With a meal planning calendar, you can save time and money, while avoiding the “what’s for dinner?” dilemma. Your calendar should be the first thing you consult before making your grocery shopping list.
A calendar helps you schedule your favorite meals, as well as new recipes that you want to try. If you’re looking for easy ways to organize your meal planning calendar, here are some ideas.
- By ethnic theme, such as Italian, Mexican, or Chinese
- By cooking method: baked, stove top, slow cooker, grill, etc.
- Type of main ingredient: red meat, poultry, seafood, or pasta
How far in advance will you plan your meals? Monthly? Weekly? Say Mmm helps you do both. A monthly calendar view lets you plan far in advance. Many people also like to designate a day or two each month for preparing and cooking several meals, which can then be frozen and eaten later. On the other hand, if you prefer to shop for fresh ingredients every few days, then you can create weekly plans that allow you more flexibility.
Some additional tips for using a meal planning calendar:
- Don’t reinvent the wheel. If you find a plan that works, then stick with it.
- Save money by keeping track of local sales and coupon offers, which you can factor in when creating your calendar.
- Choose one or more days on the calendar that you’ll prepare meals in bulk and freeze or refrigerate them for reheating on busy days.
- If you have kids, make meal time fun by including them in the planning and preparation.
With our free online meal planning calendar, you can organize and save your plans, automatically creating shopping lists right from the document. While browsing your saved recipes and meal ideas, just click them to add them to your calendar. Our calendar even lets you keep track of meals that you eat at your favorite restaurants.
