Up until now my family and I have just winged it, which resulted in a lot of fast food. By making these choices, we were spending too much money and obviously being unhealthy!! Well, last week we decided to make a change. We have successfully gone through our first week meal planning.

Now if you have a big family or picky eaters, I suggest sitting together as a family when picking out meals. To successfully meal plan you should have a family meal calander or schedule and decide as a family which meals to make for the week.

Check out this template I made to help with your family meals!

I printed off about 10 of these family meal planners. We find it easiest just to rotate weeks. When we get bored or don't like a meal we try we can cross it off and try something different. It's also fun to look forward to the meals that are your favorite and intriguing to make something you've never tried before. I find Pinterest really helpful for trying new meals and coming up with new ideas.

I have found that meal planning makes the trip to the grocery store a lot less like "well what the hell are we going to get" and opting for freezer meals and toaster waffles. Instead I have written down the ingredients needed for each meal, did inventory on what we have in the house and wrote down the things we need. I found it easier to eat fresh ingredients this way and not waste the vegetables we bought trying to be healthy because the veggies would just sit there with no plan in sight.

This week, instead of meal planning for just my fiance and I (our daughter is too young), we get to plan for a 4th member of our family (my stepson) which will make meal time even more fun. But, cooking for an almost 9 year old also has its challenges. We of course want him to try new things, but every so often we run into the "i don't like it" or "I'm full" when he's really not and then we waste food. But, he sometimes suprises us like he did last week when he said he likes tomatoes and he always says the food he eats with us is so delicious. So, I hope he is just as enthusiastic about trying some new dishes he probably has never heard of.

What are some of your favorite meals to make with your family?