Meal Categories That Make Your Planning Easier

There are a few categories that I always use when planning my meals each week. These categories have not only guided me in a direction towards planning a meal and finding recipes, but they have also made my meal planning really easy because it has taken a lot of the "guess" work out of planning. When there is a "list" to choose from, it makes weekly planning a lot simpler and gives you variety in your meals. The categories I choose from are:

• Crockpot Meals
  
• Mexican/Asian Meals
• Casserole Meals
  
• Italian/Pasta Meals
• Single Meat and a Side Meal (Roast, Pork, Chicken, Fish, ect)
• Soup/Salad/Sandwich Meal

I also "personally" have a few categories that I incorporate into my weekly meal planning. These are ones that I have adapted based on my families favorite foods preferences.

• Pizza Friday-We recently have begun with a weekly ritual of having pizza on Fridays. The hubby LOVES his pizza, so we have made it a habit:-) But because pizza delivery can be quite expensive on a weekly basis, we make our own! Occasionally we will switch it up and order a pizza if I have a good coupon, but we enjoy the homemade pizza just as much!
  

• Muffin Monday-Making muffins on Monday have become a habit for us as well because they are an easy "go to" breakfast meal in the mornings. The hubby has recently lost a lot of weight and muffins are a good low-fast breakfast he enjoys! He is usually "on the go" in the mornings, so I try to have something ready for him to grab and go! I just make up a batch on Mondays and they last through the week!
  

• Friday/Saturday Morning Breakfast-Since the hubby is off most Fridays and Saturdays it's always a nice treat to plan a breakfast for one of those days. Its a fun time for us to hang out in the kitchen as a family and cook and then enjoy breakfast together since the weekdays are so busy in the mornings.

• Weekly Dessert-If you know me, you know I LOVE to bake! I am ALWAYS looking for new and exciting dessert recipes and of course when I find them, I HAVE to make them:-) I seriously can hear the recipes calling my name:-) But since I have to keep the "figure" in mind, I usually only try to make one new dessert each week. Now, don't get me wrong, I eat other "treats' during the week, I just try and stick to baking only one new dessert each week.
  

I hope these categories help you in your journey with meal planning and I hope they make the planning as simple as they have made it for me!