Meal Planning Tips and Strategies

I have been meal planning for years now and it has become my flight plan for the week. Sometimes I make a very detailed meal plan that includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, and other times I just plan out a week of dinners. Honestly it depends on how busy we are during the week I am meal planning for.

Today, I will be discussing some tips and strategies for successful meal planning.

Meal Planning Tips and Strategies

Every week I try to accomplish the following:

• be flexible with meals 
• try to meal plan around your schedule (this is very important)
• leave at least one leftover night (depending on what I have made during the week I might have two or three leftover nights. It just depends.
• only plan/try one new recipe per week
• move unmade meals to the next week

When you are in a rut with your meal planning try the following strategies:

• take a week off and just use what you have on hand in your pantry or fridge 
• use cookbooks, pinterest, or you can even ask friends
• use an old meal plan
• use "theme' nights (these are my favorites) Monday-slow cooker, Tuesday- taco tuesday, Wednesday- leftovers, Thursday-slow cooker, Friday- pizza night, Saturday-Leftovers, Sunday-slow cooker.

When it comes to inspiration, I utilize the following:

• ask friends and family on facebook
• watch grocery hauls or what's for dinner videos on Youtube
• pinterest
• magazines
• use hashtags (#familymealplan #weeklymealplan #mealplan

What some tips and strategies that you use when meal planning? Please share in the comments below!