Meal Planning Basics

What's for dinner? If this is a question you dread to face each day, then it's time to do something about it. Not ready to hire a personal chef? Then meal planning is the next best thing. Learn how to start your week with a plan, and meal prep won't feel like such a chore.

Why Bother with Meal Planning?
Besides answering that nagging question, "What's for dinner?" meal planning helps you to:

• Eat healthier. Planning ahead allows you to be more deliberate about the foods that you choose to eat, and helps to cut down on eating out.
• Save money. When you have your menu all mapped out for the week, you can shop with a list, which means a more focused shopping trip and fewer impulse buys.
• Cut down on trips to the store. Armed with a list and a plan, you can fill your shopping cart once and stay out of the store for the rest of the week.
• Save time. Knowing what's for dinner allows you to skip straight to the meal prep. There's no more standing in front of the fridge, flipping through cookbooks or hoping for divine inspiration to strike. You've already got dinner figured out.

Creating a Meal Plan
Meal planning doesn't have to take a lot of time. In fact, you can knock out the entire process in just four steps.

Seek inspiration
Inspiration for your menu can come from many places. You can plan your menu around:

• Recipes from your private collection, cookbooks, magazines or the Internet
• What's currently in season
• What you have in your pantry and refrigerator
• What's on sale

The choice is entirely yours, so have some fun with the planning process. If you have kids, consider getting them involved too. They'll be much more likely to eat meals that they have helped to plan.

Schedule Your Meals
Once you have your meals picked out for the week, it's time to assign them to a specific day. Schedule your easiest meals for your busiest nights, and reserve your more labor-intense meals for nights when you have time to linger. This will help to keep meal prep enjoyable and lessen the temptation to eat out.

Make a Grocery List
Now create a grocery list with all of the items that you will need to prepare your meals. Be sure to jot down how much you'll need of each ingredient and any other details that will make your shopping easier.

To save money and cut down on food waste, be sure to check your refrigerator and pantry to see if you have any of the items that you need before you head to the store.

Shop
With your meal plan in place, all that's left is the shopping. Head to the store with your grocery list; and load up on the items that you'll need for the week. See a great deal on something that isn't on your list? Stick it in your freezer or pantry for another week, or consider tweaking this week's menu to accommodate it. Remember, it's your meal plan, so you can change it as you see fit.

Tweak Your Meal Plan to Fit Your Needs
Meal planning takes time to perfect, so don't expect to get everything right on the first try. Some dishes won't come out like you expected, others will take too long to prep or be too expensive to make. Just keep tweaking your menu until you have a collection of tried-and-true recipes that you can rely on. Then planning will be as simple as picking out seven recipes from your collection each week.

More Meal Planning Tips

1. Keep your food costs down by including a couple of meatless meals in your plan.
2. Try to vary your menu from week to week to avoid meal burnout.
3. Short on time? Then, consider doubling some of your recipes and freezing the extras for later use.
4. Include a leftover night once a week to make sure no food goes to waste.
5. Planning your menu doesn't have to mean never eating out. Schedule a few "Eat Out" nights to keep things fun.
6. Tired of answering the what's-for-dinner question? Post your weekly menu on the fridge, where everyone can see it.