Let me start by saying how much I loathe meal-planning. I hate meal-planning for my family. Although I love to make meals and plan, I don’t enjoy meal planning for the family.

I used MyPrep Delivery faithfully every 2 weeks (because that is how often I get paid), but it was time to stop. There have been many conversations about “What do I want for dinner?” The conversations go on for six more months. It has become tedious. It is almost as old now as meal planning. Refer to paragraph 1.

That’s why I say, “Ugh!” It’s a good thing! I don’t really like shopping in bulk but it works for our family’s finances. But bulk shopping is not for me. Yay for healthy food and a healthier budget. (And healthy dinners, too!) It’s worth the time and effort it takes to choose the 14 or more meals. One hour, 14 meals every two weeks. I CAN DO IT!

So. I’ve already explained WHY meal planners are necessary. Now, I’ll show you how to plan the actual meals.

You need a calendar, a pen, a piece of paper, and the wonderful internet//Pinterest//fave book of recipes to select your dinners.

Think about the meals that your family loves. What dinners appeal to them? What are the upcoming events you should plan for? Are you trying not to eat dairy or gluten? Do you wish to try vegetarian dishes? I would like to see my family consume less dairy and refined sweeteners (ie, heavy pastas/breads). and more whole food. So I’m creating menus that reflect my choices. I also need to consider what my child will and won’t enjoy eating. Although she has made a lot of progress, she is still very picky about what she eats.

You can fill in the dates to indicate the meals you have chosen.

You can create your shopping lists from the recipes you’ve selected.

Consider adding other miscellaneous food items to your pantry for meals, snacks, and lunches.

Go shopping! Then, if your goal is to be super ambitious, you can do some meal preparation for the following week. I’m not very ambitious.