Meal Planning Deep Dive

Hi read,

I have heard back from a bunch of you that meal planning is a huge challenge for you. I want to share my very simple meal planning process that I hope will improve and streamline your own meal planning!

Note: If you are looking for a lot of variety or fancy meals, this is not your process. This process is simple by necessity. :)

Preparation steps (You will only have to do this part once)

Prep Step 1: Identify a list of 3-4 crockpot meals and 3-4 meals that require cooking. My list is very short but here it is:

• Crockpot: Osso Bucco (modified Tim Ferriss recipe), Poboys (family shredded beef recipe), Chicken Enchilada Soup, Vegan Chili (Scott Jurek recipe) and Carnitas
• Needs cooking: Pork loin or fish plus veggies and rice (I usually roast cauliflower, yellow squash or brussels sprouts. Sometimes I steam broccoli.)

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Prep Step 2: Create a list at your favorite online grocery store for EACH recipe. Eliminate items you normally have in your pantry. For example, the Poboys recipe I use needs a big hunk of beef and sandwich rolls but I have all of the other ingredients already (seasoning, Worchestershire sauce, etc.)

Prep Step 3: Create a separate list of grocery items you need every single week. (Milk, eggs, bread, etc.)

You only have to do these prep steps one time, and you will save yourself a TON of time each week. Just remember to go back and create a new list when you add a new recipe to your rotation.

Weekly steps (you will do this every week but it takes less than 20 min!!)

Each week you can follow the process below to plan your meals and order groceries. I do mine on Monday morning, but many people prefer to do this on the weekend.

Step 1: Sketch out your evening schedule for each day of the week. (3 min)

Step 2: Note any days you plan to eat out. (1 min)

Step 3: For the days you will eat at home, determine whether you need a crockpot meal that is ready when you arrive home OR a meal that is cooked prior to dinner. (1 min)

Step 4: Select the required number of meals from each category. (3 min)

Step 5: Write down each meal on your weekly plan so you don't forget. (2 min)

Step 6: Block time in the morning or create a reminder to start your crockpot meals. Nothing is worse than planning on a crockpot meal and forgetting to start it! (2 min)

Step 7: Go to your online grocery portal. Add the items for your selected meals to the cart. (3 min)

Step 8: Add your "every week" items to your cart. (2 min)

Step 9: Check out! (1 min)

This process should take less than 20 minutes, and likely less once you have the system down. There! Everyone will eat and you won't be stressed about dinner!

Let me know if this helps. Would you change anything? Do you have a problem that isn't solved by this process? I would love to hear from you!

Best,

Beth @ Parent Lightly

PS. For more on online grocery shopping, here are my tips for optimizing your online grocery shopping experience.

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