If your family loves to eat at home, but you find it hard to grocery shop on a budget as well as keep everyone happy – quickly create a meal plan for the week! You’ll find it’s much easier to grocery shop, feed hungry kids and husband a nutritious and affordable meal plan, and stay sane!

How to Quickly Create a Meal Plan for the Week

Life flies by far too quickly and it seems to go quicker the more children you have. When you are in a household with more than one child, meal planning may become a necessity. The issue with many of us is that we neglect to take the time to create this meal plan for the week, which leaves us looking for ways to quickly create a meal plan so that we can have our dinners planned for the week! Here are some tips on how you can quickly create a meal plan without stressing out.

Think About What Everyone Likes

By now you are probably the master at knowing what your whole family likes. Think about what meals will work best for the family, jot them down or place them in a meal planning app. You can also print out a meal planning list, there are many free printable meal planning lists online. Start with the main dish and write it down, one idea for each day of the week. Then move onto the sides and jot down what you will have with each main dish. When you want to quickly create a meal plan for the week, it’s best to do one that is based on those quick ideas you have in mind that everyone likes.

Use Ingredients you have at Home

The quickest way to meal plan for the week is to work off the ingredients and supplies you already have at home. When you think about what everyone likes and then start looking through your cupboards, pantry, and refrigerator, you will be able to quickly realize which meal ideas will work without having to take a long trip to the grocery store. Learning to use the ingredients you have at home when you neglected to create a detailed menu plan for the week ahead of time, will truly alleviate the stress that comes with planning your weekly meals.

Think About Easy Meals

Last, but not least, try to make sure that the meals you are planning don’t take long to make. When you are quickly creating a meal plan for your week it’s not about being extravagant but more realistic in your approach. Be certain to opt for easy meal ideas so that you can get the meal plan done and ready to proceed with the week. Easy meals can include using the slow cooker or utilizing the ingredients you have at home already so to avoid that grocery store when possible. There are so many quick and easy meal ideas that you can plan for the week to avoid stressing out.

There you have it, a few tips on how to quickly create a meal plan for the week. These tips are best used when you find that Sunday has arrived and your meal plan isn’t complete. Rather than get upset that you hadn’t planned ahead of time, just move forward using these tips so that your meal plan will be sufficient and the family will be happily fed.