Earlier this year I did Productivity Bootcamp with Jordan Page and one of the big things she talks about right at the beginning of the course is figuring out your different pain points throughout the day.
My biggest pain point?
Meal planning.
Every week when I sit down to make a meal plan, I feel stuck. It takes forever. I feel like I made all the same things last week, and I never know what to make or when/if I should try a new meal.
Then, a few weeks ago I read this post from Everyday Reading about how she started a meal plan rotation. She plans enough meals for two weeks then rotates them for the next 6-8 weeks.
I decided to give this a try too, to see if it helped me with my meal planning woes.
We’re only a week into it, so I haven’t actually done a rotation yet, but I know exactly what I’ll be making for the next month or so already and that makes me feel so calm!
How the rotating meal plan works
Last Friday night I sat down and made up a list of 15 meals. I have 3 weeks worth of food for this rotation (assuming I make pizza on Friday nights and then we have take-out on Saturdays. I’ll make all of week 1’s meals this week, then week 2, followed by 3 and then I’ll start over.
I decided to do 3 weeks worth of meals, because I know that when we eat something too close together, we all aren’t that interested in eating it. I feel like 3 weeks is a great amount of time! I also mix up our pizza toppings so that having pizza each week is still fun!
My meals for this fall
Here is my list of meals that I’ll be rotating the next 6-9 weeks (depending on how it goes!) I’m only trying a few new recipes, that we can rotate out if we don’t end up enjoying them! And I’ve already got a list going of recipes I’d like to try next time around!
Spaghetti & meatballs OR sweet and sour meatballs with a side salad
Chicken Cordon Bleu Rolls (my own recipe) + fruit we have
Creamy Chicken Taquitos (one of our faves!) with Spanish rice
Easy Marinated Pork chops with roasted veggies
Easy Au Jus Sandwiches with chips and fruit
Chicken Corn Chowder with Zucchini Muffins (got this meal from Janssen)
Pesto Chicken Sandwiches with chips and fruit
Caesar Pasta with a side salad
Brats with salad and baked fries
Steak and potatoes
Quesadillas with Hatch Chili Pork (which we get from our local dairy delivery service) similar flavor profile in this recipe
Loaded Chicken Salad Sandwich with fruit salad
Homemade hamburgers and baked fries!
Have you ever tried a meal rotation plan? Did it work for you? Also, do you have any favorite fall recipes that I have to try next time?!
Hi Taylor, I admit that I am one of these souls that just plans for the week and then still changes things up. But I have noticed that not everyone is that way, and most do want a meal planning system that takes the stress out of cooking. So, I will be sharing this with some of my friends who I know will love this approach. Thank you so much for sharing;)
Yes, I’ve tried that and it just didn’t work with me! Thanks for sharing this post, as I know others would benefit from it too!
Oh I like the idea of a rotating meal plan! My problem is kind of the opposite, I love to try new things and then never go back to old recipes, even though I really liked them! So this would be a good way to control that a little, haha.
That makes sense. I’m hoping that with this I can still make our old favorites and mix it up more than I have been!
That’s such an interesting concept for meal planning! I would worry that I’d get bored, since I don’t like eating the same thing over and over. But I bet you could make subtle variations to keep it interesting.
I’m definitely curious to see if we’ll get bored or not, even though I essentially make the same few meals over and over already. I’m hoping that this will help me try new things, and keep eating our favorites! I’m definitely mixing things up a little bit so that it’s not exactly the same every three weeks.