I love meal planning. Actually, I love food. The process surrounding meal planning is one of my favorite things; picking meals, planning days for them, shopping, prepping, and cooking.
Even if you don’t love the process, if grocery shopping is a chore instead of a day out, meal planning can still be a wonderful thing for you. Some benefits we’ve found from meal planning include:
- a whole lot less of the “what’s for dinner” dance
- a lower grocery bill
- healthier meals
- more cooking at home vs eating out
- better variety
- trying new things
So, where do you start? Here are six tips and tricks for starting meal planning in a way that’s effective and will last.
1. Use One Ingredient for Multiple Meals
This is my number one tip for saving money and building a functional meal plan. Meat is generally easy to use for different meals. Think of a roasted chicken with vegetables one night, then chicken enchiladas another night. Other examples would be a big bag of spinach for spinach salads one night, then spinach in a frittata; or tortillas for taco night and quesadillas.
