Meal Planning on Google Docs

It has been several days since I posted to my new blog, which I realize is not a good thing.  This past week was our first week back to school after Christmas break, we had 12 new students start and we were one person short in the office all week.  Long way to say I was really tired at the end of the day!  Hopefully this week will be a bit easier, now that I've had a week to get back in the swing of things.

Sunday is my meal planning day.  It's also my laundry day, my lunch preparation for the week day, and a bunch of other chores I should've done on Saturday day.

I have seen so many cute meal planning boards on Pinterest!  I have pinned several and even downloaded and tried out a few.  Most involve some sort of grid with some sort of attachable meal ideas that you stick on for each day of the week.

The idea behind each is the same:  come up with 14 -28 dinner ideas that you rotate throughout the month, and use a handy device to help you note which meal you will eat each day.

I like several of the ideas I saw because of different reasons - one was really attractive, one was more clever than the others - but in the end, they didn't work for me.  I'm not good at getting things hung up on the wall, the best wall in our kitchen for such things is next to the door to the garage which seems to get slammed too hard and cause things to fall, and I'm just too computer-oriented.

I used to work in software development, and I have some ideas on creating an application for meal planning.  However, I have always been an analyst and never really a programmer, so my ideas are stuck in my head with nowhere to go.  So instead of a complex program or a cute wooden planner on the wall, I use a document in Google Docs.  Yep - that simple.  I save a couple of weeks' worth, then I can go back and copy and paste into the current week if I need to.

At the top of the page, I list each family member and generically what I put in their lunch:
Hubby - sandwich, yogurt, veggie, fruit, chips; Son - sandwich, veggie or chips, fruit, protein drink for snack, water; Daughter - sandwich or salad, veggie, fruit, protein bar, snack, water
This is my reminder for my grocery list.  Then I just list each day of the week and what I'll cook for dinner.  Next to the day of  the week, I also note any event we have that may affect the meal - if I'll be home late due to an appointment or if one of the kids will be with a friend for dinner.  Then I make my grocery list on Google Keep.

Now I have my meal plan and my grocery list on my computer and my cell phone. If I decide to run by the grocery store after school, I don't have to worry if my list is with me, or what is it that I'm making tonight?

So that's my tip for today.  The beginning of this week we're eating cheap because payday is on Wednesday (see my earlier post for my chili recipe!)

Karen