Meal planning has long not been a strength of mine. I recently mentioned, when I was on SHU’s podcast Best Laid Plans (just realized I NEVER SHARED ABOUT THIS! Whoops! Sarah and I recorded a mid-year goals check-in episode when I visited her in July; link here), that I wanted to streamline our meal planning.
For me it’s not really been about not having enough meal ideas. It’s more that I just….seemed to overcomplicate it? I felt disorganized. It always took way too long. When I sat down to choose meals, I’d get overwhelmed with the choices — I had recipe ideas on Pinterest, saved on Facebook, in cookbooks, various meal idea lists in Google Keep, recipes copied into Google Docs, etc. Every week I felt like I had this big sea of choices to wade through, yet I’d simultaneously feel like I couldn’t think of anything to make!
SO, I’ve been trying something new that has been working spectacularly.
It’s basically a 3-part system:
#1. Master Meal Idea Lists
I already had a “Meals” folder in Google Keep with separate lists for meal ideas organized by type- chicken, beef, seafood, etc. Not full recipes, just ideas of things we make and like, e.g. “chicken tinga tostadas”. If there is a recipe, I might just add the source.
The problem was that I wasn’t fully committed to using these lists. Or, some lists were not really robust or complete enough.
So I decided to lean all-in and declare these Google Keep lists to be my “master meal idea lists”, full stop. (And put a little effort into cultivating these lists a bit more, too.)
If I make a new recipe that we all like, or realize I’d never added an old favorite idea, I’ll add it to the appropriate master list. I also started categorizing things here a bit, like adding a ❤️ for favorites, a ⭐ for really good, or a 🕒for extra-quick meals.
The keys here: I am NOT looking through all these lists every week- it’s an ‘idea repository’- and only things that I have already made and know at least some of us like can go on the master lists.
#2. Upcoming/ In the Mood For
About once per month, I’ll spend some time looking through all my different sources – the master lists, Pinterest saves, cookbooks, etc.- and pull out about 15-20 meal ideas that “sound good right now” into an “Upcoming/ In the Mood For” list.
This is the part that, when I was trying to do it weekly, took me too long! Trying to find meals or recipes from the giant pool that would work this week, with what we had going on right now, just felt overwhelming and hard.
But now, I’m not committing to actually making any of these this week or on specific days yet. I can feel free to browse my sources and just jot down whatever sounds good or speaks to me.
I’m separating the “browsing” from the “decision making”.
#3. This Week
THEN, once I have my Upcoming/ In the Mood For short list, that is what I choose from each week. And only that! (I mean, within reason- there is no Meal Planning police over here to arrest me if I suddenly feel like making quesadillas instead of the planned sloppy joes, lol.)
When I sit down to do my weekly meal planning and grocery list, I pull up that short list and pick a few things from that list that work for this particular week and what we have.
The big change is that I’m no longer choosing from my entire universe of meal ideas! I’m only choosing from my 15-20 item Upcoming list. Which makes it SO MUCH FASTER.
I don’t even let myself think about other options. It removes a ton of the decision fatigue I was facing before, while still having plenty of opportunity for variety or new recipes. (When I make my Upcoming list, I make a point to add 4 or 5 new recipes that I want to try.)
So, the whole system goes:
Master Ideas Lists + Other Recipe Saves -> Upcoming/ In the Mood For List -> This Week
This is probably not revolutionary, but for me, this simple system change has made meal planning feel SO MUCH EASIER!!
I’m looking forward to making the Upcoming List lean into the different seasons, too.
On Saturday I planned our week’s meals in <10 minutes and feel good about it. I also made a new-to-us yummy cauliflower chowder on Sunday, as a result (and it’s now been added to my master “Soups” list as a future option because everyone liked it. 😉)
I will report back after a few months on how it’s going, but I feel really optimistic! 🙂
What’s your meal planning strategy??
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for veterinary care! Poor Charlie seems to have developed allergies all of a sudden. He started licking his paws like crazy over the weekend to the point that he bit all the fur off his right front paw! 😦 I took him in yesterday and now he has an ointment, a cone (😩), some Prednisone and an antibiotic. Ugh.
GRATEFUL KAE 
My meal planning is pretty simple. I like to cook but am tired of thinking of what to make. I have a short list in my notes (I just looked; there are 13 meals). I consider myself a good cook but most meals are simple ie meatloaf, curry, taco salad, chickpea burgers, pasta etc. If it’s chicken I make a sheet pan of potatoes and veggies. Sometimes I’m inspired to make a more complicated meal, I make a lot of soups esp in cooler weather. This works for me!
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I truly cannot comprehend NOT planning meals at least in some loose fashion – husband and I are both planners and have been doing this for our entire 20+ year marriage so it’s not even something we think about anymore. Things that I know make it easier for us are:
both of us cook, and like to (generally) – we both do have meals that we prefer to cook
both of us either mildly enjoy, or don’t mind, grocery shopping
we both work very standard hours so we’re almost always home by 5 and off on weekends
we don’t get super fussed about family meal time every night – if we can get 2/3 kids home to eat with us, great, but if not, people will eat when they can. Lately it feels like a big win to have all 5 of us home to eat together twice a week.
In general, usually on a Sunday before shopping we talk briefly about what to eat – or now it’s to the point where we don’t really need to discuss it that much. One of us looks at the week and chooses 3-4 meals to make (depending on what’s going on that week) – we definitely have leftovers and don’t cook every night. I try to vary the type of meal and protein used, generally. We do have a google doc with our go-to meals but I rarely reference that. If we have a night that is more open, one of us might try a new recipe that we’ve been wanting to attempt. I’ll also give a shout out to the AnyList app – we use that for grocery (and other) lists, and they also have a recipe/meal planning functionality that is really helpful to directly add ingredients from a recipe to certain lists.
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I have a weekly template:
Monday my husband cooks (I don’t love his cooking, but I love having a day off my plate more),
Tuesday is pasta night (my kids often make this while I am driving home from work)
Wednesday I make something super fast and easy (15-20 minutes) from a fairly small list of recipes
Thursday is Fend For Yourself Night (leftovers, PBJ, etc. for the kids, my husband and I have fancy cheese, crackers and salumi usually with a green salad),
Friday is pizza night with a green salad
Sat/Sun we might go out or I cook. I might cook something elaborate that I know we like or I might try out a new recipe to see if it should make the Wednesday night rotation
But like you I only get into cookbooks etc. about once a month.
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So this is good- you first identified the problem, which is that you were overcomplicating things, and then feeling overwhelmed. And then you fixed it! It sounds like your new plan is going to work really well.
If I had to identify the problem at our house… I’d say it’s that no one wants to eat the same thing and I’m sick and tired of cooking for the entire family. I can definitely say that no one is starving and we’re limping along here… but it’s not ideal. Oh well!
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I love your system, but maybe because it speaks to me and is pretty similar to what I do. I have been developing my system for a few decades now, so I have a huge database of recipes. I also go through it about once a month and choose a slew of recipes that, like you said, speak to me or are seasonally appropriate. Like, no soups in summer; it’s a thing the family doesn’t like. Then once a week I pick out a few recipes from that list, make my grocery list, and I’m set for the week. It might be a bit more complex than yours in some ways, but the idea is the same.
I like to rotate between family favorites and trying out something new during the week. I also rate the recipes and if we decide a new one is one we’d like to come back to more often, then it gets added to the family favorites rotation.
It seems really complicated to a lot of people, but it works for me.
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I’ll tell you my strategy, but I don’t think you’re going to like it: I kind of rotate around the same “ideas” each week. So let’s say Monday is stir-fry day, I have a few different stir-fries that I will make. Then there’s pasta day, big fun salad day, wraps, tacos, quinoa salad, buddha bowls…I have different recipes and I just kind of sub one of those in. Sundays is always a big night, we bbq in the summer and I make a huge roast dinner in the not-summer. Fridays we always have Greek salad, Caesar salad, pita and hummus. I don’t deviate from the plan ever!
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Thanks for sharing your new system. I very much relate to how you operate. In our defense, I do think it’s because we like variety and good food. A friend was telling me they make the same grocery order and the exact same meals weekly… I can’t imagine, but was also a little jealous.
Poor Charlie! He’s so adorable. I hope he is on the mend soon.
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Great system! Is that a shared note?! Hehehe I could benefit from some meal inspirations too. I have a similar system, I just save the links as bookmarks for to make and decide on weekend which ones to make. I also freeze meals when making new recipes to save for days I don’t have time to cook something fresh.
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I’m quite similar to you. I have a master sheet of things we cook regularly but for me it’s organised by vegetable because I get a weekly veg box so my starting point is always what’s coming that week. I then have an ideas folder on my phone which is links or photos of new recipes. The honest truth is that I rarely make many of these in the end but I enjoy curating it. I also try and balance the carb source so rice/pasta/potatoes. Sunday is always a roast dinner because I’m British and that’s the rule so that never ever changes!
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I plan more like Nicole does– but for me this def leads to ruts. I think your idea is a great one.
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I am also like Nicole. I have a few standbys and often have them every week or every other week, and then I have a few secondary standby categories, which I add into the mix, but these often have similar ingredients so that I am not shopping for entirely new things each week. Depending on what is on sale/fresh/looks good at the grocery store, I may sub a meal here and there (like if chicken is on sale then instead of beef tacos, I will do chicken tacos etc.) but otherwise most of my pantry staples can be used across many different meals. I think the fact that you identified the problem and have narrowed it down will help a lot!
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I love this! Earlier in the year, I created a list of 30 recipes because I never had a specific LIST, just things I had bookmarked or remembered I had made, lol. That helps, but I like the idea of going through once a month and picking out some new recipes to try. That’s my kryptonite!
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Does not having a strategy, and being relieved my husband is the cook, count?
Next year I think I’m going to make a challenge I have to make the same meal once a week until I nail it. Then pick the next meal. I need to learn how to cook and not be on the verge of a panic attack every time.
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