Menu Planning and The Way I Go About It

A friend of mine asked me how I go about meal planning. She commented on how I seem so organized with my meals. I decided to document the process. It's pretty simple really. I'm fortunate enough to have a deep freezer (thanks Santa! You rock!) so I have that bad boy loaded with meats I've bought on sale or that I buy in large packages from Costco. I start by taking a look at what I've got to work with in terms of proteins. Then I make a list of everything and start looking at each day of the week. I note what training I'm doing that day and what extra events we have going on like the kid's karate class etc. If I know it's a busy run around day I'll plan to cook a meal in my slow cooker so it's ready when we get home. If I know I'm doing longer distance running then I'll plan the more carb filled veggies as a side. See where I'm going with this? My start page looks something like this...I never said I had good handwriting...

So after I've got a general idea of the week ahead I print out one of these guys and fill it in using what I know we have. I typically leave the sides blank as I like to pop by the local produce stand a few times a week to see what's fresh and tempting to me.
http://theprojectgirl.com/downloads/theprojectgirl.com-mealplanner.pdf

After it's filled in and I'm happy with the completed plan I post it on the fridge. It really helps me to have a game plan when I walk into my kitchen. As you can see, we do a lot of leftovers for lunches. Hubby works from home now and it's easy for us to just choose something tasty from the fridge to reheat. :) Finished plan looks like this-Yeah, I know Sunday is blank. I'm not sure what else I have in my deep freezer! ;)

There you have it...my easy as pie way to meal plan each week. :)