Back-to-School time is upon us! In one day our lives will go back to structured schedules and a new kind of chaos.
Mealtimes and bedtimes have to start happening in a timely manner again, and somehow you end up with fewer hours in the day than ever before.
I’ve already compiled a big list of easy weeknight meals for you. Some of our family’s absolute FAVORITE recipes are there, and it’s super-duper easy (You can pin it for later here).
Even if you’re armed with your favorite weeknight recipes, meal planning can still be a challenge. I always dreaded it, until my friend taught me her brilliant trick for meal planning.
You do it once.
And you’re done meal planning forever.
All you need is 30 recipes you love. Write them out in a list, and go through the same recipes every month. Naturally, you might repeat a recipe every couple weeks. If your family loves spaghetti like ours does, that might make it on your schedule two times in a month.
The key is, to write down a whole month’s plan…and keep using that same plan every month.
This will keep enough variety in your food to keep everyone happy, but provide the structure you need for easier, cheaper shopping.
Related: See our ridiculously easy ways to save money on groceries here.
Make a list of all the recipe your family loves (or tolerates) and see how long it is. That’s your starting point.
Then, you can use our meal plan calendar to fill in slots with your favorites, repeating whichever meals (if any) you’d like to have twice, in a way that keeps the doubles spaced out.
Then, check out this list of easy recipes to fill in the blanks. There should be enough there to help you fill in ALL your blanks…and even swap things out later if your family doesn’t love one of our favorites.
Another option would be to use your old favorites every weekday, but try out new recipes like Spaghetti Carbonara for the weekends. You can check out my simple dinners pinterest board here.
If meal planning has been your struggle, I have a brand new ebook to help you called Cooking and Connecting! This book includes 10 FAMILY FAVORITE recipes that are child approved. Then, it has pages of games you can print and play with your family at the dinner table and even a few pages of conversation starters to help your family connect around the dinner table. Grab your copy below!
Simple, but brilliant!
Elizabeth @ CrazyBusyHappyLife says
Perfect timing for this post! I was just thinking about how summer has completely wrecked our schedule and I need to start getting ready for back to school.
I like your idea about planning out a whole month. I usually do it by week but doing it by month seems like an easier method.
Cheers!
Anti spy says
Agreed, schedule planning by month is easier than by weeks. Every mom should do i, even dad can do it too.