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Meal Planning Like a Boss: Meal Planning Tips for Beginners

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meal planning like a boss meal planning tips for beginners
I have been getting a lot of questions lately about how I meal plan. It’s actually a pretty simple system, but a little planning does go a long way in saving time and money when grocery shopping and cooking. If you follow Fab Everyday on Facebook you see my #DinnerTonight posts where I share what I am cooking for dinner each night, which can be a great source of inspiration for your own meal planning. Today I’m sharing my simple steps for meal planning (like a boss). These meal planning tips are perfect for beginners! If you’ve been wanting to learn how to meal plan, you’ll definitely want to pin this post!
 

How to meal plan

 
how to meal plan
 
1. The first step for creating a meal plan is to get out a pen and paper along with your calendar. Start making your list by counting meals that you will need to make between now and your next grocery shopping trip. I like to count them out by labeling them as “B,” “L,” or “D” (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Be sure to exclude meals for any days you know you will be eating out, or will otherwise not need a homemade meal. As you can see in the example above, I needed two breakfasts (for the weekend days), one lunch (for a weekend day), and six dinners for the week. I personally don’t count weekday breakfasts or lunches, since those are essentially the same everyday, and don’t need advanced planning.
 
how to meal plan: meal planning tips for beginners
 
2. The second step is to go through your recipe collection to choose recipes. Personally, I like to organize my recipes in Pinterest. I have boards and board sections organized for meals with different meats as the main dish, appetizers, sides, soups, sandwiches, slow cooker recipes, etc. I am also on email lists for AllRecipes.com, Betty Crocker, Martha Stewart, and BHG, which are great for recipe inspiration. When I get an email or see a pin for a new recipe I want to try, I will pin it to one of my pin boards immediately so I can remember to look up the ingredients later when meal planning. When I decide on a recipe to make for the week’s meal plan, I write it down in my notepad next to the spot I’ve laid out for a particular meal.
 
3. When selecting recipes, immediately add the needed ingredients to your grocery shopping list (which I keep in the same notepad for ease) before moving on to the next meal so that you don’t have to go back to each recipe later when making your shopping list. If you don’t write down the ingredients immediately, you may miss items needed for your meal plan on your shopping list. Since meal planning is all about efficiency, you don’t want to risk having to make a second trip to the grocery store!
 
4. It is helpful to choose additional recipes that contain some of the same ingredients. For example, since I know the bag of frozen breakfast potatoes I get is good for more than one meal, I included it in both breakfasts in this week’s meal plan. Similarly, I know I get about four meals’ worth out of the club-pack size chicken breasts I get, so I know that I can plan four chicken meals. Additionally, if a meal calls for a unique (or pricey) item like white wine, a particular herb, etc. try to include more than one recipe that calls for this ingredient when you’re meal planning for the week. This will not only save you money, but it will also prevent wasted food since you may end up having to toss the rest of the ingredient later.  On my meal plan for this week I was able to use two recipes that included pesto, two recipes that included jack cheese, two recipes that included butter round crackers, and (as mentioned previously), two meals that included breakfast potatoes. Talk about making an efficient and cost-effective shopping list! Pinterest also makes it easy to search your own pins with keywords if you need to look for a particular ingredient in recipes that you have saved.
 
meal planning for beginners

5. After choosing the main entree recipes for each meal, go back and add the side-dishes to the menu plan (as you can see above I added asparagus, broccoli, or green beans to the meals I felt they would complement), and then add them to your shopping list. I didn’t list a starch side since my starch side is always rice unless the meal specifically needs something else, but you would do the same thing if adding potatoes, a particular type of rice or pasta, or even low carb veggie noodles to your meal plan. Just remember to also add these to your meal planning shopping list for the week!

6. Go shopping for your ingredients. I take an extra step for grocery shopping efficiency by organizing my shopping list by aisle. After I am done writing the list I go back through and label each by aisle (“V” for produce, “M” for meat, “D” for dairy, “Br” for bread, “F” for frozen, “Bak” for baking, “C” for canned, etc. – that’s just my personal coding but you can do whatever makes sense for you).

When planning meals for a busy week, convenience is key, and that’s where premade options like pizza dough can save the day. Whether you’re whipping up a quick homemade pizza or using it as a base for creative recipes, it’s always helpful to buy pizza dough to simplify your meal prep. It’s a versatile ingredient that can seamlessly fit into your meal plan while still delivering on flavor and quality.

Do you have to plan your meal planning for each specific day?

As you may have noticed by my final menu plan, I didn’t determine the exact day for each recipe. This is because my family and I find it fun to choose off our “menu” for the week each night. Occasionally I will plan a specific meal for a certain night if it makes my schedule more convenient. For example, if I know I have an after-work errand, I will plan a slow cooker meal for that night so that I can prep it the night before or morning of, and it will be ready when I get home. Another example would be if I know I am having company and need to plan a larger quantity meal for a certain night.

That’s it! These are my tips for how to meal plan for beginners. For me, this easy meal planning system works really well, and hasn’t changed in years. I don’t have to waste time and energy standing in my fridge or pantry each night wondering what I can make based on what ingredients I have. Plus my grocery trips tend to be pretty cost-effective and quick as I am only buying items that I know I will be using for my meal plan, and not a lot of extra things that would go to waste. Mind you, there are certain things I always keep in stock (baking ingredients, frequently used seasonings, milk, bread, etc.), but otherwise, I am only purchasing the meats, veggies, and specific ingredients for meals that I am going to make that week. See how a little planning can go a long way for efficiency, saving time and money, and sustainability with less food waste?

I hope these tips on how to meal plan have helped inspire you to try meal planning yourself! Don’t forget to follow Fab Everyday on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for ongoing recipe inspiration to help you meal plan like a boss!

Related posts and resources to help you meal plan like a boss:

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Comments

  3. ramonaruby says

    @Melissa – a notebook is nice, because you can organize your shopping list with it as well!

    @Heather – it is really helpful to be able to store all your recipes in the same place!

    Reply

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