How to Make a Family Meal Plan Binder

What can I put in my meal plan binder?

Recipes

Stick those recipes your family loves from your grandma Ida along with the ones you’ve mastered over the years. Jot down recipes you see on the cooking channel or print out the ones you find online. Stick pictures of scrumptious meals and desserts in your binder too. Think of this binder as your personal meal scrapbook.

Ideas/Themes

Have a section for the meals you plan and dream to cook! Your brainstorming process is allowed right in your meal binder. Put lists of themes you’d like to bring into your household. It doesn’t matter if you ever get to them or not, they will be there just in case, if ever the opportunity strikes. Try and think of fun titles to make the “yucky” foods appealing and serve them with your kids’ favorites.

Calendars

Whether you plan to write your meal plans on a calendar or not, it’s helpful to see the days to come. With such busy schedules we often forget the big days like birthdays and holidays. Besides, shouldn’t these occasions be reserved for the best meals of all? You can also write what days you plan on ordering take-out or eating at a restaurant on calendars.

Shopping lists

Before you go off to the supermarket, have a look at what you have and don’t have to ensure you don’t buy too little or too much. Writing shopping lists will help you to budget and manage your expenses.

Do I have to stick to the script?

Absolutely, not! Don’t feel guilty if you can’t stick to the schedule, though you should aim to. But hey, sometimes life gets in the way of our grand plans and all we can do is improvise. Save your plans for a better suited day and push back a couple of meals if you have to.

Maybe a great idea turned out to be not so great and that’s okay! Cross out ideas, draw arrows for a later date, and replace them if you have to. Whatever you do, never tear out any pages because you never know when those ideas will come in handy.

Make a menu and plan meals for each week. I think weekly planning is fairly easy. Buying your groceries each week will prevent your food from getting spoiled and keep you from overspending. We usually have a clear notion of what our week will look like so figuring out how our food will taste should be a no-brainer.

Plan for the entire month on a calendar. This doesn’t mean you will have to buy all your food a month in advance or that you have to write your meal plans all at once. Go at your own pace and take one day at a time if you want to. Calendars allow you to see upcoming holidays and events. It also helps you visualize what’s to come in the near future. If you do decide to plan for a whole month in one sitting, don’t be discouraged if a couple of things change.