Eating a healthy diet starts by making a plan for WHAT you're going to eat. Read these articles and find a system that works for you and your family.
Meal prep and meal planning can save you from stressful situations throughout your week.
Learn more about meal planning and how it can help save you time and money in these articles.
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benefits of meal planning
Meal planning has made life with young kids do-able, without sacrificing the quality of our food. It's easy to cook dinner from scratch every night when you have time and energy, but what happens when you don't?
That's where meal planning comes in. A meal plan provides a roadmap to follow to get healthy and homemade meals on the table for your family night after night.
Think of a meal plan like using the GPS to get somewhere. It's kinda nice to just follow the directions. Especially if you're trying out a diet that's unfamiliar (like clean eating, whole 30, Paleo, or gluten free).
Save Money
Meal planning is just one way to save money on groceries.
One of the many benefits of meal planning is saving hundreds each month - just by making a meal plan. When you make a meal plan, you'll go to the grocery store with a complete grocery list in hand - ready to ONLY buy the ingredients you need for the week.
Save Time
By taking a few minutes each week to make a meal plan, you'll be saving hours throughout the week when you would have been cooking. Meal planning, meal prep and batch cooking work hand in hand to give you time back in your evenings.
MEAL PLANNING RESOURCES
Do a quick Google search for "meal planning" and you'll see I'm not the only fan of meal planning out there. And for good reason. Meal planning helps people stick to their healthy eating goals, lose weight, eat better, spend less money on food, and reduce food waste.
meal planning for beginners
Are you a beginner at the whole meal planning thing? I've got some articles that can help.
The Ultimate Guide To Meal Planning For Beginners
The Ultimate Guide to Meal Prepping for Beginners
Meal Planning Templates
I'm a huge fan of meal planning templates. After years of making the same outline on a piece of paper, I decided to create a collection of templates and give them away here on Scratch To Basics.
Check out all the templates here, including some digital options. And read this article for a step-by-step walk through of my meal planning system using a PDF template.
Whether you make a meal plan with a paper template, or use a digital meal planning app, the important thing is that you find a system that works for you.
Pre-Made Meal Plans
When you're getting into meal planning, sometimes it's easiest to use pre-made meal plans instead of making your own.
I love Prep Dish - they provide weekly gluten free and Paleo meal plans. Here's my review of Prep Dish.
But they're not the only one. Here are five meal planning services that provide you with pre-made meal plans.
Here's a sample 7-day gluten free meal plan and a two week Paleo meal plan I created for YOU!