I’m trying something different this month! Instead of harassing my family to tell me what they would like to eat for dinner that week, I have planned out our dinners for the whole month.
I made a monthly meal planner ( Which you can download below!) to map out all of our dinners for February.
The very first thing I did was an inventory of what we already had in the freezer, fridge, and pantry. That way I could try to use up some of the items we already have. (You can download the inventory sheets below too!) While taking inventory I also cleaned and organized the pantry and fridge. It was getting a little out of hand in there.
After everything was organized I sat down with my inventory sheets and planned out the meals for the month. I found I was a lot more mindful of trying to switch things up and looking for new recipes to try. Sometimes I get stuck in a rut and just keep making the same things week after week. (It also doesn’t help that my kids will only eat four things currently but, that is a separate issue.) I was also more aware of rotating between easy dinners and more “involved” dishes.
If this works out well I will definitely plan dinners again this way next month. I’m hoping along with the organizational benefits of doing this we also see a drop in our grocery budget. (Doubtful, but I will report back if it does help.)
Let me know if you decided to try it too!