My Current Meal Planning Method

Photo by Eaters Collective on Unsplash

I’ve written a few different posts on meal planning as I slowly alter my methods to figure out what works best for me. The one thing I do know is that I HAVE to have a plan or we’ll just eat pancakes or order a pizza for dinner. Some people function best without a meal plan, but that is definitely not me.

My biggest problem with meal planning is my brain goes blank when I sit down to write out what we’re going to eat for the next week. I either plan big, labor-intensive meals for every day of the week, or ultra simple things like quesadillas and burgers.

I like structure with flexibility, so I decided to stick with themes for each day of the week. (I’ve actually combined both methods that I mentioned in this post) The themes I chose are:

Monday: Meatless
Tuesday: New Recipe
Wednesday: Beef (usually ground beef)
Thursday: Leftovers or Breakfast
Friday: Chicken
Saturday: Something grilled or smoked
Sunday: Leftovers

This next part was the game changer for me. I then wrote out every meal I have ever made and that we both like. And yes, it took a while to compile this. (I had made a similar list when my family worked cooking lunches for a company - all the food we had ever cooked and served.)

Then I divided up everything into the categories I listed above - all the recipes with ground beef in one list, all meatless in another, etc. Some recipes could do double duty - ones that could be served with either beef or chicken or meatless I put in each respective list.

Here is an example:

Chicken
Chicken Pot Pie (cheese crust)
Quesadillas (W/ chicken and BBQ sauce or taco, or beans)
Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken Fajitas
Creamy chicken soup (with white sauce, chicken broth, chicken, potatoes, meatballs)
Thick beef/chicken stew and dumplings
Traeger chicken
Oriental Salad w/ chicken
Hearty salad (beans, chicken, eggs, etc.)
Curry

Meatless
Biscuits and Gravy
Quesadillas (w/ black beans)
Spaghetti
White sauce over pasta
Veggie Stir Fry
Beans over rice with cabbage
Pancakes/french toast
“Spaghetti” casserole - use penne or other types of pasta
Baked beans and cornbread
Zesty bean burritos
Taco Lentil rice casserole
Tomato soup and grilled cheese
Baked potatoes (w/ broccoli and cheese sauce, w/ chili, w/ taco makings (refried beans, olives, salsa, cheese, etc.), w/ butter, salt, and pepper, and side dish)

Some people take this even further and divide their meals into how long they take to cook and how much they cost. Maybe I’ll get there someday. But for now it’s simple and useable, which works for me.

Now when it’s time to do meal planning, I simply have to scan my list of meal ideas, grab the ones I’d like to try, and my menu is finished. The hardest part for me is what to cook on Tuesdays for my “new recipe”. There are just so many options out there!