One of the tools I created for myself that I have found makes meal planning a breeze is having a tried & true 30 Day Meal Plan Rotation.
Although it may sound complicated, I promise you it is not. It will however take you a month or two to prepare it.
But once you have it completed you will never need to think about meal planning again.
If you want to know How to Save Money, read more below.
What is a 30 Day Meal Plan Rotation?
Basically you are going to come up with 30 meals that you know know your family loves. I’ll walk you through the process so that it really isn’t nearly as daunting a task as it may sound.
- Print off this calendar template
- Fill in as many boxes as you can with all your family favorites recipes. You probably won’t be able to fill it all the way in and that is perfectly fine.
- Determine how many days you have left and search for new recipes to experiment with and add them to your calendar.
As you try out new recipes, ask your family if it should be added to your regular meals or if it should be tossed out completely. I found that this makes it less of a punishment to try new things if my family knows it will never be made again unless the majority of us love it.
NOTE: It is a good idea to add in new recipes throughout the month. I like to try 1-2 new recipes per week so as not to send my family into shock lol. If it is something we love I add it to my 30 day plan and take out one of the meals that maybe only the majority loved.
Once you have 30 recipes you will have 4 weeks worth of menu plans!
This works great because once you get to the last week everyone will be happy to see the first weeks meals return! No more same old dinners week after week with this plan. Plus these are meals that you already know your family will love.
You might also like to read this post on how Menu Planning helps you save on your grocery budget.
Connie says
Can’t wait to start meal planning for the hubby & I
Kristie Sawicki says
Yay!!
Wendy says
I Love your site, you have so many great ideas , I hope to make your home binder and I just saved your freezer cooking blog so much helpful information!!
Melissa says
I love this method and to make it even easier I like to use my Google calendar for menu planning. I create an event on the calendar for each day’s meal. Then I can list the ingredients or post a link to the recipe website in the comments. When we find something we really like, I simply set the event to “repeat” every four weeks. Before long the entire month is full of great meals my family likes.
Each week I can look ahead and review the ingredients and add anything we need to my grocery list.
New cars charlotte says
Well even if it’s easier to delay it I will follow your advice, it’s such a nightmare when we end up eating the same meals again and again! (and not healthy…)
Saving Dollars and Sense via Facebook says
The first step is really the hardest part, but after you have it all down it will become a great tool!
Kelly Klinkovsky Granger via Facebook says
I really need to get motivated..
rachel @ www.BusyBagCentral.blogspot.com says
Thanks for the template! I was just working on creating a “home binder” last week and needed a basic calendar to include the activities we’ll do with our preschoolers!
Once completed, I’ll be posting a sample schedule on my blog and will do a link back to your post. Thanks again!
Kristie says
I’m so glad you could use it!
Dawn Koehler via Facebook says
going to try this. Thanks for the motivation
Shannon says
Great ideas! Thanks.
Tara Clayton McClenahan via Facebook says
This is exactly what I’ve wanted to do!! Thank you!
Becky Giles Rhoudes via Facebook says
I so need this! Thank you