Meal Planning, In Way Too Much Detail
If you know me well, you will know that I feel most calm when every part of my life is organised. It is absolutely over the top for most people, but for me it works. One of the things that I keep on top of every week is meal planning. If I don’t meal plan before doing the groceries, it’s guaranteed that I spend double the amount and none of my ingredients work together, leaving us with a full fridge and nothing for dinner.
Also, I do all of this in the notes app on my phone, you can do this anywhere you like. But I have to say, it was an absolute game changer when I started using this to meal plan. It can be shared with my husband, I use the checklist feature, I completely meal plan & write out my shopping list in one place, and it’s always on my phone so I don’t forget it at home.
If you’re still here, here’s the method to my madness:
First up, check the fridge, freezer & pantry
Write out what we already have to avoid double ups and tonnes of waste. It’s also a good time to check if we’re out of any staples that need restocked
Check the list from the week
We use our Alexa for this, whenever we run out of something or think of something we might like next week, it goes on the list. So I now transfer these items to my meal planner note, and tick them off the Alexa
Plan what we’re eating
This is by far the best part. I use cookbooks, online recipes, instagram inspo that I’ve saved, and taking into account those ingredients from above that we already have at home to plan out our weeks meals. Now I go really far on this one and don’t just plan dinner; I plan breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert & snacks - obsessive I know, I warned you! I also find it pretty important to check the calendar and note any nights we might be out or away, so I can plan accordingly. And my favourite tip, I also note down my recipe links or cookbook page numbers for easy finding underneath
Create the shopping list
So meal plan is done, now I go through that plan and write out the shopping list, making sure nothing is missed. And of course incorporating those items from above that ran out during the week. I also like to organise the shopping list - shocking I know! So I sort items into meat / deli, dairy, veggies, fruit, bakery, freezer, pantry (this works with the layout of our supermarket). And I apply the notes app check list to all of these items, for easy checking off during the shop
Hopefully that was helpful, and if not, now you know me a little better! I’ll share my notes layout below for reference.
