How To Meal Prep and Plan For The Week - Weekly and Monthly Menu
I just want to make your life easier so you can go have fun okay?…
I won’t mince words…I made this Meal Planner for several reasons. After talking to my friends (including many of you reading this) you are all really busy, working, hustling, productive, amazing people. I realized…you deserve meal planners that account for your ever-changing lives!
All of my friends had this in common : They need structure that varies. Not every day, week, month, year is the same. They need a planner that provides different templates.
Delving into that further, many of them work in health care and most of them have kids. Most of them deserve time to actually enjoy some self care, or romance with their partners, or to drink some martinis and watch butterflies zoom by.
I personally could never quite find the right planner. I could be wrong, but I feel like most people are moving towards eating pretty diverse diets now. And most meal planners, grocery checklists, and prepping planners, don’t reflect that. I don’t eat the same meals that my grandmother did, why should I plan like it? Why should my grocery list be the same grocery list we found in the midcentury? I love vintage, but my diet has grown with the times.
I wanted to make grocery lists and pantry lists that are actually inclusive!
And I want to take the overwhelm out of it for you.
And lastly, because almost every time I talk to someone about meal prepping and planning, they say they gave up on it, because it was overwhelming. They wanted to meal prep their own recipes, but it was too intimidating. Unless they had a book to follow along with, they felt lost.
SO I’VE CREATED FOR YOU, 8 EASY STEPS FOR HOW TO MAKE A MEAL PLAN, HOW TO MEAL PREP, AND HOW TO STICK TO YOUR MEAL PLAN.
IF YOU’RE MEAL PLANNING FOR WEIGHT LOSS, OR TO EAT HEALTHIER, OR BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BUDGET, THIS IS PERFECT FOR YOU!
HOW TO MEAL PLAN AND PREP
FROM BRAIN STORMING TO GROCERY LISTS
TO COOKING DELICIOUS MEALS
Pick recipes from cookbooks, Pinterest, magazines on your coffee table, recipe cards, grandma’s recipe Rolodex, your fav cooking show, a great blog…where ever!
Write them down/Print them out/Bookmark them. Brainstorm about each one taking notes of where you found them, if the other folx eating them will like them too, what meal they are best for, if you intend to repeat them that week/month, etc.
2. WRITE OUT THE MENU
Write your weekly plan (you can do monthly too if that’s more helpful) for a menu.
What meals do you need to round out your time so life is easier?
Check for nutrition. Are you eating every color available? Are you getting the vitmains/minerals/amino acids/protein/nutrients needed each week? This planner uses color as a good way to keep track of nutrition. It's not an exact science, but it works.
3. WRITE DOWN THE INGREDIENTS
Don’t skip any or you’ll finding yourself saying, “oh man! I forgot to buy olive oil!”
Save money - look at the recipe ingredients. Does one breakfast call for half an onion and so does a dinner later in the week? Neat! You only need to buy one onion!
5. CREATE YOUR GROCERY LIST
Create a grocery list using the ingredients needed for recipes + add items you already checked off the grocery list from this planner (and/or on the fridge - in case you need something unrelated to this meal plan).
6. FILL OUT THE PREPPING PLAN
We always write down what we need to chop, peel, slice, etc.
And then we write what we need to bake, boil, sautée, etc so that we know things like:
- what needs to happen first
- how much room is left in the oven
- how many stove burners we will be using
- how many food containers we need for prepped food vs cooked food
7. FILL OUT THE TIMELINE
The hourly planner helps you determine the best order to prep everything in! You'll stay on track and on time.
Two main ways to map out your time:
- You can do all the chopping, peeling, slicing all before the cooking starts and prep it in bowls like a cooking show.
OR
- You can puzzle piece your “to-do’s.” This is the best way if, for example, you want to go ahead and get slow cooker recipe in the crock pot so you can get it started. And then, continue chopping veggies for a prepped, but quickly cooked meal afterwards.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FREE HOW TO MEAL PREP GUIDE
IT’S WHAT YOU JUST READ & SAW ABOVE….BUT IN PDF FORM FOR FREE!
IF YOU WANT TO MAKE IT EVEN EASIER, CHECK OUT THE PLANNER I MADE!
The Meal Planner and Meal Prep Planner simplifies Menu Planning for the day, week, month and year! It comes with everything you need to track recipes, grocery lists, pantry inventory, fridge, freezer and deep freezer inventory + recipe notes and recipe brainstorming.
It also makes Meal Prepping easy as pie with pages for Prepping To Do's and Prepping Timelines. No more overwhelm and no more losing track of what you were supposed to chop, cook, prep, thaw, freeze, etc.
🌈 Comes in 3 colors: Pink, Black, and Rainbow
✏️ Comes in 3 sizes: Letter, A4, A5
❤ Comes with ALL OF THIS! {66 Planner Pages} : ❤
A How To Use Guide
Weekly Menu - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner with source and snack sections
Weekly Menu - BLD with snack
Weekly Menu - BLD + snack {lined}
Weekly Menu - BLD + snack + source {lined}
Meal Based Weekly Menu (meant for planning one meal type at a time ex: Breakfast}
Weekly Menu - BLD + Source + Repeat Notes + Nutrition Checkboxes
Meal Based Weekly Menu - Category Based + Repeat + Nutrition + Source
Horizontal - BLD + snack + nutrition + groceries + freezer
Horizontal - BLD + snack + nutrition + groceries + freezer + source
Recipe Repeat
Recipe Planner - Great for writing recipes you’ve created, or notes/adjustments needed to existing recipes. Also good for brainstorming, time management, and ingredient listing for grocery list planning.
Recipe Brainstorm Notes
Recipe Brainstorm Checklist
Recipe Brainstorm Day Planner
Prepping Plan - To Chop, To Peel, To Shred
Prepping Plan - To Slice, To Thaw, To Measure
Prepping Plan - To Boil, To Bake, To Sautee
Prepping Plan - To Slow Cook, To Prep Only, To Complete
Prepping Plan - To Knead, To Rise, To Marinate
Prepping Plan - Pressure Cook/Instant Pot, Blend/Food Processor, Mix/Whisk
Hourly Prepping Plan 01
Hourly Prepping Plan 02
Deep Freezer Inventory
Deep Freezer Inventory + Use Notes
Freezer Inventory
Freezer Inventory + Use Notes
Fridge Inventory
Fridge Inventory + Use Notes
Pantry Inventory
Pantry Inventory + Use Notes
Prepper’s Pantry Inventory
Prepper’s Pantry + Use
Garden Harvest Log
Garden Harvest + Use Notes
Farmstead Harvest
Farmstead Harvey + Use Notes
Pantry Checklist 01
Pantry Checklist 02
Pantry Checklist 03 + Notes
Spices, Extracts, Dried 01
Spices, Extracts, Dried 02
Fridge Inventory
Grocery List (with kids)
Grocery List (with notes)
Prepping Plan Chart
Recipe Tracker - Breakfast
Recipe Tracker - Lunch
Recipe Tracker - Dinner
Recipe Tracker - Holiday
Recipe Tracker - Appetizers
Recipe Tracker - Snacks
Recipe Tracker - Party
Recipe Tracker - Game Day
Recipe Tracker - Kids
Recipe Tracker - Desserts
Monthly Plan - December
Monthly Plan - January
Monthly Plan - February
Monthly Plan - March
Monthly Plan - April
Monthly Plan - May
Monthly Plan - June
Monthly Plan - July
Monthly Plan - August
Monthly Plan - September
Monthly Plan - October
Monthly Plan - November