5 Ways to Simplify Your Meal Planning

If you’ve followed The Merry Momma for any length of time, you’ve probably heard me talk about meal planning. A lot. Because I LOVE a good meal plan. And I can get a little excited about the subject. (Some might say too excited. Whatever.)

I am sooooo not a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of girl, and having a plan for the week’s meals makes me feel 100x better. Plus, it saves a ton of money. (More on that and other benefits of meal planning here.)

But even I, the #1 fan of meal planning and singer of its praises, have weeks where I’m too busy to put much time into it. Or too pooped to put in the energy.

Even then, however, I know I will regret not having a plan if I don’t make one. (I always regret not having a plan.)

So what’s a girl to do?

Rely on that classic acronym K-I-S-S — Keep it simple, silly!

You don’t have to knock it out of the park every week. Some weeks, you just have to keep everyone fed.

And here are five tips for maintaining your meal planning flow in a streamlined, stripped-down, super simple way.

**Links in this post may be affiliate links. This means that if you click that link and purchase the product, I may receive a small compensation. I am, however, committed to honestly assessing the products mentioned. Please read my disclosure policy for more details. **

5 WAYS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR MEAL PLANNING

Choose one recipe source

This is a great way to keep your meal planning simple. I will often choose one cookbook from my shelf and find a week’s worth of meals from it. This strategy cuts down my planning time considerably and makes it easier to find the recipes during the week.

If I need a recipe with a certain ingredient that’s on sale that week, I may also use recipes from a Google search.
Fall back on your oldies-but-goodies

I love hunting down and trying new recipes, and when I have the time, poring through recipes is one of my favorite pastimes. But when I need a simple week with a simple plan, I fall back on my repertoire of tried-and-true favorites. They may not be fancy, but they get the job done. And they’re great to have in my back pocket for when I need to simplify my meal planning.

Click the image to get this FREE resource!

Pro Tip: If you really want to keep it simple, you might even plan a month’s worth of these family favorites and rotate the same plan each month. That way, you make one meal plan, and boom! You’re set.
Stick to simple meals

Similarly, you can also simplify your meal planning by planning simple meals. Tacos, spaghetti, homemade pizza, and rice bowls, for example, are just a few delicious ways to feed your family without tracking down recipes or taking a lot of time to plan.

Related Post: How to Simplify Meals to Save Time & Energy
Plan for leftovers

You also don’t need to reinvent the wheel every night for dinner. As you make your meal plan, plan for leftovers! And if you have family members who turn up their noses at the thought of reheated leftovers, there are plenty of ways to repurpose leftovers without starting from scratch!
Plan from your freezer/pantry

Finally, a great way to come up with meal ideas quickly (and cheaply) is to plan from what you already have in your freezer or pantry. And if you’ve been taking my advice and making those freezer meals, you should have plenty in there to choose from! (Which reminds me, mine is in dire need of restocking…)

Related Posts:

If you’ve seen my posts about meal planning in the past and thought, “Yeah, I know, but ugh! It takes so much time!” I hope you see now that it really doesn’t have to!

Sure, some weeks we’re feeling particularly “supermom,” and we throw ourselves into creating a home-run meal plan. And those weeks rock.

But other weeks … we can barely handle picking out our own clothes, let alone line up a carefully orchestrated meal plan.

Those are the weeks (among others) that you need to K-I-S-S. And if you keep these five tips in mind, you’ll create a plan that’s as good for your energy level as it is for your family’s bellies.

If this post was helpful to you and you’d like to learn how to feed your family in less time, for less money, and with less stress, then you definitely want to check out The Every Mom’s Meal Solution Handbook.

I wrote this book for any mom (or woman… or man!) who wants to feed her family well but feels frustrated by a lack of time, money, or energy. It’s FULL of practical tips and strategies for creating meal solutions that work for you no matter your season, budget, or lifestyle.

Want to learn more? Click here to read more about the book and what it can do for you!