How I do it: Part 3 Meal Planning

Part 3 already

If you missed part one (download my free daily planner)

or part 2 (download my free cleaning schedule)

You can click on the links above!

FOOOD.  Meal planning has saved my life.  Perhaps that is a bit of an overstatement, but it certainly helps.  I already told you I write all the dinners on the Calendar at the beginning of my book.  But at the beginning of each week I also put in a weekly meal planning calendar.  This is by far, the least fanciest thing I've got!  Just a warning!

Yes it is pretty boring.  But it's got all I need.  A spot for the date and then the 7 days of the week, plus a column for stock.  I've got a box for breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts/snacks.  And a box for groceries.

I try really hard to cook from scratch - it's so much cheaper and more healthy and not to mention lots of things are just as easy as pouring it out of a box!  So when I make something lots of times I will double a recipe and freeze half of it.  Cook once and it's done! So that's where the stock column of my meal plan comes in handy. 

Here's my meal plan for this week.   You can tell I usually don't plan lunches (we either do left overs or make sandwiches) And I usually don't include sides with the meal - just the entree.  Then depending on what we pick up at the Farmer's Market becomes our sides. 

I DO make my own bread.  It's easier than you think.  This week I made English Muffin Bread.  It makes about 3-4 loaves.  I keep one out for toast, use 1 loaf to make a big batch of French Toast (see it as one of the breakfast stock items?) and freeze the other loaf for toast for next week.  It's super easy to make - I'll share my recipe with you next time I make some! :)

Next week I will make just a daily loaf of bread.  It makes 2 loaves and I do the same thing - keep one out for this week and freeze the other loaf.  Simple and SO good!

I always try to make a double batch of breakfast items and freeze half.  That way I've got breakfast cooked for next week!  So this week I'm making a double batch of pancake mix and that big batch of French Toast.  I'm not a morning person so to have breakfast pre-made is a HUGE help.  Especially during the school year!

On Tuesday I made Meatball subs.  And so I made a huge HUGE batch of meatballs.  Meatballs are the best to have in the freezer - sandwiches, pasta, lasagna, pizza, or Josh likes them just plain. 

Tomorrow I am making a chicken tortilla casserole.  I'm already doing the work so I may as well make 2 casseroles instead of 1.  Then if something comes up later on, we get home late, or I'm feeling lazy and don't want to cook - no worries.  Dinner is done. 

In my book, I keep track of my daily blogging stuff.  I realize not everyone that reads this is a blogger so I'll be super quick.  (IF anyone is interested in knowing more about these items please let me know!)  I have a blog post planner.  Each sheet has enough room for 2 planned posts.  There is a spot for the date, post title, SEO, any internal links, follow up ideas and ways to promote it.  Plus a few other boxes.  (Do you like my motivational topper? lol)

I also have my blog stats page.  I still need to tweak this page a little. I fill it out every morning for the day prior.  I've got spaces for my blog (followers, page views, unique visitors and subscribers), Twitter (followers), Facebook (likes, share, weekly reach), Pinterest (followers), Blog Frog and any company I may have any affiliate links with.  I check each morning for any money (really, lack thereof) that I made and I write it in the bottom box.  Stats aren't everything, but it is important to know what they are for when people ask about advertising and talking to sponsors.  I check once a day and that's plenty for me!

And that's it.  My planner book (I think I need a new name!)

It has:

4 monthly calendars

5 weekly cleaning sheets

5 weekly meal planning sheets

31 daily planners

31 blog post planners

and 31 blog stat sheets

It's a lot.  But it's all here.  All customized to me and saves me SO much time in the long run!