Plan, Prep, Plate! Let's Talk Meal Planning

As a homemaker, yall know I am into meal prep and finding good, easy recipes! I did not really cook all that much until my junior year of college. Growing up, my mom, grandma, and older sister were phenomenal cooks. I did not feel the need to explore cooking since I had so many people growing up who were already good at it. My time was consumed by sports and school, so I never thought to invest any of my time into lifetime hobbies. It was not until I got married in the last few months that I discovered I had no hobbies! I think a lot of people realize that after a lifetime of school, or maybe raising children, they do not have any activity they enjoy. We put our identity so deeply into things that are the "now", that we do not invest our energy into our future of fun. If you are trying out cooking as a hobby or just learning new recipes, this is the place for you!

I want to encourage you all to try new recipes because ITS FUN! I have learned while being married that I truly enjoy finding new recipes and meal planning! It also saves money (who doesn't like to save money?)! So today I want to explain how and why I meal plan. Meal planning/prepping is the skill of planning meals to cook that will last one week, two weeks, or one month! It saves money and time, and it's super easy in the long run. Meal planning is a bit different for me because I only have two people in my house, BUT it can be for anyone or any family! You may be asking, Christa you stay at home all day, why not just cook dinner every night??? Well, although that is true, Charles and I have very busy lives still! We try to go on runs or to the gym in the evening, sometimes we have small group for church, or we have different events during the week, Im not sure how, but our weeks are very busy. I am also a newbie, so sometimes I take longer or shorter to cook dinner because my time management while cooking is not the best. Let me go through the process of how I meal plan/cook for the week! Charles and I usually just do week-by-week for now, but we have done meal planning for up to two weeks.

The first step to meal planning is gathering LOTS of recipes!

I go on Pinterest and have my own dinner recipe board where I am always looking for new recipes! I also have found quite a bit of recipes off blogs funny enough. Once you have a good collection of recipes, go grocery shopping! I go grocery shopping once a month (usually on a Sunday) for meat and non-perishables. We have a Costco membership in Charlotte which is AMAZING, but I know not everyone lives near/ has a membership to places like this. I would honestly just go to grocery stores with good meat for a good price if that is the case. I love me some Food Lion and Aldi (both are sort of hit or miss on good meat but it's worth trying!) Look over all the yummy recipes you see, and buy bulk meat to cook multiple recipes. I always try to find three ground beef recipes, two chicken, and two other random ones (whether that's fish, pork chops, or steak). When I go grocery shopping, I shop for the biggest amount of meat for a cheap price. For instance, at Costco, I found 5 pounds of ground beef for CHEAP. I also found literally 8 pounds of chicken for a great price as well. My husband is in banking, so you know he is all about the numbers. He helps me with what makes different types of meat a "good" price.

I also get things like pasta, grains, potatoes, canned goods, and frozen vegetables in bulk at Costco! I then go home and spend my Sunday afternoon dividing all the meat into different freezer bags. I divide all the meat into 1-2 pound freezer bags. I freeze all of that meat and put away the bulk non-perishables. Now, by the time I go grocery shopping, I already know the meals I am cooking for the week because I planned it out before. SO that is the process of the shopping, buy bulk, separate meat, and freeze! This way, when you are ready to cook a meal that week, you simply take out the allotted meat you need. The meat I buy usually lasts one month, but sometimes more.

Before grocery shopping on Sunday, I go through that recipe list I have made and decide which two we want for the week. For example, this past week Charles and I decided on chili and pork chops! Here is a sample schedule of what our meal prep looks like. I want to preface by saying that we two eat dinner together every night, I pack Charles lunch every day except Friday because he works from home on Fridays, and I do not eat lunch every day. SO if you think the portions are weird it's because I do not always eat lunch (I may cook a big brunch for myself with eggs, cereal, oatmeal, etc.).

Monday

Lunch: Sandwich

Dinner: Chili and salad (cook 8-10 portions)

Tuesday

Lunch: Chili leftovers

Dinner: Chili leftovers with roasted veggies

Wednesday

Lunch: New version of leftover chili (taco salad)

(Chili should be finished by this point, but if not FREEZE the rest of the chili)

Dinner: Crockpot pork chops, rice, broccoli (cook 6 portions)

Thursday

Lunch: Leftover pork chop

Dinner: Leftover pork chop, asparagus, baked potatoes

(Pork chops should be gone by now)

Friday

Lunch: Breakfast for lunch (bagel sandwiches with raw veggies)

Dinner: Defrost meal I put in the freezer from last week (tacos)

Saturday

Lunch: Out to eat!

Dinner: Meal I put in the freezer from last week (nachos)

Sunday

Lunch: Out to eat!

Dinner: Leftovers from the week

This is a very normal week for us! However, as I am looking ahead at our month, sometimes I see really busy weeks, and will meal prep one of our meals on Sunday night.

It really just depends on the family and the week. If I see we will not have any meals frozen, I go ahead and make a meal to package up for the next week in the freezer. I will say that soups are the EASIEST to make and freeze for meal prepping. Soups are easy to make, easy to freeze for future use, and super yummy. Charles LOVES soup, so I got super lucky with that. He also does not mind eating the same thing throughout the week! I know most people will get tired of the same meal (like me), but mixing up what you pair with the meat, makes it feel like you are eating something new.

For meal planning, you also just have to know your family! I have come to learn how much me and Charles eat which helps in how much food to initially make for the week. I know that Charles will eat 1 bowl of chili for lunch (no sides) and about 1 1/2 bowls for dinner (with a side dish). This helps in how many portions to make/ how much meat to defrost! For something like chili, I will defrost two pounds of meat for four meals and plan what sides I will make with each. Now, this method might not work for your family which is TOTALLY fine! But I would suggest finding what does work for your family. The first month of being married was definitely through trial and error in meal planning. I do believe there is a right, individualized plan for each family, you just have to find it. I hope this explanation of what I do for my little family helps in your creative process of finding recipes and meal planning for your family! In future blogs, I will be posting some recipes I have tried and LOVE (including my chili)! Here is a sneak peek of my chili with lots of meat and beans with two very special ingredients ;)

Comment or send me any questions on meal planning, and I will be happy to answer/help in any way! Also, make sure to give my Instagram and TikTok a follow because I post recipe videos on there as well! @ChristaEvansss