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Meal Planning can be a daunting task for some of us. You get on a good planning schedule and then life happens, and you fall off the schedule. That sounds about right. I have been there and that is why I have come up with the easiest way to start meal planning. Using this one trick will help you stay on schedule month over month. Hey, you might even be able to plan out 6 months or a year with this 1 trick.
Meal planning can save you a ton of money on groceries. It allows you to buy the necessary items for the meals and not on impulse buys. Meal planning can also save you on time. Not to mention the headache and stress caused by the famous question “What’s for Dinner?” It sure does take a load off your plate. Then, you are not scrambling at the last minute to whip something up or even worse getting take out.
The 1 simple trick to start meal planning
The easiest way to start meal planning is to brain dump a list of all the current meals you already make. This will be an ongoing list. As you remember meals, then add them to this master list. As you try new recipes and like the results, then add them to the master list. Once you have a good amount on that list, then transfer those meals to a calendar. You could space out a specific meal out every 3 month or 6 months. This way you are not eating the same thing every single month. Who wants to eat meatloaf every month? I know my husband would be disappointed. He hates meatloaf and I love it. We compromise and we eat it every 3 months lol.
Keep the varieties in mind
Don’t forget the variation of things too. There are several ways you can make pizza? We love pizza and have it every month. One month we will have a meatlovers pizza, then next would be buffalo chicken pizza. Maybe the month after is a Hawaiian style pizza. The possibilities are endless. You could to the same thing with variation in burgers. How about ranch burgers one month and stuffed bacon mushroom burgers the next? Again, the possibilities are endless. Don’t forget sliders or pasta dishes. I could go on but I think you get the picture. 🙂
The whole idea of having a master list is that it make it easy to move them to the calendar and rearrange things as you go. Once you have a month or 2 planned out, it’s easy to schedule those meals again later in the year. It will also be easier to shop for groceries every month instead of going weekly. I like to group things togethers based on the sales at the stores or what is in season for produce. There are just so many ways to meal plan once you have the foundational part of that master list. It’s smooth sailing going forward.
Need some more ideas for meals to fill that calendar?
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