Meal Plan, Shop, Ration
I don’t know about you, but having a family of four home full time threw a gigantic wrench in my grocery budget and my ability to meal plan.
Everyone’s home, bored, and snacking. Food disappears in the magical hours between 10 pm and 3 am. Yes, normal people are sleeping but my kids are wide awake! They are like a swarm of locusts came through the house.
In addition, we’ve chosen to incur the increased cost of grocery delivery as often as we are able to get a time slot for delivery. This is a privilege, I know.
But if you aren’t able to absorb the added cost of delivery, it’s even MORE important for you to meal plan so you can limit your trips to the store and make the groceries you buy last!
Here’s how I’ve made things work…
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A Simple Meal Plan
Have you tried to meal plan before? I have. But I’ve just never been able to make it work. Somehow life, feelings and convenience get in the way.
I’ve been recently handed the OPPORTUNITY (that’s how I’m choosing to look at it) to look at meal planning differently.
We don’t have the luxury of stopping at the store to “pick something up”. I don’t want my husband or kids going out unnecessarily and risking their health. And really, I have all the time in the world to make this work.
So, I sat down to figure out how to make sure we have the groceries we need, when we need it, and with as few deliveries or trips to the store as possible.
Trello
We use Trello for Meal Planning. It’s free and super easy to use!
Step by Step Meal Plan Instructions
Make Your List, Step 1
Plan for 7 days at a time. You can do this any way you want. Paper and pen, a fancy spreadsheet, a Trello board. Honestly, anything that will get you an idea of exactly what food you need will work.
Focus On Dinners, Step 2
Let’s start with dinner. You can have 7 different meals, or double your quantities so you have leftovers and can use the same meal twice. Make sure you think about and list anything you’ll have WITH your meal. Salad, fruit, veggies, rolls, etc… List those too.
Move On To Lunches, Step 3
Moving on … Lunch. If at all possible, get everyone on-board with the same basic template. At our house, that’s sandwich/veggie/chips.
We alternate between Turkey & Swiss, Roast Beef & Provolone, or PB&J. Veggies are celery sticks (w/peanut butter) or baby carrots. I get a large box of individual bags of assorted chips, or sometimes one giant bag – but I always portion it in reusable snack bags immediately, before the bag is devoured overnight.
Planning For Breakfast, Step 4
Next … Breakfast. I’ll be honest, I used to be fanatical about processed foods. If there was ever a box of cereal in my house it was considered a dessert item.
But we do what we have to, right? With eggs a premium commodity so far, I’m letting the kids slip into the cereal habit. Hubs and I are still trying to do eggs and sausage/bacon when available, but sometimes resort to yogurt & granola.
Regardless, that’s only like five items to worry about, right? Eggs, Sausage, Cereal, Yogurt, Granola. Four if you count granola as cereal!
Address The Snacks, Step 5
Finally … Snacks. This is the one that got out of control quickly at my house. Boredom and being home all the time are not a great combo when it comes to snack eating. I’ll tell you more about what I did to keep snacks from disappearing in a minute. But for now, let’s get some choices on the meal plan.
I chose to pick five snacks that everyone in my family likes to keep in stock. Popcorn, Peanuts, Granola Bars, Sunflower Seeds, and Cheese Sticks. In normal times, we’re spoiled with a little more variety, but nobody said these are normal times! For snacks, I plan for one mid-morning, one mid-afternoon and one evening snack/dessert.
Inventory and a Master List
CozZo
We use the CozZo app for inventory tracking. Completely unnecessary, but my hubs is a techy and loves it!
Meal Plan With Step by Step
Master Grocery List Building
Getting Started, Step 1
Obviously, you’ve probably got food in your house that is not on your meal plan. That’s ok. Take the next two-three days and use up as many of the fresh items (that will spoil) as you’re able to scrape together into meals before you start with your meal plan.
Creating A Master List, Step 2
Get your master shopping list together. Include each item AND quantity. This is where your meal plan is going to be essential. It’s going to be a little daunting the first time. But the beauty of this is that, aside from some minor adjustments as needed, you’ll only really need to do this once!
>>>REMEMBER You’re creating a master list so all you’ll adjust each week is quantities.
Start with dinner and list everything you need to make each meal. Do this whether you have the item already or not. Remember – you’re creating a master list. Repeat for each dinner during that seven day time period. Adjust quantities if you’re planning for one meal to last two nights.
Next, list everything you need for a week of breakfast, lunch, and snack items.
Save Your List, Step 3
Put your master list somewhere you can keep it. Mine’s on my Trello board, but you can use a Word document, an Excel spreadsheet, or even just a simple handwritten list.
The List Versus Inventory, Step 4
Compare your master list to your inventory to make your weekly shopping list.
Eventually, your shopping list should look remarkably similar each week. However, the first couple lists you may find you’ve forgotten things on your master list or the quantities you calculated weren’t accurate. No big deal, just adjust the next week and keep moving.
How To Make It Last, Beyond the Meal Plan
You’ve got a meal plan, you’ve got groceries, now how to make it last? I highly recommend simply gathering your family around (if old enough) and explaining what you’re doing and why. It’s much easier to buy into a new process if you understand WHY you’re being asked to do it.
Meal Plan Tips & Tricks
Individual Portions
Snack Bins
Stick To The Plan
It’s a slippery slope from deviating one meal to giving up the plan completely. If you’re getting bored with the same things for every meal, pick one item to switch up for the next week.
Trade granola bars for trail mix, or chicken breasts for pork chops. But keep it to one. Otherwise your master list goes awry and becomes completely useless.
Stick With It, Don’t Give Up On Your Meal Plan
So, I know it’s hard. We’re used to endless options and choices practically any time we want.
But these aren’t normal times. And we can all use a little help adjusting.
We hope this saves you some stress. If you have any brilliant tips or suggestions that are working for you, we’d love to hear them! Comment below so we can share.
Now, if you are stumped for ideas on what to prepare for your next meal check out our Health and Wellness page. We regularly feature posts including creative grilling and California ingredients you may want to try and more.
If you need to consider your expenses, check out our post on budgeting. There are great tips to reduce expenses but also how to store all the tasty grocery finds.
