Meal planning for hours w/ something different for every single meal? Ain’t nobody got time for that. Our modern day calls for a speedier way. Try my 2-2-2 Meal & Shopping Organizer to simplify meal planning.
HOW: Write down 2 breakfasts + 2 lunches + 2 dinners (and two snacks) you LOVE eating. Shop for the ingredients for only those recipes.
Eat those meals on REPEAT through the week. Since these are meals you love, repeating them during the week is fun & delish! Don’t worry, next week you can choose new meals to put into the rotation so you don’t get bored.
WHY: Putting just a few meals you love on REPEAT through the week makes planning + shopping + prepping EASIER. And when something is easier, you’re more likely to stick with it. I call this strategy “Delicious Monotony” and it works. Read more about it HERE.
Extra Timer Saver: To make the planning even easier, for one of the 2 lunches I often write in “dinner leftovers.” Then I just plan 1 lunch idea each week and rely on dinner leftovers for the other lunch idea.
PS: I mostly use 2-2-2 Meal Planning, but sometimes I use 1-2-3 Meal Planning. It’s the same gist, but I pick 1breakfast + 2 lunches + 3 dinners (and 2 snacks.) This is great for someone who likes eating the same thing for breakfasts during the week, but wants a little more variety for dinners.
Try the 2-2-2 Meal & Shopping Organizer!
✨Printable version: HERE✨
🎉 BONUS 🎉
Get an entire YEAR of meal ideas using the 2-2-2- planner HERE! These are all the meals my hubs & I ate last year using the 2-2-2 planner. And it’s free!🤯
Susan says
Do you make enough for say, 3 or 4 meals for each of your recipes so that you get enough to last through the whole week alternating these two days worth of recipes?
DJ Blatner, RDN says
You can do it that way….where you make extras and eat those as leftovers. Cook once, eat 2-3 times!
OR…you can just pick easy-ish recipes that you make fresh each night. The goal is that you do what’s easiest for you…and only picking between 2 choices for each meal so you don’t feel overwhelmed…even on your busiest weeks.