Finding time to get meals fixed on a daily basis can be a real challenge. Your calendar is jam packed, your family activities are overwhelming, and your job might cut into your evenings. In spite of all that, your family NEEDS to eat, and they need to eat on a daily basis. This is one thing that absolutely can’t be skipped. Sure, you could get fast food every night, but who wants that?
So, if this is something we have to do every day, we might as well learn some ways to get meals, grocery shopping, and food prep done easily and quickly. Today, I’ve got 10 tips to save time on meal planning, grocery shopping, and daily food prep. With weekly practice, this system will become a normal part of your routine.
- Spend one hour on the weekend to plan menus for the week. This really helps with the daily “What’s for dinner?” question. Remember to plan easy dinners for busy nights and, if you want, more elaborate dinners on nights when you have more time. Also, be realistic, and save new recipes for the weekend.
- Write a detailed grocery list. I know it sounds extreme but, trust me, organize your list in aisle order, as much as possible. At least write things down by categories. It saves time at the store and you’ll be less likely to forget something. When I do this, I can get through the store really quick.
- Limit trips to the store. This is easier said than done (I’m trying), but plan on no more that two trips to the store each week. I try to do one big grocery trip during the week and then on Saturday, I go back for a few items to get us through the weekend. I usually go on Saturday because our weekend plans for unpredictable, and by then we usually need some more fresh produce, bread, milk, and snacks.
- Plan your shopping and errand day. Try to do your shopping on the same day each week. Spend the evening before organizing your list and adding other miscellaneous errands to it. Write down on your list where you need to go and in what order. Try to do all your shopping in one area, if possible. At least try to go in a logical order so there’s no backtracking.
- In the store, plan your most efficient route. I hear you chuckling, but I usually go to the same two or three stores every week and go through the store in a certain order, and it’s so predictable for me that it saves me tons of time. So, with my list and my routine route, I go in this order every week: produce, middle aisles, frozen foods, dairy, and then meat. This saves time and my perishable food stays fresher.
- At the checkout, keep similar items together. Start by putting your grocery items on the conveyor belt with similar items together. That way, it’ll be more likely that you or the checkout person will bag things together.
- Be efficient when putting groceries away. After unloading all your groceries out of your vehicle, start putting them away in a logical, efficient order. This is how I do it. First, take everything out of bags and put similar items together on the kitchen counter. Then I take one group of items, such as dairy and put all dairy away at the same time. Then I do meats and frozen foods. Then put away produce, and lastly non-perishables in the pantry.
- Put everything away according to category. By this, I mean every shelf in your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry is designated for a particular food category. For example, in the refrigerator, keep all dairy together, all meats, and all produce. That makes it super easy for anybody in the family to find what they’re looking for. Do the same for the freezer. I put all frozen meat on one side, frozen veggies on the other side, and I have a separate shelf for frozen breads and rolls. In the pantry, have a separate shelf for breakfast things, a shelf for dinner things, and a shelf for snacks.
- Prep food for the upcoming week. This is a good job for Sunday afternoons or whenever you do your grocery shopping. Divide up meats into dinner-size portions for each dinner that week. This is especially helpful if you buy your meat in bulk. Cut up vegetables for the week and put in plastic bags. Pre-fix school lunches, if possible. Divide up fruits, cheese sticks, and other things. but leave sandwiches for later. Put some snacks together in a separate bin in the refrigerator or on the countertop and let your kids know, if they’re small, that those are your approved snacks that they can help themselves to.
- Pre-fix some entrees or meats and freeze for later in the week. Label them with cooking instructions, so another family member can get dinner started on nights when you get home late.
Those are 10 of my best time-saving tips for meal planning, grocery shopping, and food prep. I hope it helps to make your week go a little smoother. Also, check out Menu Planning And Grocery Shopping, Seven Steps To An Organized Kitchen Pantry, Easy Make- Ahead Meals, and Easy 30 Minute Meals. Next time, I’ll have tips for saving money on our weekly groceries.
Have a wonderful day!