Meal Planning: How I do it as a semi-unorganized individual
In all honesty, I am not a very organized person. I love to make lists and lose them. If I think of something I have to get done or do and forget to write it down, that thought is HISTORY. So meal planning for me has to be a super simple process but it makes grocery shopping more organized and budget friendly and dinner times less stressful! All you mommies and working boss babes know what I’m talking about!
There are so many reasons to be meal planning! Why do you do it or why do you want to do it? Weight loss goal? Time management? Budgeting? Whatever it is, meal planning is so worth it! Monday is grocery day in our house, it makes me feel like we’re starting our week off on the right foot, because like I said in my about me post, I’m a self-proclaimed nutrition whore. I’m also a control freak and doing these two things (meal planning and Monday grocery trips) calm my inner demons so I can focus on other things, like raising my two minis and being a boss babe and paying bills!
The tools I use to get the job done are:
- Cozi App – this is where my husband and I sync our calendars and use shared lists, one for weekly groceries, one for Costco, and another for the weekly menu
- Pinterest – I LOVE new recipes, every Sunday I scroll pinterest and find new things to try!
Follow me on Pinterest and see what I’m pinning to try each week!
THAT’S IT! Simple. My science teacher in middle school always said KISS, keep it simple stupid. So that’s what I use. In my house, we eat Keto/Paleo. So basically grain free, sugar free, dairy free. So I plug those words into Pinterest and start scrolling! We usually do 1-2 tried and loved recipes weekly and then 2-3 new ones. I LOVE experimenting and trying new things!
If I have ingredients at home I want to use up, I’ll search for those first and find recipes that utilize them. When I find something to make I’ll pin it, and put the name of the recipe in my Cozi list named “Weekly Menu’ so that it’s easy to search for when I need to make it! Next I’ll check the ingredients list for what I’ll need to get and what we already have and plug the need to get ingredients into the grocery list and VOILA! One day done!
On weekdays we mostly fly by the seat of our pants for breakfast and lunch. One morning each weekend we make a bulk batch of pancakes or waffles and we utilize them for the rest of the week. Monday through Friday we alternate between smoothies, oatmeal, eggs, and the leftover pancakes/waffles. Lunch we usually have leftovers, salads or a modge podge of cut up veggies, hummus or guac and ‘roll ups’ which are coconut wraps with whatever we choose to fill them with!
Our weekly staples that always make the list are avocados, bananas, in season fruit, cucumbers, bell peppers, kerrygold butter, nuts, and goooooood bacon 😉
