Meal Planning

For the past month or so, I've been meal planning every week.  I was getting tired of never knowing what I was going to make for dinner and then oftentimes, figuring it out late in the day.  This lack of planning was causing me to make multiple trips to the store during the week.  And also eating out way too much...So, I knew for a long time I wanted to meal plan but my domestic skills in the kitchen were not that great....Anywho, I've finally been consistently planning meals on Monday or Tuesday and then grocery shopping on Wednesday when Parker's at school...  So, these are my usual steps I go thru which takes me a total of maybe 30 minutes and it has made my week way smoother!  Since I've been meal planning I will never go back!

Step 1:  Look at what we have in the pantry/refrigerator to get some meal ideas.
Step 2:  Look at the meal list from the week before, was there anything I didn't make?  Usually, I will have one or two meals I didn't make.
Step 3:  Look at our schedule for the week, if we have something going on in the evening I will try to plan a quick/easy meal for that night.
Step 4:  Create a dinner for each night, and a lunch for two days (the weekend when Scottie's home)
              *Parker is a picky eater, so I try to keep in mind at least some side dishes I know he'll eat.  I got in a terrible habit of making a separate meal for Parker for dinner but started quickly realizing what a bad habit this was...So now we have a rule, you eat what we make for dinner or you don't eat.  I know for some of you this might seem harsh but it's what works for us.
              *I also plan one new meal I haven't made before:)
Step 5:  Create a grocery list with EVERYTHING I'm going to need.

Step 6:  Make my official menu, this hangs on our fridge:)

****Now I don't follow this to a T, I almost always change it up but at least I have idea's and I know I have exactly what I need to make whichever dinner I end up fixing:)

**I've also been trying to learn about "freezer meals" I actually just did my first freezer meal but we have yet to eat it...Lasagna, I've read this is a great meal to freeze, I'll let you know how it turns out:)
**I also read that you should never throw out leftover veggies you should stick them in a freezer bag and throw them in the freezer, apparently the leftover veggies are perfect for soups:)  Just a little tip!

Have a great weekend!

Cheers,
Ashley