Introducing: Sarah's Simple Meal Planning Sheet
Happy Friday! It’s a super happy Friday here because I have a special gift just for you! After months of scribbling a meal plan down on a sheet of notebook paper, a sticky note or whatever else I could find, I designed a solution that's simple, organized and cute! And now I'm excited to share it with you!
Why I Meal Plan
I meal plan once a week for Darrell and I. It’s the easiest way to not spend hundreds of dollars at the grocery and eliminate the dilemma of “what’s for dinner?” every day (usually around the same time that decision fatigue sets in).
While we don’t always strictly abide by the meal plan (sometimes we really want Friday’s dinner on Tuesday night and sometimes Monday has kicked our butts before we even made it to lunch and we decide to order in salads) it’s a really helpful way to mostly stay on track when trying to budget your grocery shopping or maybe just eat healthier options. (No plan, for me anyway, generally turns into multiple nights a week of “charcuterie board dinners” AKA snacking… which is a sure way to overeat!)
Why This Meal Planning Sheet Works for Us
We, like many people, tend to eat the same thing or a couple of options for breakfasts and lunches for a week while dinners differ nightly. Snacks are also something we generally buy a couple of options for a week and if we buy ice cream or ingredients for a dessert, we stick to one “dessert” for the week. Pro tip: If you don’t buy foods that are your weakness, you’re not tempted to eat them!! LOL… or it at least makes it harder to obtain such treats… it’s true…
I have included a space to date each day of the week, making it easier to quickly glance on the fridge, bulletin board or wherever you keep your meal plan! Additionally, there’s a special box at the bottom to write in requests for the next week, so you’re not left scrolling Pinterest for an hour when your next meal planning day comes around!
This sheet is clean, simple, and cute (IMO) - making it easy to map out what your evenings will look like for the week ahead and taking the pressure off Future You by determining what’s for dinner days in advance! I like to start my meal planning process by checking the calendar for anything that might interfere with an evening’s dinner plans - for example, next Friday is my husband’s birthday, I want to bake him a cake and depending on whether he wants takeout or for me to cook his favorite meal, that’s info I’ll want to gather before finalizing the week’s plan!
Download Sarah’s Simple Meal Planning Sheet
I hope this tool is helpful in planning your future meals and trips to the grocery! You can access this FREE meal planning sheet PDF by using the form linked in the button below!