meal planning at the lopatka house

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

So I've shared 4 of my 2014 goals with y'all already and one of those goals is to make healthy eating a priority and a reality for my family on regular basis.  Part of that goal requires meal planning.  Since writing that post, I have gotten a few emails asking what my meal planning looks like and how we do it at my house.  So, I decided to do a post!  It's really quite simple actually.  On the back of my pantry door I painted some panels with chalk board pant a few months back.  I use the top panel for to-do's, grocery lists, encouraging words and currently for the list of foods that Georgia has tried.  The bottom panel we reserve for our weekly menu.  




Every Sunday (or Saturday - depending on the weekend), Matt and I take 10 minutes to plan out our meals for the week.  We try to go through our pantry and try to incorporate any ingredients we already have first.  Then, I write the meals on our pantry door so there is never a question and I won't forget.  Once we make our meal plans, we go through a make a grocery list.  Now, we typically only plan our dinner meals.  Matt usually grabs a smoothie on the way out the door and then eats lunch out or with the pharmacy.  So when we are making our grocery list I tend to consider my breakfast and lunch meals for the week too since I am at home.  Then, viola!  We grocery shop once a week and it's done.  It also makes is easy for me every morning to know what's for dinner that night so I can plan my day accordingly!  

What works at your house?  

xox



7 comments :

Caitlin said...

This is a great organization system for planning meals. Love the chalkboard :)

Right now I'm in a weird limbo with meal planning. Last year, I began eating very healthy and am now vegetarian, turning vegan. My boyfriend is a big carnivore, so we've been having a hard time planning meals we both can have and enjoy. I think going back to the basics of sitting down and planning it out should help. Thanks for the inspiration!

Linh said...

I have been meaning to paint our pantry door with the chalkboard paint that's slowly collecting dust in the corner. Great idea! My husband and I do all of our chores and cooking on Sundays. We are so busy that cooking our meals ahead of time and packing them up really helps us stay on track with healthy eating. We always eat healthy Sun night-Friday lunch and then we indulge in moderation for Fri nt and all Sat. :) Been doing this for years and it works for us.
Linh
http://abeautifulrawr.com

Kelly Slater said...

Oh my gosh, this is the best idea ever! I constantly struggle with meal planning since Justin is so picky, and I'm trying to make sure that T gets something from every good group daily (easier said than done when you have a toddler that only wants chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and fries!) I will have to copy you with the chalkboard paint. FYI- Your pantry looks just like our's! LOL! :o)

Unknown said...

Seriously, this is AWESOME!!! Totally copying you and doing something similar. You are the cutest :) Thanks for the inspiration! Praying for you sweet friend!

Britt Fisk said...

Love the chalkboard!! We do meal planning too, and it makes life so much easier!

Elle said...

LOVE the painted pantry door. We try to plan out meals as well but since I don't get home until about 9pm weeknights--it's usually a crockpot meal that we each eat on our own. I look forward to our few meals together and we usually try to make that special.

Unknown said...

love that idea. So simple!

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