A meal planning series about the basics, the secret tricks, and ideas to tweak meal planning to suit you and the way you live.
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Last month, I received two emails in the span of five minutes that were on the same topic: Meal Planning.
Both readers were writing asking for help in how to improve their meal planning. Both were very eager to learn. And both desperately needed and wanted help, meal planning ideas, and other instruction.
I turned to readers on Facebook and they concurred. Meal planning is something we all need. Ya gotta eat! And yet, it’s an area that we can all struggle in from time to time. And there are folks who really don’t know where to start.
Enter: Meal Planning 101
I dunno, the teacher in me just woke up. So, we’ll be holding a little seminar on meal planning here on Good Cheap Eats in the coming weeks. We’ll talk about the basics, the secret tricks, and ways to tweak meal planning to suit you and your current situation. Diets, habits, and tastes change over time and there’s always something new to learn.
Let me know in the comments section all your peeves, questions, and concerns about meal planning. I’m taking careful notes. And we’ll address them all in the coming weeks.
I’ll also be updating this post with the series posts as they happen. Consider this the mother ship for meal planning.
- Know Your Eating Habits
- Take Inventory
- Make Your Emergency Meals List
- Create a Formula for a Week’s Meal Plan
- Make a Two-Week Rotation
- Plan for a Whole Month
- Meal Planning for a Busy Week, Mardi Gras, and Valentine’s Day
- Meal Planning for Freezer Cooking
- 6 More Meals to Make When There’s “Nothing” to Eat
- Learn to Meal Plan Better
- How to Meal Plan on a Budget
- I’ve Got a Meal Plan, Now What?
- Meal Planning for Picky Eaters
- Add Variety to Your Meal Planning
- Planning Meals to Match the Grocery Sales
- Are You in the Mood for Your Meal Plan?
- Cooking for a Small Family
Mary-Anne
Thanks very much for publishing so much helpful info! Retirement is fast approaching and these skills will help us learn to live on pensions while still enjoying good home cooked food. I really appreciate the time and effort you put in to teach others.
Jessica Fisher
So glad you find it helpful!
Shelley
So glad this is still available! I am gonna go do it!
Kathy C
Help I’m lost and trying to find the way back to eating, healthy at home like we used to do.
Linda B
I am happy to find your Meal Planning 101. I need it! I would rather eat as closely to vegan as I can; my husband, on the other hand, doesn’t think he’s eaten unless he has MEAT. He is also one of those people who can just throw stuff together and it’s great. I AM NOT one of those people. But I want to be the one doing all the cooking and I get flustered when it come time to put a menu together. So, I look forward to learning the magical Menu Planning 101 way to plan decent meals. Thank you.
dolores
WOW !!!! THIS WOULD BE AWESOME !!! WE ALL NEED HELP OF SOME SORT !!! I AM ON BOARD…….dolores
June
Hi Jessica ~ you are amazing! Meal planning to me is like anticipating a root canal ?/;! I sort of plan the sides by having 2 options a day available, like 2 veggies or 1 veggy and a fruit. Beyond that I buy the meat that’s on sale at the grocery store every week and put it in the freezer? Everyday about 2:30 I get a horrible dreading feeling come over me I look at the schedule for where my kids need to be and realize I should have planned a meal? Ugh….. thanks Jessica I read you blog religiously!
Jessica
Well, thanks for your kind words. I’m not all that amazing. But everyone wants to eat, even when I try to talk them out of it.
Rochelle
I am teaching a class on meal planning and using your print-outs. I hope that’s okay. Will, of course, give you credit. In fact I plan to refer them to your blog. It is the best “how-to” that I have found on the web and trust me, I have been looking. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Jessica
Are you using the worksheets? If so and it’s a free class, please make sure that they have goodcheapeats.com marked on each one. If you are charging for the class, however, please email me. [email protected]
Anne Keats Smith
I could not imagine life without meal planning now. It can be a lot of work to start but the whole week just goes so smoothly when it’s done!
Dina
Question??
First off I love what you have to offer here as it is EXACTLY what I need help with.
Next. What do you do when you kids refuse a meal? As this is my stumbling block to getting started. I cringe at the time effort and money I spend on meals just to throw it all away.
Do you …….
Say too bad this is what’s for dinner? Go to bed hungry if you like?
Make them “try” it and then make themselves whatever they like?
Say ok and make an alternate meal for them?
Thanks for your support
Dina
Jessica
I don’t make them alternate meals, but I also try not to make things I know they hate. In the old days (like last year), I would let them fill up on the other dishes, but since reading French Kids Eat Anything, I’ve enforced the 1-2 bites rule. Refusal is not an option. If it happens, then there’s no dessert and no extra food. But, I make sure there are lots of sides to compensate for the minimum 1-2 bites if they hate it.
Teresa
I just need to know how to plan a cheat but healthy menu for my family. My family consists of my granddaughter (2 yr old) her mother that is expecting and myself. I am the sole provider for our family and money is so tight after paying bills that I barely have enough money to buy groceries and make it last for about 2 week until my next pay check.
Thanks in advance for the advice and helpful hints.
Stacy
I’m new at meal planning, and I’m not in love with it. But I love saving money when I do it. Usually I just buy the things I know we’ll normally eat and try to make sure I use them up. I guess I do it backwards as I’ve mentioned on this blog before. My biggest struggle is time–I really have lost the will to cook lately. It’s not that anything’s wrong, but I just don’t feel like it. I’ve been working on losing weight, spending time exercising, and I think my own meals have become very simple and very small, and I’m not sitting around thinking about great food. When I do, then I want to eat more. So I hardly feel the need to cook dinner for myself, but my family wants to eat, obviously. It’s been a struggle because I’m making the same things over and over if they’re quick to make. I have had a few breakthroughs when I’ve found healthy and quick meals. One is the tortilla wrap sandwich. Anyway, I know menu planning is probably a good idea, and I’ve tried it, but I haven’t stuck with it well.
Renee
I’ve gotten so many great ideas just from reading the comments!
I’ve always been a menu planner (learned from my Mom, who would plan a month at a time), so I don’t have a problem with the basics. The problem I have is making a cohesive menu (ie: similar items to buy or maybe using leftovers for another meal at the end of the week). And I’m finding out that lunches are starting to be a problem; I’ve been relying on leftovers for a long time now, but lately it seems that either there aren’t any or enough leftovers or the meal has bombed and no one wants the leftovers. I need to start making lunch menu plans but it feels daunting to add more to my weekly planning!
Sarah b
I need help with meals that can be cooked from frozen….sometimes I forget to pull something out the night before!
Karen
I struggle with menus-taking the time to make one, and stick to it!! We homeschool and I find that lunch is the hardest meal of the day. Any suggestions?
alicia
My husband and I have two teen sons. Everyone has busy schedules between work and schools. Less than a month ago, my 52 yr old husband had a stroke. Even though we were already eating pretty healthy with plenty of vegetables and fruit, now we have to be on a low sodium and low fat diet (American Heart Association). I think my biggest problem with planning our meals is trying to think of something creative. My boys are tired of the regular rotation of meals and I struggle with finding recipes that are heart healthy that we don’t eat together as often as we could. I just need/want some simple, budget-friendly, heart healthy recipes that don’t take a lot of effort. I know it is asking a lot but I’ve never been able to plan my meals more than one week at a time and now with grown kids, they’ve become much more picky when they can just pick up fast food if they don’t like what my offering for the evening meal let alone breakfast and lunch. I look forward to following the lessons in the weeks to come! Thanks – Alicia
Stephanie
I am excited to learn more about meal planning. With school starting, this is a good time to get better organized. I would like to see information on planning, budgeting (limited budget, feeding three teen boys) and doubling/freezing meals for future dinners. Also snack planning (filling after school snacks). Thank you!