While embarking on my journey of ‘A Week of Dinners’ series I began to think more about how my husband and I plan dinners and how to make them more budget friendly. I love trying new recipes and will continue to do so, but being more aware of cost per meal is something I want to focus on moving forward. It is just me and Paul so unless we make a plan to eat leftovers, I want to make meals that are the correct portion size for our household. With that in mind, it led to me to today’s post idea. I want to share how we meal plan for the week and stay on track.
During the Q, my husband has been going to the grocery store on Saturday mornings. It has become our routine the last 7+ weeks and it seems to work well for us. When it comes to planning out dinner ideas, throughout the week we may find a recipe for the next week but we sit down Saturday morning and whip out our bloom Daily Planners Weekly Meal Pad to plan and make a grocery list. I actually received this meal planner two years ago as part of a collaboration with bloom. We loved it so much that once we ran out of sheets, I purchased a new one (it is only $11.95!). On one side of the pad is where you can plan meals for each day of the week and the other tear off side is your grocery list organized by section. Plus it is magnetic so we stick it on the fridge for visibility and use it to jot down items we need to re-purchase next trip to the store.
While Paul and I we’re waiting 2+ hours for our dinner to cook last night (more on that to come later this week), we decided to get ahead of the week and plan our meals for next week based on what we have in the pantry and fridge. We typically don’t plan out breakfast or lunches, we just include those staples like bread, pre-made salads, or ramen (Paul’s current favorite) on the grocery list. I highly recommend this meal planning pad or one that is similar. We have found it has helped us stay on track, eat out less, and we know what is for dinner to start prepping if one of us is working late. Also having a dedicated grocery list organized by sections of the store helps prevent unnecessary purchases.. most of the time. Paul, I am talking to you.
If you have any meal planning tips that work for you and your family, be sure to comment below.
Also check out bloom Daily Planners for planners, meal planning pads and more!
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xoxo Olivia
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