My Secret to 10 Minute Meal Planning ~ Soulmate Workmate

It’s 5:30 p.m. The kids are whining because they are hungry. Your husband is coming home any minute, expecting dinner to be ready. You have no idea what to make and are staring blankly at the refrigerator, willing food to magically appear. Meal planning can be such a pain!

I don’t know about you but the above situation has happened to me more than I wish to admit.

I hate when it’s time to start dinner and I have no idea what to make.

Or I get a great idea but don’t have any of the ingredients to make it. Or I buy a lot of random ingredients at the grocery store (because I have great ambitions), but then the ingredients spoil before I can use them.

I’m guessing that a lot of you are just like me.

If you do a quick Google search, you will find that there have been lots and lots of articles written on this topic. There are so many different ideas, tips, and tricks out there that it can be a little overwhelming trying to narrow down what would work best for you and how to start.

I have tried lots of different methods over the years – everything from doing nothing (lol) to “theme” nights to planning a whole month of meals at a time. These different methods would work for awhile but then life gets in the way or our situation changes and they are just no longer a good fit for us.

Today I am going to share with you what I have found DOES work for me. I’ve been using this method for several years and I love it!

And the best part is that it usually only takes me about 10 minutes a week!

So let’s dig in.

There is a little prep work that you have to do in the beginning- but don’t panic, you will only need to do this step once!

Step 1: Make a Master Meal List

You will need to write out all the meals or recipes that you like to make.

I know this can sound a little overwhelming, but trust me when I say that this has been a HUGE help for me!

It did take a little chunk of time for me to initially sit down and create this list.

I sat down with my recipe book (which is a binder that has tons of paper shoved every which way in it….yeah…I probably should organize that….ahem, moving on) and I typed up a list of all the recipes/meals that I considered “tried and true”. I did not put a recipe on the list if I had only made it once or twice and we weren’t crazy about it.

I kept this list with me for the next few weeks (months) and added to it as I thought of meals that I had forgotten (or found…..in a pile of shoved papers….).

And ta-da! My master meal list was created!

I organized my master meal list in the following categories:

Chicken
Beef
Pork
Soup
Meatless/Other
Sides

*Note:I don’t make desserts very often but if you do then it might be helpful to have a master list of those recipes too.

I only listed the title of the recipe, not the whole recipe. If you use a lot of cookbooks, you might find it helpful to list where to find the recipe for that dish – such as “Chicken and Rice, XYZ Cookbook page 21)

So yes, it may take a little bit of time to create your master meal list but remember you will only have to do it once! Just don’t forget to add to your list when you find a new favorite recipe. 🙂

After you have your master meal list made, then it’s time to create your menu.

Step 2: List Out the Meals for the Week

Each week (usually on Sunday afternoon or evening) I will sit down and create a menu for the whole week. I only plan out dinner – breakfast is usually cereal, toast, eggs, cheese (yes, my kids eat cheese for breakfast) and for lunch we usually do something simple like sandwiches or leftovers.

First, I look over our schedule for the week.

I look for days that I need to plan easy/quick meals or days where we already have dinner plans.

Second, I look at my master meal list and find recipes that sound good, fit our schedule and fit ingredients we have on hand.

If my schedule for the week is light (and I feel like it) I will schedule a night to try a new recipe. I generally like to try several new recipes each month and I will plan them on days when I’m not as busy.

A couple things I keep in mind:

I generally try to use a variety of different proteins during the week (so we don’t have chicken every single night). I will pick a recipe from at least several different categories on my master meal list.
I look to see what ingredients I already have on hand that need to be used up. Since my master meal list is sorted by category, it is easy to find recipes to fit the ingredients I want to use.
If a recipe is using produce or something that will go bad quickly, I will plan that meal within a couple days of going grocery shopping. For instance, if I’m making salad with grilled chicken and I’m shopping on Tuesday, I will plan that for dinner for Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday. That way I use the lettuce before it spoils.

This is what my list looked like this week:
(this is real life y’all – my scribbled list!)

Once my menu is completed for the week, I can then use it to create my grocery shopping list. I figure out what ingredients I have on hand and what I need to purchase.

One of my favorite things about meal planning with this method is that I can easily switch meals around.

For instance, I ended up having more time on Thursday than I did on Friday, so I made the pork roast on Thursday and switched the easier meal (ham and pineapple) to Friday when my schedule was going to be a little more crazy.

Or there are days where I’m just not in the mood for what was scheduled for that night so I’ll switch it out for another day’s dinner. I do this ALL the time – I know I have all the ingredients in the house and it’s simple to swap things around.

So that’s it! That’s how I plan our meals. It’s saved me SO much time, frustration and money!

I have found meal planning to be an essential part to staying organized – especially with having two kids and working. Before having kids, it was pretty easy to just “wing it” or do things on the fly. Now, however, I find it almost impossible to do that and have a happy family!

I’d love to hear how it goes for you if you decide to try it! Or if you use a different method that works for you!