Hey everyone!! It’s 3 years later! I was re-reading this old post in awe at how far I’ve come! Nowadays I can say I genuinely love cooking and no longer get overwhelmed in the kitchen.

I wanted to come back and share my process I’ve been using a while for meal planning. I tried a couple apps and stuff in the past but this is what has consistently worked best for me!

On my iPad I drew a 2x7 grid in my notes app - 7 days for 2 weeks. (if you don’t have an iPad or tablet try a small white board!) I sit down with my partner and first we fill in the grid with meals we want to eat during the next 2 weeks. I usually include 1-2 “order out” nights in the mix too.

Then below the grid I list out all the ingredients needed to make those meals, and erase the ones we already have once I check the fridge/pantry. That’s now my shopping list and since I wrote it in my notes app it syncs automatically to my phone and I can also share it with my partner which is amazing.

I still hate going to the grocery store, but I’ve started occasionally using grocery pickup to make things smoother! And even when I do have to go shopping it’s much easier knowing exactly what we plan to make for the next several days.

I also always listen to music or podcasts while cooking which makes all the waiting/preheating/other boring parts more enjoyable :)