HOW TO CONSISTENTLY MEAL PLAN

Meal Planner with Coffee and Bowl of Yogurt and Berries

There comes a time in everyone’s personal cooking journey when getting motivation and ideas for meals every day of the week can feel nearly impossible. Whether cooking for yourself or the whole family, there will be days, or even seasons, when you don’t know what to cook or don’t have the time to cook what you want. Meal planning is a fantastic way to prepare meal decisions in advance, make better food choices, and even save money.

Meal planning can be challenging, especially if you have a busy schedule. It's easy to fall into the habit of ordering takeout or resorting to unhealthy options because you’re short on time or have no inspiration for cooking. However, with a bit of planning, you can take control of what you eat and maintain a meal-planning schedule. Here are some tips on how to stay consistent with your meal planning using a planner.

SET ASIDE TIME

Meal planning needs to be treated as a priority to create consistency. Dedicating time in your weekly schedule to plan your meals for the upcoming days is crucial. Choose a day and time that suits you. The weekend is a popular time for meal planning for many people as they are typically free to plan and go grocery shopping for the days ahead. Once you find a time that works for you, try to stick to your schedule. The goal is to create consistency and build a habit so you are more likely to stick with your meal-planning schedule.

MAKE A LIST OF MEALS

Having a list of meals to choose from when meal planning will optimize your time and simplify the process. Begin by creating a master list of meals you like to cook and eat regularly. Search for recipes online or flip through your favorite cookbooks to find inspiration for your list. If you are cooking for multiple people or have multiple cooks in the household, have everyone create a list of their favorite meals too, so you have a wide range of ideas and options.

When creating this list, organize meals by breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. If you are cooking for more than one, consider any food restrictions, allergies, or dislikes and make a separate list for family members who may require food substitutions in certain recipes. A meal plan can look different for everyone, so experiment and create one that fits your needs and schedule.

After writing down the meals you want, create a grocery list of all the necessary ingredients. Organize ingredients according to the different sections of the supermarket. Meal Planning is traditionally done once a week, followed by a weekly grocery shopping trip, but this can be done bi-weekly if you want to freeze perishable items like meats.

Creating a grocery list around ingredients needed for the week’s meals will help you save time and money. By having a predetermined list, you avoid wandering the store aimlessly, making random purchases you don’t need.

PREPARE MEALS IN ADVANCE

Batch cooking is an excellent meal prep habit that saves time and energy. Choose a day of the week, preferably a weekend, and cook a large batch of your meals for the week ahead. Store them in individual containers and refrigerate or freeze them. This way, you can quickly grab and go or reheat your meals when you’re short on time. This might not be an option for everyone, but it may be helpful when planning lunches and snacks for work or school.

STAY FLEXIBLE

Life is unpredictable, and you may not always stick to your meal plan. That’s okay! Your planner is a guide, and you should allow yourself to be flexible with it. You could swap out meals if you’re not in the mood for what you’ve planned or if something comes up. Remember, the goal is to eat healthily and consistently - not to be rigid with your plan.

Meal Planning can help you stay on track with healthy eating habits while providing much-needed structure in your busy life. With a little planning and consistency, you can make healthy meal choices and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

THE PERFECT MEAL PLANNING PRODUCTS

Looking to get started with meal planning and don’t know where to begin? Plum Paper has great products to help you organize and create a healthy meal-planning habit. Our planners, notebooks, and notepads are all fantastic tools for creating a meal plan that sticks.

MEAL PLANNING ADD-ON

Our meal planning add-on is an excellent addition to any planner. This option is great for those who regularly use a planner and want to keep all of life’s plans in one place. This planner add-on comes with the ability to meal plan weekly for one year and has some other amazing tools for staying on track with your meal plan, including:

-Meal Builder Page

-Cooking Guidelines and Conversions Page

-Substitutions Page

-12 Monthly Shopping Lists pages

-12 Monthly Meal Planning Pages

-Grocery Store List

-Take Out & Restaurant Info

-Grocery Spending Tracker

Shop our custom planners here!

MEAL PLANNING NOTEBOOK

The Meal Planning Saddle Stitched Notebook is perfect for those who want to take their plans to the grocery store. This notebook covers 18 weeks of weekly meal planning, and the grocery list pages are broken up into grocery store sections. Other pages included are:

-Grocery Store List

-Take Out & Restaurant Info

-18 Meal Planning Pages

-18 Shopping Lists pages

Shop our custom notebooks here!

MEALS WEEKLY NOTEPAD

This notepad is perfect for those who want to keep it simple with their meal plans. The Meals Weekly Notepad fits perfectly into a purse for a trip to the grocery store. It covers approximately 60 weeks of weekly meal planning and grocery lists.

Shop our Meals Weekly Notepad here!