SPRING MEAL PLANNER – FREE PRINTABLE
TAKING A FEW MINUTES TO PLAN 2 WEEKS OF MEALS = MORE TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY
Now that we have sunshine and warm weather, planning your meals ahead will free up your time to spend with your family. Springtime π· is the perfect time to print this beautiful meal planning printable and plan out dinner for 2 weeks. Pre-planning will help you spend more time with your family, less time at the stove and save money π².
Take a few minutes to yourself, and I know this can be hard with little ones, take out pencil βοΈ and printable planner π, it will be the best time spent. Believe me, or just try to prove me wrong, I know you will find that once you have a plan, you can go to your printable and implement without much extra work. Take your plan and put it in the kitchen where you can easily see it and you will be surprised how much a plan makes your meal time run smoother.
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Resources Needed:
- Card Stock
- Multi-Colored Pens, these are my favorite fine point beautiful colors.
- Stickies
Step 1:
Print out my new Spring Printable Meal Planner. Print out two copies as you will use the first one as a draft.
Step 2:
Take out our phone π±and look through Pinterest for easy recipes that have ingredients and flavors your family loves. Put each recipe in the space for one day. Do not worry about what day you put what meal. The first step is to get 14 dishes that your family will eat. (remember you can leave days open for leftover, depending on the size of your family you may have none or 3 to 4 days of extra food). I also like to use stickies, to write down the recipe name on first and then I can move them around from day to day. When I have the plan set for which recipe on what day, I use my different colored pens.
Step 3:
Look through the 14 recipes and in the grocery section write the ingredients that you know you will need to buy. Next step is to put that baby on your hip or your little one by the hand and look through the house π for the items you already have. By this time you will know exactly what you need to buy and this will keep your food bill down ππΌ.
Step 4:
At this point, I rewrite my printable meal plan looking at my calendar π to see what days which recipe will fit best and what days I can probably get by with leftover from the days before.
MEAL PLANNING MAKES MY SPRING PLANS A SUCCESS
As soon as the weather turns from winter to spring π·, my goal is to be outside as much as possible. We put up our fabric awning on our deck, start mowing the grass, planting the garden, and take long walks in the neighborhood. When I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is stress over what we’re going to feed everyone for dinner. I don’t want to be looking through the refrigerator and freezer and staring in the cabinets wondering what we’re going to make.
Once I started my two-week meal planning strategy, now at the end of a long workday, I know exactly what we’re going to eat and I have everything I need right at my fingertips. If I need a few fresh ingredients, I know I can make a quick stop at the store on my way home and be home in no time.
Like you, every single warm sunny spring and summer day, I want to spend less and less time in the kitchen but still feed my family a healthy well-balanced dinner. I hope you will try out meal planning in advance, and see if it doesn’t free up your time and lower your stress to spend more time with your family. π·
Check out the site for a lot of electric pressure cooker and time-saving tips to make the meals that you plan quick easy and his hands-free as possible.
The grocery list on the plan is always a winner! Thanks – *pinned*
Hi Susan,
Thanks for bringing your post to last week’s Blogger’s Pit Stop.
Janice, Pit Stop Crew
Meal planning is KEY to having a stress-free witching hour with little kids!
Thanks for sharing at #bloggerspotlight
Meal planning is definitely a huge time saver. Thanks so much for sharing at the #happynowlinkup!
The printable is great for planning your meals. Having something pretty to write on actually makes me feel better about planning ahead. Great post! π
Thank you, I too need something pretty to keep me motivated
I always have such a hard time sitting down to create a meal plan, but this printable is an attractive motivator!
I am so glad you like the design, I have to have pretty printable to get motivated too.
Great printable! I meal plan regularly, but I actually find it harder in the spring because my kids all have lacrosse at different times, we are hardly all home together from mid-April to June. Thanks for sharing at #HomeMattersParty
I am a big fan of Meal planning it is the only way to keep my sanity during the week!
Meal planning and having a system for meals is the biggest timesaver there is for a busy family. It also saves lots of money and keeps families eating healthier. Great organizer.
Great printable Susan, love it!
I use something similar and find that I don’t dread the dinner hour if I already know what I’m making that night.
You make some very good points about the benefits of meal planning. I need to do more of this, it is a horrible sort of stress, wondering every day, what to eat tonight.
Kathleen
Blogger’s Pit Stop
Meal planning is so crucial with little ones running around. Thanks so much for the printables and for sharing at the #happynowlinkup!
I have been very inconsistent with this discipline, but do see that life is better when I plan meals in advance.