by Kim Ley
(USA)
I am a full time working mother, and my husband is a full time working father. We have two children, and prior to implementing a weekly meal planning spreadsheet, dinner time was very chaotic in our house. Many nights we ended up at McDonald's frustrated and disappointed.
We never had the right groceries at home to cook meals, nor the time or energy to prepare them. After many months of aggravation, I created the Weekly Meal Planner Spreadsheet that is available on this site.
Over the weekend, we now decide what meals to have every day of the following week. We document those meals on the spreadsheet, then head to the grocery store and get everything necessary to prepare the meals. (Try out the Grocery List Spreadsheet offered on this site, if you don't have a shopping method of your own!)
We print out the Weekly Meal Planner and put it on the fridge. This allows us to see what we've planned to eat each day, as well as see what we're planning to eat the next day. Simply seeing this on paper provides an opportunity to plan and prepare.
If you too are struggling with meal time, I encourage you to implement a similar system. It has greatly improved dinner time at my house. What was once frustration and aggravation is now enjoyable family time!
Click here to download the Weekly Meal Planner Spreadsheet.