Start a Meal Plan

Having used a meal planning service for many years makes it easy to forget the stumbling blocks of learning how to start a meal plan. Shopping for a meal plan and getting the cupboards to match the recipes was definitely one of those hurdles. These are things we wish we had known early on when starting a new meal plan. 

 
Review Your Meal Plan

Whatever day your meal plan begins should be the start of your week. Most meal planning services deliver on a specific date but we love that RealPlans allows us to start the week any day we want and view the next three weeks in advance. Regardless of the method, it is wise to review the meal plan right away and make sure the recipes are things your family will eat and that the ingredients are accessible. If for some reason you do not want to prepare one or more meals included in the plan, you will want to pencil in a substitution or add the shopping items for the off-plan meal. RealPlans makes this simple because you can literally swap a recipe for another using the "Roulette" tool to quickly flip through the options. 

Now is also the time to plan breakfast, lunch, snacks and identify any special occasions throughout the week. With the exception of Frugal Real Food Meal Plans, meal planning services only provide you with a dinner recipe. RealPlans, again coming to the top of the list, allows you to input extra recipes into your plan on each day. For us, this means the daily smoothie recipe, lunch, dinner, snacks, and baby food items are included in my master shopping list derived from the meal plan. 

Once you have finalized your meal plan for the week or month, you can assess your shopping list and get closer to starting your meal plan!

Review the Pantry List

Always review the pantry staples list before making the final shopping list. This is super easy using the kitchen inventory sheets we have in our Community Library. By taking inventory every month, you should know almost exactly how much of every ingredient is in the house. Throughout the month, try to go back and cross off emptied items or mark them as hazardously low!

Once the staple items have been assessed,  go straight into the main shopping list. We purchase a good majority of our dry goods from Thrive Market or VitaCost. We have found that with very few exceptions, their price beats everyone...including cooperative wholesale prices like Azure Standard or UNFI. It helps to get into a routine of adding items to your online basket as you think about it throughout the month. Once you get over the $45 minimum for free shipping, submit the order. If you don't need the items that quickly--it makes sense to wait until the middle or the end of the month to spread out bulk shopping spending. 

Set aside any pantry items that will still be used for the current week of meals. You want to be sure you have just the right number of items for the meal plan that you are preparing to shop.

Modifications for the First Time Shopping Trip

We mentioned in this post that you can save money by not swapping out your pantry items for cleaner, more whole food options. If this is your first time shopping, I encourage you to purchase whole, clean staples and pantry items. This helps spread out the cost increase that you might incur as you transition to meal planning.

Actions to Take:

• Complete your End of Month Inventory sheets *before* you plan to shop or begin your meal plan.
• Compare what you have with what you need.
• Consider purchasing all items from somewhere like Thrive Market, Frontier Herbs, Mountain Rose Herbs or Azure Standard. The cost savings adds up quickly!
• Keep using what you have in your pantry unless it is truly affecting your health.
• Buy small amounts of spices from the bulk section at your local health food store.