5 Meal Planning Hacks – How I save HOURS each week!
Do you feel grocery shopping, making meals and cleaning up takes hours each week? Are you burnt out? See how these 5 meal planning hacks can cut your time in half!
In one hour (usually on Sunday’s), I can have all of my groceries bought, put away, all meals prepped for the week and the kitchen completely cleaned, saving hours in my upcoming week.
Here’s how with these 5 Meal Planning Hacks:
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Meal Planning Hack #1: Switch to Online Grocery Shopping for your groceries
Are you tired of spending hours each week roaming the grocery store aisles? Buying extra food you don’t need, all while trying to bribe your kids to be good?
I gave up going in to grocery stores years ago and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I never looked back and rarely go in to grocery stores.
Instead, spend 10 minutes each week buying all of your groceries by switching to online grocery shopping. It is so simple.
Most of the food we buy each week is the same week to week, which makes it super easy to add a previous weeks grocery order to your shopping cart for a quick check out.
Next, add the few foods that are specific for that week, then select a date and time you want your groceries to be delivered, and you are done. It’s that simple.
We use Walmart+ with delivery each week and to date I have save approximately 166 hours by shopping online instead of in the store. Not to mention the thousands of dollars I have saved as well.
Easy to add needed items directly to your cart. No more forgetting items each week that are essential to your weeks dinners.
If you have’t made the switch yet, and want to know different online shopping options, read here to learn the benefits to online grocery shopping.
Meal Planning Hack #2: Add reminder and time block your calendar
If you don’t block the time off on your calendar and treat meal prepping like an appointment, anything and everything will become more important.
Meal prepping is not fun, but honestly, it is one of the easiest hacks to save hours in your week. If you give it the urgency and importance each week, it will become a priority in your schedule.
It’s like going to the OBGYN, we really don’t want to go, but we make it a priority because it’s important.
Why is meal prepping important? Besides saving you hours each week, your week will feel less stressed and you will have more time to do things you love!
I use my phone as a tool to help manage and organize my week and life, really. Learn more on how to make lists and organize your week here.
Meal Planning Hack #3: Have your environment set up for success
The quicker this takes, the more likely you will want to continue to meal prep each week. So let’s make sure your kitchen, pantry and kids are set up for success.
To meal prep the quickest, have limited distractions
If kids are home do one of these 4 things:
1. Have your spouse or someone else responsible for them
This takes coordinating a time that works for everyone, plus an agreement that your spouse or partner will be willing to help out while you focus in the kitchen.
2. Put a show or have electronics available
We limit the amount of technology in our house, but this would 100% be an option in our family if my husband isn’t available, since this is a priority for me.
3. Individual Play / Solitary Play
If you haven’t heard of Individual play, it is a great option. Individual Play is a learned skill that teaches your child how to play independently or by themselves.
This is possible for ages 5 months and older and the benefits of Individual Play are pretty remarkable. Read how to introduce Individual play and the benefits here.
My children have done Individual Play since they were babies and now can comfortably and easily play independently for over an hour, with no involvement or assistance by me.
4. Have them play outside
If your children are old enough and you live in an area where your children can run around and play outside, send them outside to play. I love this option, and usually prefer this one for our household.
Putting away groceries and meal prepping will go faster and more smooth if the environment is quiet and with fewer distractions.
But even if that is impossible at the moment or the season you are in, meal prep anyways.
I guarantee that prepping at the beginning of the week will still save you hours in your week and reduce lots of stress.
Play music, have a glass a wine, listen to your favorite podcast or audio book
For me, I want my home to feel relaxing and peaceful as I put away my groceries and meal prep, so I turn on my favorite apple station “Country Faith” and pour a glass of Red wine, and get to work.
How do you want your home to sound and feel?
Meal Planning Hack #4: Have an organized space
Putting away groceries is easier and faster if your pantry, refrigerator and freezer are organized with storage containers that are functional and efficient for your space and drawers.
Having organized food areas in your kitchen saves a ton of time putting groceries away and makes it easy to know at a quick glance what food you need or are running low on.
I use the following containers for my kitchen, pantry and refrigerator and love them! All of the store boxes go in the trash as I always transfer the food we buy in to clear storage containers. It helps to easily see what food you have, keeps everything organized and clean looking.
Plastic Kitchen and Pantry Organization Canisters
Mix of large and Medium stackable containers
Lazy Susan for condiments in refrigerator
For more details on how to organize and more of the products I love, check out 6 simple steps to declutter, organize and simplify your home!
Watch this quick reel and see how I can put all of my groceries away in minutes. Online grocery shopping and efficient kitchen organization are two huge factors as to why putting away my groceries goes so quickly.
Meal Planning Hack #5: Meal prep immediately on the same day your groceries are delivered
Your groceries will be delivered right to your door, so make sure it is a day and time you are home and a time that you can immediately spend 45+ minutes putting groceries away and meal prepping.
As you put your groceries away, keep out on the food you will use to meal prep.
What I meal prep:
Here’s exactly what I prep for the week to make my breakfasts, dinners, snacks and kid lunches stress free for the week.
Food prep more than meal prep. It’s easier having lots of different types of food ready to go that can can be turn into many different quick meals.
Fruits and Veggies –
This will include washing, cutting and storing. Then you have lots of fruits and veggies ready to eat for breakfast, snacks, lunches and dinners. This food prep alone will save you so much time all week long.
Use these easy microwave steam bags for your veggies. I use these multiple times a week to get healthy veggies on the table in minutes. I prep my veggies and then store them in these bags for the week in the refrigerator and pull them out as I need them.
Store all of your fruits in these amazing storage containers. They keep your fruit fresh all week long without molding.
Meats –
Thaw, season and cook chicken, pork, steak so its ready for the week ahead. Easy to throw on a salad, add to a burrito, or use in a dinner casserole.
Season and cook ground turkey meat or ground beef for your weekly Tuesday Tacos.
Sandwiches & Wraps –
Make several different kinds, all freezer friendly. Easy to pull out morning for lunches. We even eat these for snacks and dinner on the go in the car.
Pancakes & Muffins –
Make “healthy” pancakes and muffins for Sunday’s Brunch (after you sleep in) and double the recipe to have them for the week ahead.
Egg Bake –
Make an egg bake for a quick healthy breakfast for the week.
Mason Jar Salads
Use a mason jar to store and keep prepped salads fresh all week long. For protein packed salad recipes and how to layer your mason jar, check out Organize YourSelf Skinny.
Watch this reel that was posted on Genius Mom Hacks Instagram page for a sneak peak in to how I meal prep for the week. Give us a follow while you are there!
Other meal planning hacks to save time each week
Invest in a meal delivery service, like Home Chef.
Use a meal delivery service, like HomeChef, to supplement a couple of your dinners each week.
Even taking 2 meals off your plate for the week can feel like the biggest stress relief and time saver.
We’ve been paying customers of HomeChef for over 3 years now, and absolutely love their meals. Our kids love them, they are healthy and they help me save hours each week getting home cooked meals on the table.
HomeChef meals come mostly prepped, with simple and easy instructions. So EASY!!
HomeChef is known for being the best time management meal service, which helps save you tons of time each week!
Have a go-to meal list or themed meal nights
Repeating similar meals or even having a meal schedule like (Taco Tuesday) is so helpful.
Don’t get caught in the myth that each week your meals need to be different and gourmet. Simple repeatable meals is great and efficient.
Use HomeChef or another meal delivery service to add the spontaneity, while having the meals you cook be easy and repeatable.
Your family will get introduced to new foods and flavors, but in an easy and convenient way.
Let’s be honest, finding new meals on Pinterests is very time consuming and stressful. Ditch the Pinterest meals and join a meal delivery service like HomeChef.
Double the recipes
Have your meals go farther and double and freeze extras for future meals. This works great for meals that have a rub or a marinade and freeze well.
Use liners for easy clean up
When making food in the oven on a baking sheet or in a crockpot, crockpot liners and foil go a long way in helping make the clean up easier and faster.
My Weekly Go – To Easy Meals list:
Our meals each week are super simple. I rely on HomeChef for the more healthier glamorous gourmet meals.
- Taco Tuesday
- 2 – 3 Heathy HomeChef Meals
- Home-made Pizza – (I have a super easy recipe that only takes minutes)
- Frozen Lasagna
- Fajitas
- Easy kid meals: Chicken Nuggets, Mac N Cheese, Hot dogs, quesadillas, burritos
My Weekly Meal Planning Hacks Breakdown
Here’s a breakdown on the time I spend on each step to have all of my meals planned, bought, put away and prepped using my meal planning hacks.
1. Look at my calendar for the week ahead. Between sports, meetings, appointments, & hubby’s work schedule, I pick meals for each day. Easier meals like pizza or chicken nuggets for busier days. – 10 min
2. Order Groceries Online (I often just re-purchase my same order from the previous week) – 10 min
3. Once groceries arrive, I put away the groceries, and leave the food I am planning to meal prep out on the counter. Throw away all of the grocery bags and product boxes after putting all food in their containers – 15 min
4. Meal prep and put prepped food away – 30 min
Total time: 1 hr 5 min (max time. Usually takes me less)
Meal Planning Hacks INCLUDE your kids?
I know how it is, kids “help” doesn’t always feel very helpful. While I don’t always say yes to their constant requests to help, I have found that giving my kids a small “job” can go a long way.
I want my kids to learn how to make food for themselves, because eventually I would love for them to know how to make an entire meal from start to finish. A meal that is bigger then chicken nuggets, Man N Cheese or a quesadilla (haha!).
These kid knives are amazing! I usually have my kids cut broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers or strawberries. Non of these foods are difficult to cut and I really don’t care if they aren’t cut perfectly.
It keeps them busy for awhile, it meets the “I want to help” feeling, and doesn’t require much effort from me.
Meal Planning Hacks Recap
There you have it, in under an hour each week my meal planning hacks have saved me hours. My groceries are ordered, delivered, put away, food is all prepped, and the kitchen is clean.
I’m ready to start my week and excited about all of the hours I saved!
Are you?
Looking for more genius hacks? Don’t forget to check out…
Want other amazing mom routines to help you stay on top of mom life?
Check out 13 Important Routines for Moms
I would love to hear from you, leave a comment, and share your favorite hacks below.
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