Why I Ditched Strict Meal Planning

You may think that the title of this post sounds a little crazy. Especially if you are a strict meal planning mommas, why would anyone ditch meal planning?!? So, before we go any further I need to clarify that I have only ditched the strict meal planning, and by this I mean I do NOT plan meals for the whole day or for specific nights, nor do I use theme nights. Instead I tend to be a more free spirited meal planner, like my friend Laura, from Homemaking for His Glory.

But first, why did I ditch strict meal planning?

When I first started meal planning, I tried to plan a meal for each night, writing it in on the calendar and then sticking with it, but things would come up, or I just didn’t want the meal that I had planned for that night, so I ended up getting rid of that rather quickly. I didn’t meal plan for a while after that, and then found that we were running to the store for ingredients we needed too often. And, when we stopped by the store we ended up with things that we didn’t really need.

Then I tried theme nights, but that became difficult, because I didn’t want to keep finding new recipes for the themes. I had a soup night which my husband didn’t care for because he isn’t a super big soup fan, Italian night, but we don’t like pasta that often {and I am completely aware that Italians eat more than pasta, but I didn’t want to take the time to find recipes, and Ben, my husband, isn’t exactly that adventurous when it comes to food}, Mexican night, this was great we love Mexican, and a pizza night,  but non-dairy cheese is super expensive and I didn’t want to buy that much of it. So, I quit doing theme nights.

What do I do now that I have ditched strict meal planning?

Now that I’ve told you why I ditched super strict meal planning, let me tell you what I do now and why I love it!!

I make a list of meals. Usually I make a list of thirty main meals, but sometimes I make it thirty-five. This gives us an option for each day of the month, plus some “special” lunches. I do NOT have thirty to thirty-five unique meals, but some of the meals we have two or three times. I also make a list for breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. For most lunches we have leftovers, but I also plan have tuna or chicken salad, hummus and veggies, or smoothies. Breakfasts are super simple: eggs, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal/oatbran, sometimes muffins. Snacks are veggies, fruit, home-canned peaches or applesauce, veggie chips, a baked goodie, and a few other packaged favorites that are reserved for treats. {Check out how we teach our littles the difference between snacks and treats here and print off the free game!}

Taking the list of meals, I then start making a grocery list for the month. I check the pantry to see what I have and then write down all the other needed ingredients. Most of our meals are based on simplicity, made with a protein, carb, and/or fat, and veggies, so many months we have the same grocery list. But I always head to my computer to check on things that I may have forgotten.

Click here to see how to build a Trim Healthy Mama meal, and here for a one week THM menu.

Click here for a two week menu that is free of gluten, peanuts, corn, shellfish, soy, and dairy, and is low in sugar.

 

Using my free spirit meal plan to shop for groceries once a month.

For the last year a friend and I have made an almost monthly trip to Grand Rapids to get the majority of our groceries. We pay a babysitter to stay with the littles, pack a cooler for frozen items, get some coffee, shop for our groceries, and have lunch together. It is a productive girl’s day, we get to connect and catch up and still get things done for our family.

Every time I go, I save receipts, then later at home, enter them by store into a spreadsheet on my computer. I also include prices when I enter them. If I buy the same things as a previous month I don’t add them again, but I do change the prices if needed. After I have gone through the pantry and included the rest of the ingredients for our meals, I head over to my spreadsheet and add anything else that I may have missed. Chocolate almond/cashew milk isn’t something that we need for a meal, but it is something that my older boys love and we use it as a sweet drink rather than juice, we also use it in smoothies and I add some to my coffee every once in a while. Sometimes I forget to add spices to my running list throughout the month, so my spreadsheet reminds me to check on what I have and don’t have. While I am putting items on my list I also include prices so that I know how much money I need to have with me when I go to the stores.

{Now, know that even though I do a big huge “once a month” grocery trip, I still stop at the store a couple of times a month for fresh fruits and veggies, for the occasional something I missed, and to pick up items for a meal for a friend that I hadn’t planned at the beginning of the month, or a family get together that was planned spur of the moment.}

Then what?

The then what is pretty simple. 😊 I don’t really like complicated. 😊 Each morning I choose a meal from our list, or ask my husband and boys what they want, then I cross that meal off, after I get out the meat or supplies. Because of things that come up, this list of thirty to thirty-five meals usually lasts us about five weeks, and we usually always have things left in the pantry to stretch it another week if we need to. I still take a big trip every four to five weeks though, just to stay on top of it a refill on snack items.

 

For review:

• I ditched strict menu planning because it didn’t work well for me.
• I make a list of thirty to thirty-five meals, lunches, snacks, and breakfasts.
• I check the pantry to see what we have and what we need.
• I check my spreadsheet to see what I may have missed.
• I add up the total so I have the cash.
• Make a girl’s day and get the groceries.
• Cross out each meal as we have it.
• Stop by the store one to two times during the month for fresh fruits and vegetables.

How do you meal plan? Do you meal plan at all?

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Let Janell lead you through creating your own Meal Planning Binder

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