I pretty much organize everything ~ from organizing drawers and cabinets, to laundry and household duties, to daily and working planners and yes, even Meal Planning & Grocery Lists.
Along with organizing our home and using day planners, Meal Planning and Grocery Lists top the list of weekly duties. It takes a little bit of planning, time, patience, and work, but it has worked perfectly over the years.
Putting Together the Meal Plan & Grocery Lists
The Meal Plan
Create a Weeks Worth of Meals listing 7 Meals onto the Planner Sheet using the tips noted below
- List meals according to your schedule and prep time. Do you need a few quick meals for hurried evenings? Do you need on-the-go meals? Crock-pot meals to be ready upon arrival? Dinner plans with friends? Family night around the table?
- Keep in mind ~ some meals will create left overs to eat over 2 or 3 days, or make enough for freezing.
- Some meals will not be eaten (due to reason above) and can be carried into the next week.
- Do you have something frozen that can be included in the 7 days meal list?
- Create healthier meals by choosing meals from a Cookbook Collection, less pre-packaged box foods!
- Use Pinterest Recipes with meal planning.
- Don’t forget Holiday Baking, Freezer Planning (blog coming soon) and Companies Coming!
Having a growing Collection of Cookbooks (….like painting books) has made for a better Cook….and Baker too ~ and certainly makes the 7 day Meal Plan delicious!
Using old favorites (dog earred cook book pages) and new ideas from my Foodie Pinterest board (found here), family go-tos, ol’ recipe card favorites (from my bridal shower) and print-outs placed in a binder of un-forgetables.
I really cannot live long enough to make each recipe I have dog-earred or saved ~ pre-computer age.
The Grocery List
made from the 7 Day Meal Plan using tips below
- Create a shopping list using recipes as your guide
- Remember to add breakfast and lunch meals (school or work) too. In our household it is typically the same items needed each day/week.
- Include beverages
- Cleaning and Laundry needs
- Check for Pantry Staples ~ like flour, sugar, coffee, etc
- Bathroom must haves (hang a list on the Linen Closet Door to make the list making easier ~ yes another list, lol!)
- Keep an on-going list of odd items needed ~ such as masking tape, filters, a garden hose nozzle, paper products, pencils, etc ~ you get the idea!
We are fortunate to have eggs from his Uncle Joe’s chickens, a Butcher across the street for meat orders, a garden in the summer, and a Neighbor that gives us homemade perogies from her Church. And also the pop-up fruit and vegetable stands in the Summer.
Each list is then broken down into the Grocery Store isles and by the stops I will need to make along the way…and yet another list.
Each list breaks down into the next.
This planning definitely has made life easier…..no more running out of ingredients and making multiple stops at the convenient store during the week. All the ingredients are on hand.
Working in a Grocery Store 12 hours a week ~ I see a lot of last minute runs and hurried shopping to create a last minute meal…..it gets me everytime to see a rushed Customer with-out a list, e-gawds how does that work, lol?
Just one more thing……Dessert!
When making the 7 Day Meal Plan, include a dessert for the week. We typically enjoy our dessert on a Sunday evening and freeze the remaining.
~*~
This Meal Plan also keeps us from eating out and eating processed foods very often…..and have found a new love for Cooking and Baking…..my favorite was pulling the bread machine out of the closet after 10 years, now it is hard to purchase pizza without making my own crust.
Now to pull out the waffle maker, because boy do I have a yummy recipe to try!
Create and Plan your own Menu and Grocery List with this Planner (click here) and print!
Then hang your list on the fridge and you’re good to go for another week!
Keep the cookbooks readily available that you will be using for the week.
I have lists all over the place too! Can’t imagine life without them. How would I ever remember to do all that needs to be done? I LOVE grocery delivery too to save time! Started that during COVID and continuing to enjoy those benefits. As you, the list is usually the same unless a new recipe lands in my hands when something different gets added. Curbside or delivery for us! I happily pay someone to do the shopping from our list!
Oh my gosh yes, grocery pick up is my fav! No more buying unnecessary items on a whim….saving money for Art! …list makers gotta stick together! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Amy, this post really hit home for me. I have always loved to cook and bake. Finding ways to cut grocery store time is ALWAYS easier if I have a list made and then stick to it. It provides undue costs by not being tempted to stray from the items that I scratched down on paper, and, with the help of cutting coupons for additional savings is a must. For me, lists are essential for keeping myself organized of where I have to go and what I have to purchase. As a side note, this post reminds me of a beautifully written romance novel by the great Julie Garwood. The heroine in the story learns from Mother Superior that keeping lists is vital for getting through daily life in 1820. Not only does she make lists for the head housekeeper and other characters in the book, but she has a Master List which umbrellas all the other little lists she writes. Thanks for taking time to refresh and remind us that cooking meals using the freshest ingredients is worth the effort. And I give you kudos too for supporting local farmers whenever possible. Well written Amy, as usual.
Thank you Lisa….list making really is helpful in so many ways ~ from eating better to saving money…and ‘grocery pick up’ is wonderful in keeping with what is only on the list 🙂….thank you for sharing about the book, very interesting! I just know we are kindred spirits 😊
One of the reasons that I love autumn and winter so much is because it is the perfect season for baking and cooking both sweet and savory meals. I tend to go lighter in the summer, with lots of grilling, etc. While that is great, I find grilled meals don’t quite store or freeze as well as something from the stove or oven. I love having a fully stashed freezer of good food. That way, when things are busy (as they are this time of year!) I can quickly pull a healthy and satisfying meal with little prep time or fuss. Not to mention the savings of making meal after meal. 🙂 Thanks for your ‘foodie’ posts, Amy! I love reading them and they always inspire me! 🙂
Thank you for sharing! I just love having good tasting, healthy meals in the freezer…..I find myself more and more enjoying my own cooking vs eating out and definately boxed meals 🙂….our season is coming!