My Easy Peasy Menu Planning Routine

Thursday, Aug 4, 2022 | Lifestyle

Coach Kerri Norris~
Menu planning was always so overwhelming and we rarely stuck to it. As a busy mom things would constantly come up and the menu plan would just go out the window We would end up going way over budget plus we were throwing out so much food because we just wouldn’t cook it in time.

Sound familiar?

I finally figured out an easy way to tackle this monster and it has been such time saver. I know it will just keep getting easier. I wanted to share my routine for those out there that, like me, may be feeling overwhelmed as well!

Okay, let’s dive in!

First things first you will need a notebook! This can be any kind of notebook, binder, Note app on a device, whatever suits your fancy! This is going to be your life saver!

Step 1- Make out your menu that you would like to have for the week.
I usually just do it for Monday through Friday since the weekends can be crazy busy. Tired of trying to come up with the menu alone? Don’t! Let everyone in the family come up with a choice that they want for the week. This let’s them feel included and they will be more likely to want to stick to the menu. Plus, this gives you a break of trying to figure it all out on your own!

Step 2- make a grocery list with EVERYTHING you need for EVERY meal.
Down to the butter or staples that you may need.

Step 3- go grocery shopping at your house first!
Check off anything that you already have. This could be your staples or anything you may have. This will help you to clean out your foods before they go bad AND this will keep you from going to the store and being like, “I think I have that pasta, hmm maybe? Well I will just get more just in case!” Killing you budget and pantry space at home when you get there and have 3 more of that very pasta.

Step 4- Keep your menu AND your grocery list!
This is why you need a notebook or binder or something to keep it all together. You can make notes on the menu if something wasn’t what your family liked or didn’t work out. Keeping the menu will also let you have it if you need to go back to that same menu and guess what? You have the grocery list already DONE! After 4 weeks of doing this you already have a months worth of menus that you can always go back to with the hard work already done! Bam!

And … one quick tip.
Instead of actually checking off items on the grocery list, I usually write down what we need on another note pad. This is now my Shopping List and helps me avoid checking off items on the grocery list that I want to keep.

That’s it! Easy Peasy, lemon squeezy as my kiddo says! Let me know if you guys try this or how it works for you!