Planning all of the meals for your family might feel like a second full-time job, but there are ways to make your experience easier and more organized. Having a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly meal plan not only saves you the task of figuring out what to make for dinner every night, it can also save you money in the long run. If you are worried that your family will get bored of eating the same meals every week, develop several meal plans and rotate among them frequently.
Step 1
Make an assessment of your family's staple meals. Think about what you like to cook, what your family likes to eat and what your budget will allow. Write at least 20 of your family's favorite meals down on a sheet of paper. Be sure to include plenty of healthy, family-friendly meals that consist of vegetables, lean protein and whole grains.
Step 2
Organize the meals into four separate lists and label the lists "Week 1," "Week 2," "Week 3" and "Week 4". Each list should have five of your family's staple meals on it.
Step 3
Leave two spaces open per week for new meals or meals out, depending on how often your family goes out to dinner. Use the open space every week to try out a new, healthy dish so you can encourage your family to try new things. Some examples to keep your meals exciting are to try an ethnic dish --- Thai, Vietnamese or Indian cuisine, for example --- or buy a vegetable you often use but find a new way to cook it. Scour cookbooks to find new and interesting recipes. If your family usually eats meat, try to keep one day as a "meat-free" day to try out some healthy vegetarian recipes.
Step 4
Make a shopping list that corresponds to each weekly meal list and staple the two lists together.
Step 5
Rotate the meal lists throughout the month, using each list only once per month. The following month, rotate the order of the lists.
Tips and Warnings
- Keep the lists general for maximum flexibility. For instance, if you write "pasta" on all four of the lists you could make lasagna, pasta with meatballs, pesto pasta and pasta primavera.
Things You'll Need
- Notebook
- Pen
