Easy & Affordable Meal Planning

How is your meal planning system working for you?

Do you have a good system?  

Or are you just doing the best you can every week to get dinner ready for your family?

Either way - I've got some meal planning pointers to share with you today!  Hopefully they will make your life a little easier, give you good routines for meal planning and make this area of your life less stressful.

My Meal Planning Tips:

1. Go to the store regularly so that you always have good food options at home.  I utilize grocery pick up at Walmart and Sams to make my life easier.  Then shop in store at Aldi or a local store like Meijer or Schnucks as needed.  We eat the majority of our meals at home and I pack lunches all week long.  This saves us TONS of money.  Eating out is so expensive.

2. Figure out your most affordable grocery prices for the items you love.  For me, Aldi has great prices in my area and then I can pick up favorite brands on sale or at other local stores as needed.  These are not the cheapest meals that you can make for your family, but they're affordable and healthy!

3. Write out a menu of options every week to take the guess work out of meal prep every night.  I'll show you mine below.  I don't assign food to every night.  I just write a list of 7 dinner options for that week and we decide each morning what sounds best to eat that night.  Then once you make a menu be sure to stick to it.  That will save you money!  Prep food on the weekends or at nap time or whenever you have the time.  That will set you up for success when you need to cook after a long day.

4. Eat the rainbow!  Add in veggies and fruit to your dinners to save money from making a huge amount of meat or a huge main course.  Buy the fruits and veggies that are in season and on sale for another way to save money.

5. Ask your family for menu ideas.  Ask your husband or your kids what sounds good for the week.  That keeps you from feeling like you have to be the only one thinking about meal planning.  I usually plan some type of tacos for Taco Tuesdays and then I mix it up the other days.  We usually do Door Dash once a week and I cook the rest of the time.

 

Dinner plates from my house to yours!

1 // Homemade Chinese Take Out

Buy the Shredded Beef Steak at Aldi, season it with your favorite teriyaki sauce.  Serve it with stir fry veggies, rice, lo mein or egg rolls.  It's so good and so much cheaper than ordering take out. 

2 // BBQ night

We grabbed some pulled pork that you just have to reheat and I made sides fresh.  I've gotten the Jack Daniels brand from Sams and Kevin finds different deals to have BBQ shipped in from Southern restaurants.  They're both good.  I did roasted red potatoes and green beans and onions for sides.  My kids love to eat these potatoes dipped in ketchup and I like mine loaded.  We each added bbq sauce and toppings to personalize our plates.

3 // Chicken Picatta

This is one of my favorite dishes!!  Yum!  I bought thin sliced chicken from Walmart.  Then I very lightly breaded it with flour, bread crumbs and seasoning and cooked in on my stove top.  I made a lemon sauce with tomatoes, green onions, scallions, lemon juice, sugar and capers.  Let that all simmer together.  Cook pasta and top with the sauce.  Kevin and I love this!  The kids at plain chicken and pasta.

A friend gifted this lemon pasta to me for Christmas and it was SO GOOD.  I'd definitely buy it again.

4 // Taco Night

I make all the taco fillings - meat, cheese, veggies, salsa, sour cream, pico, etc.  Then everyone makes their tacos how they like.  The kids usually want hard shells, Kevin likes nachos and then I opt for a taco salad or nachos or soft shells.

5 // Toasted Sandwiches

I tried these Deli Rolls from Aldi and they were pretty yummy.  They didn't seem as soft as the name brands, but they worked for this meal.  We each added our own toppings - hot ham and cheese, grilled cheese & BLTs.  Served with chips and apple slices.  We all enjoyed them!

6 // Breakfast for Dinner

My family always love this.  I switch up the carb - pancakes, waffles, biscuits, etc.  Then always serve scrambled eggs and a meat option.  This time I served fruit and or a smoothie.  The kids loved it!

7 // And a few lunch/snack options:

I love a breakfast taco for breakfast or lunch.  If you're making breakfast for dinner, make a little extra and save the leftovers for an easy lunch the next day.

Greek yogurt bowls - full of protein and yummy!  I like to do vanilla greek yogurt, granola, berries, bananas, chia seeds and cinnamon.

Nachos!  Sometimes after Taco Tuesday we will have leftovers.  I like to do nachos or a taco salad the following day for lunch.  This day I had tons of pico so I did nachos loaded with pico.

You can never go wrong with a BIG SALAD for lunch.  Buy enough ingredients to have the same salad several times throughout the week.  It'll make your life easier and healthier.

8 // Keep your menu format easy!

I write mine out like this most weeks and then we have meals to look forward to.  I keep it on the side of my fridge and we talk about what sounds best each day or what needs to be eaten first.  It gives us good food to look forward to eating all week long.

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help in the meal planning department.

Happy cooking!