Are you looking to make a meal plan utilizing the food you have, but aren’t quite sure where to start? Don’t worry, I’ve got a five-step plan for making meal plans that is easy and effective!
So, grab yourself a notebook and pen or a phone with notes app and we can get right to it!
Step One: Take Stock Of Your Inventory
Start by going through your pantry, fridge, and freezer and write down everything you have.
Note: You don’t have to write down things you almost always have enough of like salt, pepper and ketchup unless, of course, you’re running out.
Step Two: Search For Recipes
Now that you have a list of all the ingredients in your house, it’s time to start planning meals using those ingredients.
Let’s start writing down some more obvious options. For example, if you have tortillas, a little leftover salsa, lettuce and chicken, you could make tacos.
One of my favorite meals that I always seem to have the ingredients for is Herbed Garlic chicken with rice and broccoli.
If you need inspiration, one of my favorite ways to find recipes with my ingredients is to search for “name of food” recipes in Pinterest.
If you are still having a hard time finding recipes, head over to foodcombo.com, allrecipes.com, bigoven.com/ On these website you can search by ingredients and find at recipes with them.
Step Three: Finalize Your Meals
Now that you have collected a ton of recipes, it’s time to narrow them down.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help yourself do that:
- Can everyone in the family eat this? Be sure to double check that the recipes do not conflict with any of your family members’ allergies.
- Have I checked the comments or reviews? This step might seem pretty obvious, but it is always important to check what people say about a recipe before committing to it. Did the reviewer add less or more of an ingredient to get a better taste or was the recipe just a bust?
- Do I have enough time to make this recipe? When finding new recipes, it is always good to check how long it takes. 5 hours might just be too long for you.
Step Four: Make A List
Now that you have narrowed down what meals you will be having, you will need to make a short list of the ingredients you are missing and would make the meals better, like cheese or taco seasoning.
Step Five: Write It Down Or Print It
Now it is time to write it down on paper, print it or add it to a note app on your phone.
When designing your menu , you can optionally to assign meals to different days of the week.
Try to keep meals that are similar to each other farthest apart from each other in the week. (You can also plan two weeks of meals, but that is up to you.)
Congrats, you just made a meal plan! I hope you found this article helpful. Be sure to comment any other meal planning tips and tricks you have.
