We know that I place a high value on meal planning, BUT it is one of the tasks I hate to do. With a new baby and trying to survive on limited sleep, I have been searching for ways to make my life easier in the next few months. So I’ve created a simple 2 Week Rotating Menu that I’ll reuse over and over for the next few months.
I decided this was a smart idea for a few reasons:
- Picking meals to eat every day is the hardest part of meal planning for me. Taking advantage of the same 2 week menu will save me a lot of time!
- Using the same menu every 2 weeks means I’m also using the same grocery shopping list! I can more easily strategize when it comes to grocery shopping.
- I can also more easily share ingredients for several meals.
- BONUS! I can also stock up on the frozen or canned items I’ll need when I see them on sale. If I know we’ll need 2 packages of hot dog buns to get us through 2 months of meals, I can buy now and freeze! Then weekly I’m just buying produce and dairy.
Let me walk you through what I did to start planning my 2 Week Rotating Menu!
First up was creating the actual menu. I tackled it using similar strategies I use when I plan a normal single week menu. I pulled in summer family favorites, dinners that are easy to pull together quickly, and meals that use similar ingredients.
I laid it all out in a simple spreadsheet, with 3 columns labeled Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Then I started laying in the meal ideas. I reused a few meals, especially breakfast and lunch ideas. But for dinner I tried really hard to think of 14 different dinners.
Next up was creating a master shopping list for everything! I made notes for what stores offer the best deals on products, and then planned out my shopping strategy. The overall goal with shopping was to minimize the weekly trips to the store, hoping to keep it to just one store a week (ideally my favorite local store that offers online shopping and a drive through pick up!). Then I planned trips to the other grocery stores to stock up on ingredients, buying enough to last us several rotations (2 months worth).
Here’s what I’m planning!
Download the PDF Printable if you want to print!
So, if all goes according to plan, I’ve just planned our meals through the summer! And I’ll hopefully be able to have one grocery shop a week using a really convenient pick up option! This will hopefully offer me a little rest and take one thing off my plate as we’re trying to adjust to a new normal.
You might also like my favorite quick family dinner options or my 5 tips for quickly feeding your family.
What things do you do to make things easier when life gets crazy? Let me know!
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Way to go! I’m working on a 3 week rotation. Yours sounds great!
FABULOUS idea! Love this and plan to do the same for our household. Thanks, Katie!
Nothing like a rotating menu AND grocery list to make things simple over the summer!
This helps so much.. I’m planning this week’s meals right this second!
I’m so glad!!
This is such a great idea!!! I like variety in my supper meals, but I could totally work this idea into my plans for breakfast and lunches. Hmm…I’m feeling inspired!
Thanks! This concept isn’t the best idea for long term, but short term for the summer or during a busy season? Perfect!
This is such a good idea, especially for summer!
I agree!! When you’re super busy, doing this will free up some time!
Interesting, and tasty! Those meals sound delicious! I discovered the Morningstar Farms burgers in the past few years, and they are a really good way to fix a quick meal, winter or summer. I enjoy them more in the summer, though, because there are a lot of fresh in-season fruits and veggies to serve with them. 🙂 Also, a big pot of soup or chili gets a lot of mileage here because we freeze some and/or have it for meals later on in the week. So handy!
This is such a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Smart lady!! I love having a menu ready to go and shopping list to match. I usually write out a menu for the week and post it in our pantry. Then we will just pick something off the menu so I don’t have to think up meal each day. I do all the work ahead of time and usually just tell Kevin to pick something that sounds good. The menu helps us eat at home more too. Hope you and your kiddos are doing well this weekend 🙂