Hey girls! Happy Wednesday. Have you had a good week so far? I sure hope so. Today I thought it would be so fun to share how I do my weekly grocery list & my meal plan for the week. The “Meal Ideas” list in this post is exactly what we’ve got on the menu this week.

A typical Sunday evening for me looks like: getting cozy in my PJ’s, curling up on the couch with Marco, and thinking about my list. I do my grocery shopping on Monday’s after work whenever I can. Sunday’s are way too busy at TJ’s for me, so if I can avoid Sunday’s, I do!

WHAT I DO:

1. Log onto Pinterest, Instagram, &/or Bloglovin’ (click any image to follow me)

2. Read through my favorite blogs or accounts and look for recipe inspiration

3. Take that inspiration, and create my “Meals This Week” list just like you see below

I have Marco’s email crossed out. It’s pretty cool, I can share this list with him so he also also knows what our options are. By the way, most of the above recipes are pinned to my “Recipes” board right now (near the top).

Instead of following exact recipes, which I find gets SO expensive and time consuming, I just look up photos and recipes for inspiration, and then I tweak them myself to make them less expensive (but still high quality) and much, much less time consuming.

4. Then, I use that list to come up with my “grocery list”

I do the same thing with this list. I have Marco added to it. This way, when he asks how he can help (or I ask for help) he can run by the store and easily grab whatever we need. I add in everything I need to buy in the reminders app on my iPhone. So helpful!

Side note: notice this week we’re buying “corn tortulla’s” instead of “tortilla’s” 😉 

5. Once I’ve done this, I’m ready to hit the store on Monday! I’m in and out, and it’s so easy! Trader Joe’s also always has coffee & samples in the back, so each time I go to the store I make sure to treat myself to a little coffee. It makes grocery shopping fun!

6. Throughout the week I’m ready to go. I don’t plan “Monday we’ll have this, Tuesday we’ll have this.” Rather, I ask myself what sounds good, I look at the meal ideas list and choose from there. Marco is NOT picky, so it’s pretty much up to me.

I also don’t do any major prep in the beginning of the week, unless it’s needed. Instead, I “cook once and eat twice.” This means I’ll make dinner one night, and have the leftovers for lunch the next day (or dinner the next night – in this case, I make sure to grocery shop for lunch items too).

I always make sure to put items that I know will sound good to me all week on my list. I used to shop with the “what’s healthy?” mentality. Until I realized that when I did that I always felt like my home food was boring and I’d look for reasons to eat out. Outcome? Wasted food.

Now? I shop with the “what’s yummy, satisfying, and balanced?” mentality. I know I’ll always be in the mood for yummy and balanced. So this approach works much better! I get excited to eat at home, and our dinners always taste good (& are simple to make!).

I know myself, and I would not be happy to cook at home if it meant spending 2 hours in the kitchen each night. Unless for some wild reason I was into that for a week. You have to know what works for you, and be okay with doing that. 

I also leave room (1-2 nights) for eating out. Another thing that really helps me to be flexible through the week if needed is to buy a couple of frozen meals. This way, I don’t have to worry about food going bad.

Well, that’s it for now! Do you have any questions about grocery shopping or meal planning for yourself? Post any questions or comments below in the comment section. I’ll be there answering today.

Love,

P.S. Sign-up for my free VIP emails if you’d like to read my answer to this question tomorrow: “Paige, how can I make MY OWN food choices without caring what those around me think?”