturday. I do this so that my Sunday meal can typically be a larger portioned meal and I’ll have left overs for about three days. Then Tuesday or Wednesday I like to do another large meal so I have left overs for the remaining of the week. This really helps me keep our food budget in check since I don’t have to worry about purchasing extra food for my lunches.
Finalizing the Grocery List
Once I have all my meals planned, I then go back and add all other items to my grocery list. First, I do the staples. This includes milk, eggs, dog food, fruits, snacks for lunches, bread, and any sort of cleaning supplies I might be out of. Then, I will look at my list and my budget and add some extra things if there is room for them. I love to juice so if it’s in the budget, I get a ton of celery and cucumber. Sometimes my kids want extra things like juice or popcorn. If it’s in the budget, it makes the list.
I know this seems a little overwhelming and a bit of an overkill for just creating a meal plan, but making sure my family is eating well is really important to me. By using these tips, I know I am giving them the things they need and they want. But also, some weeks I’m super busy and super stressed and all these tips go out the door! Hey, it happens!!
Let me know if you have any tips you use when creating your meal plan!