Flexible Meal Plans

Do you ever stand in your pantry and stare blankly looking into the shelf abyss? Let me help you minimize how often that happens for you. You can Download my Flexible Meal Planning Sheet for free!

I have seen and used those amazing meal planning sheets that most people use that lsit Monday through Friday. That's not how my rule following brain works. I would write meatloaf on Monday and get to dinner prep hour and not want to eat or make meatloaf. Or, I would get to the day I had planned to roast a whole chicken just to realize it still wasn't thawed even though I had taken it out yesterday morning to thaw in the fridge. I came up with the flexible meal plan. This helps me to know what I have on hand to make for meals and I am able to swap the out and change them up as I need to or feel like it.

“I would get to the day I had planned to roast a whole chicken just to realize it still wasn't thawed...”

I used to write my meal plans in a spiral notebook because none of the other meal planning sheets I found were flexible enough to list out what I needed to for a two week time period. You see, I homeschool, so we eat 3 meals a plus snacks at home. Plus my husband takes left overs to work for lunch everyday. Our family lives about 30 minutes from the nearest major shopping areas. We do have a local grocery store but it is VERY expensive. To save money we only go grocery shopping every two weeks. I need to make sure I have a plan.

How to Start a Flexible Meal Plan

Start with meals you know how to cook.

My husband and I created a spreadsheet that I keep on the computer for meal ideas and meals I know how to cook. Pinterest boards are another great place to be inspired. Start a board with foods that you want to eat. Another great idea I got from Amy at Raising Arrows is to make a list of family favorites. I tweaked her idea to work for our family. You can check it out on her podcast here. I took my spreadsheet list and sat down with the kids and asked them to vote yes or no on each meal idea. When I was done I had a complete list of family favorites. This is a great place to start when you are stuck in a meal rut.

Create your Meal Plan

Have you ever sat down to make meal plan and thought to yourself, I don’t know what we will want to eat or what I will want to cook on Tuesday? That’s exactly how my Flexible Meal Plan Sheet was born. This was the most freeing thing ever. Seriously. I am very structured and kinda freak out when things don't go exactly as I've planned them. So, when Tuesday came and I didn't want to eat or make chili I would freak out a little inside because I was deviating from the plan. Ugh! So, I came up with a solution. My flexible meal plan for 14 days.

First, I identify what I have on hand so I can be sure to use it before it goes bad. Then I choose 7 breakfasts, lunches, and snacks, we will repeat them twice over the 2 weeks. Dinner has 14 slots, I usually save 2 for leftover night. I also write in if we have any dinner events that we will be doing over the next 2 weeks. I do a lot of batch cooking or what I call "piggyback" meals. If I have a roast to use up or roast is on sale I plan to batch cook it for meals and freezer cooking. An example of a piggyback meal looks like some of the following ideas. The first day we will have roast, potatoes, veggies, etc. The next day we will have philly cheesesteak sandwiches, or grilled beef and cheese sandwiches. I have also done bbq beef + coleslaw, tacos, chili, homemade taquitos, and enchilada casserole to name a few. When I meal plan I check the ads to see if there are any deals I need to take advantage of. For the most part I shop at 2 stores Costco and Walmart. Every once in a while, our local grocery stores have deals that I will to take advantage of.

Are you ready to start putting together your own flexible meal plan? You can download my free flexible meal plan right here.

Happy Meal Planning!