Get Organized with These Meal Planning Hacks

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If you’re like me, every January or new school year rolls around and you say to yourself “this year is going to be different.” This year is going to be about health, getting to appointments or school on time, making bread every week, or finally nailing down your signature style. As the months go by however, those goals tend to wane and it can be hard to jump back on the bandwagon. If one of your goals this or any year has been to get better at meal prepping—maybe by way of discovering how much you actually spend on take-out or the mere fact that you find yourself throwing out a lot of uneaten food every week—you’ve come to the right place! Whether you're looking for healthy lunch ideas or dinners for the family, these ideas will make meal planning less of a chore.

Here you’ll find our top tips for making meal planning a regular rhythm and a roundup of some of our favorite products that can help you become a meal prep pro.

Make Your Own Meal-Planning Rules

When it comes to meal planning, it can feel pretty overwhelming when you start seeing how many resources, tips, opinions, and meal plans there are out there. There can be pressure to cook each night of the week or be strict to your plan so you don’t waste food. But life happens, and the good thing about your meal plan, is that it’s your meal plan. So you get to make the rules! Start small, with meal planning a few nights a week, or at the very least have food in the house for a few different meals. And if cooking isn’t your thing, then maybe a few convenience meals are part of each week’s menu. So before you get started and buy all the things, jot down a few notes about what it is you want to achieve through meal planning. Saving money? Eating healthier? More free time? Discovering your ultimate “why” will help you focus on what matters to you when you start your meal planning journey.

Find Your Meal Planning Rhythm

Once you’ve discovered your “why,” decide a day of the week or month that you will regularly spend some time pulling together your plan. For some people, that might mean sitting down on your lunch break and making a plan for the next few days because deciding a whole week is too much right now. For others with big families or those that need to access stores that requires more travel time, maybe you’ll plan meals for a whole month. Whichever way, make a date with yourself for that time so that it can become a regular habit.

Write Your Plan Down

It might seem obvious, but writing (or typing) out your weekly plan will go a long way in helping you keep focused, especially when it comes time to go shopping. There are a lot of helpful (and stylish) planners and pads to help you get all your ideas for the week or month down and just as many great wall displays so the whole family can see what’s on the menu for the week. Which is a great way to mitigate the constant, “What’s for dinner?” that echoes around the house around 4 p.m. And while it might be fun to buy a new planner, if you know about yourself that it’s more likely that you’ll follow a plan if you have it on your phone, it’s as easy as starting a note, adding a calendar event, or using an app (more on that later!). Either way, make sure to check your family calendar as you write down your plan, so that you can be intentional about what nights you’ll need to eat out, which nights need an easy meal and which days you can spend a little extra time cooking something a little more involved.

Pick Your Stand-bys

It might be tempting, as you get started to want to pore through all of the recipe books you’ve been collecting or try that new ramen recipe you saw in that food magazine. But as much as we all fancy ourselves contestants on Top Chef, more than likely we are getting home from work and wanting something we can put together quickly, is healthy, and doesn’t break the bank. Which gets us back to your ultimate “why,” if you’re wanting to try new recipes, maybe start out with one a week as you get into the meal planning rhythm. The rest of your meals don’t have to be gourmet, they can be a mix of comforting standbys, family favorites, and prepped foods that make a complete meal on the fly. There are a lot of great places to find recipes online these days (like..ahem…right here on Country Living) and as you start gathering your arsenal of favorite go-to’s, you’ll have an easier time pulling together your meal plan each week.

Save Time with Meal-Planning Apps

For the more technically inclined, there are a lot of great apps out there that can help you with meal planning. Some will have meal plans for you to use. There are other recipe sharing apps where you can keep your Aunt Linda’s famous Cinnamon Bundt Cake recipe and save all your favorite recipes from the web. Some recipe apps will even make a shopping list for you and connect you to food delivery services. So depending on what app you use, you may not even have to leave the house!

Perfect Your Meal Prep

Whether it's writing a list so you don't cruise the aisles of the grocery store grabbing any and everything that looks tasty, chopping some veggies on the weekend so you can easily snack on them or use them in recipes throughout the week, or cooking up a big batch of rice for your lunch bowls, being prepared for the week ahead looks different for everyone. Decide what items on your weekly meal plan might benefit from you spending a little time preparing them before the craziness of the week is upon you. It can be as easy as hard-boiling a batch of eggs for easy breakfasts, stocking your office desk with go-to snacks, or making some overnight oats. Think about one small task that might make the week ahead easier as part of your meal plan and start with that.

Find the Best Containers

When you've spent precious time prepping ingredients or have valuable leftovers from a great meal, you want to know that the containers you store them in will help your food retain some form of freshness and not take on any lingering smells from the refrigerator. Look for glass or plastic containers that are safe for reheating and won't get discolored from foods like tomato sauce.

Fill the Freezer

When it comes to meal planning, your freezer can either be your best friend or the place where your leftovers go to die. With a little extra planning, you can easily create and store prepped ingredients for future meals. For those who like to use their slow cooker or Instant Pot, make soups and smoothies, and have the space for extra proteins, your freezer can be a space that helps you stretch your budget, enables you to save time on grocery shopping, and even encourages you to make healthier choices.

Put Those Kitchen Appliances to Use

It goes without saying that when it comes to the meal prep life, having a slow cooker, Instant Pot, air fryer, or combination of all three can help you make delicious and cozy meals. What’s better than coming home and knowing that you have dinner already done because it's been cooking while you were at work? Or for you air-fryer fans, it’s a great feeling knowing that in this one appliance you can not only cook your favorite fried foods like tater tots and chicken fingers, but also salmon and steak bites in a matter of minutes.

Keep Your Plan Flexible

Ultimately, after you've made the plan, written it down, and bought the groceries, be flexible with how it all plays out throughout the week. You may not be in the mood for tacos on Monday and would rather have spaghetti. Do what you and your family want to do with the ingredients you've gathered. At some point you may have to put your grown-up pants on and cook something you're not in the mood for, but for the most part, keep going back to your "why" and remember that all you do to make your meal plan work for your family is a beautiful form of love and care.

For more meal ideas, check out some of our favorite kid-friendly meals. Got a meal planning hack? Share in the comments below.

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