How to Meal Plan

Happy October!

So. I took on the task of meal planning again yesterday and decided to try doing it for the entire month of October; just like I did all of September last time. I am accustomed to doing two week planning but decided to buckle down and do the entire month again.

It was a lot harder this time around! I think it was due to the fact that I just don't have the same volume of stuff in the freezer to use so I had to come up with meals that both used up things in the house AND required new items to be bought. Last month was strictly using up what I had in the house already (except dairy and veggies) so I knew exactly what I had to work with. This time was much more open-ended; I'm coming to learn that I do better when I have less options to choose from. I actually find it quite daunting to have limitless possibilities.

I figured I would walk you guys through my meal planning process. I had a friend of mine do the same a while ago (check her out here) and it really helped me figure out a process of my own that worked. I started out by trying to plan one week at a time but realized that it was less work to plan more days all at once. It also allows me to make sure we have a nice variety of beef, chicken, fish, and side dishes each week and ultimately each month. 

So yesterday afternoon once Abby went down for her nap I got myself organized with my pen, paper, water, and a little snack (yup, those are delicious jube jubes!) and began my planning. Here's what I do:

I first start off by looking in my freezer, fridge, and pantry to take note of all the items I have, including meats and meat alternatives. I make a quick list so I can refer to it while making my meal plan and also for making my grocery lists.

Next, I write out all my days of the month. 

I then make note of any holidays, days that I know for sure I won't need to make supper, and days that I'll be entertaining guests. This month we have Thanksgiving which means turkey and turkey leftovers. Yum!

Every Friday I make breakfast for supper so I fill in those days first. 

Then comes the more "messy" part of meal planning. I pull out any cookbooks and recipes I want to use for inspiration and I start filling in the blanks. I am really excited that Fall is here so I pulled out my crockpot cookbook and used quite a few recipes from it! I also will rip out recipes from magazines that look tasty or print recipes off the internet. allrecipes.com is a favourite of mine.

Like I mentioned earlier, I try to make sure we have a nice variety of meats for each week so I try and plan beef, chicken, and pork once each week (and fish usually a couple times a month). I also tend to do one meatless meal a week that includes beans or some other form of protein. Going meatless one night a week has been pretty awesome for our budget. I can get a can of beans for $0.88 at Walmart whereas most meat costs us at least $4 or $5 per meal. Also, over time you'll come to know what recipes are big enough to have leftovers and so you can then plan a day where you use them up - also helping with the budget!

Using those guidelines makes it a little easier for me to fill in all the blanks, otherwise I have a whole lot of empty lines staring at me and no idea where to begin!

Here's my finished list for the month:

I then start to work through each week and figure out what groceries I'm going to need. I find it easier to make my list at this stage rather than later on since I have all my recipes in front of me already. You can see I have blank spots on my pages where I haven't planned a veggie. That's because I like to shop based on what's in season/on sale. Each week when I buy my produce I make note of how many meals I need "seasonal veggies" for, what the meal is, and then I make my decision in the store based on what looks good and costs the least.

Before I go shopping I take my pre-made grocery list and check what I have in the house. Sometimes I've wagered that I'll be low on a certain item when I actually have enough for another full week. I put question marks beside those items as a reminder to check what I have and decide if I truly will need to buy more. I can also add to my list throughout the week if I notice I'm getting low on something.

These lists are also very helpful for me when deciding where to shop. I'm a deal hunter...Chad will tell you I'm just cheap, haha, but I look at my flyers each week and figure out if the majority of stuff I need to buy is better priced at one store compared to another. I will make trips to different stores if I think it's worth the time and gas to do so or else I price-match if the store allows that.  

I hope this help you understand the process of meal planning and perhaps inspires you to try it for yourself! This is, by no means, the only way of doing it - but it works well for me. If you want to try and tackle it I would suggest starting with a couple weeks at a time. See how it works for you and build yourself up to a full month :)

If you have any questions or have a different method please feel free to share!