Meal Planning Weekly Planning Routine Part 3

Meal planning is such an important part of my weekly planning routine.  The way I see it, meal planning can help turn a long busy day into a fun night spent around the table with the family. 

Planning  dinners for the week and the  grocery list that goes along with it takes me less then an hour on a Sunday morning.  You need only 3 things to meal plan; your daily planner (calendar), a notebook and a bunch of tried and true family recipes.  To begin, I go through my planner for the week to see what our evenings look like.  Who has practice, a scout meeting or any after school activity.  I also check if we have any dinner plans away from home.  In my notebook I lay out the week in a very simple grid, Monday through Sunday.  Every week I make a big pot of soup and a freezer crock pot meal.  These crock pot meals are meals that I prepare in advance and freeze in a gallon zip-lock bag.

 These are great to have on hand when our days are tight. Soup is a healthy way to always have a meal on hand.  Soup is perfect to pack in lunches and also for a quick dinner paired up with a sandwich or salad.  

Once I decide on which days I will make soup and which day I will have a freezer crock pot meal, I fill in the rest of the week with family favorite meals.  There are a few factors that may influence the weeks meals.  I try to always use what I already have on hand in the frig and freezer and I always like to try something new.  I have a large collection of recipes, so finding something interesting to make is never a problem.

 I go ahead and make my grocery list from the menu planned for the week and head to the store.  Having a meal plan not only takes the stress out of "what to have for dinner" it helps me stay on budget at the grocery store.

I'm doing a little giveaway to thank everyone who has visited the blog and watch my last few videos.  It has been fun making My Weekly Planning Routine videos and although there were some awkward moments, I think videos are a happy addition to the blog.  I will be giving away an Erin Condren Notebook, an Owl Planner Clip from my ETSY shop and some fun planning accessories. So to enter you need to follow me here on the blog, subscribe to my YouTube channel HERE and follow me on Instagram HERE.

Thank you for visiting and be sure to leave me comment and tell me how you plan your meals for the week.  Subscribe and follow so we can keep in touch.

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