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Are you looking for a way to make your weekly meal planning easier?
Check out our printable weekly meal planner template with snacks!
This template includes a grocery list and a menu plan so you can easily plan out your meals for the week.
Plus, it also includes a section for snacks so you can make sure you have everything on hand when those cravings hit.
What is Meal Planning and Why is it Important?
Meal planning is the process of deciding what to eat in advance. This can be done for a week at a time, or even longer if you want to make things easier on yourself.
Some of the main benefits of meal planning include:
Losing Weight
For people who are trying to lose weight, meal planning can be a useful tool. It allows you to control your portions and make healthier choices overall. If you know you have a healthy meal already planned for dinner, you’re less likely to snack on unhealthy foods during the day or cave in and order a takeaway.
Snacking can be one of the biggest temptations when you’re trying to lose weight. It’s easy to veer off track when you get a sudden craving for something sweet or salty. However, if you plan your meals and grocery shopping in advance, you’ll be less likely to give in to temptation. You’ll know exactly what snacks you can eat each day, and you can make sure they’re healthy foods that won’t ruin your weight loss plans. In addition, planning ahead can help you stick to your calorie intake goals. If you know what you’re going to eat ahead of time, you’ll be less likely to indulge in excess calories. So if you’re serious about losing weight, planning is essential.
Less Stress
Meal planning can help reduce stress. If you know what you’re going to eat ahead of time, you don’t have to worry about coming home to an empty fridge and trying to figure out what to make for dinner. This can be especially helpful if you have a busy lifestyle. Planning ahead takes the guesswork out of meal time, so you can relax and enjoy your food without having to worry about what’s for dinner at the last minute.
Saving Money
Another benefit of meal planning is that it can help you save money. When you plan your meals, you can make sure you’re using all the ingredients you buy. This prevents food waste and saves you money on your grocery bill. In addition, meal planning can help you avoid eating out as often. Eating out is usually more expensive than cooking at home, so by meal planning, you can save yourself some money.
If you’re looking to save time, money, and stress, then meal planning is for you. And our printable weekly meal planner template with snacks can help make the process easier. So why not give it a try? You might be surprised at how much easier your week becomes.
Planning for Special Dietary Requirements
If you or a family member has special dietary requirements, meal planning can be a helpful way to make sure everyone’s needs are met. It can be difficult to find recipes that accommodate all restrictions, but with a little creativity, it is possible. For example, if you’re cooking for someone who is gluten-free, there are many gluten-free flours that can be used in place of wheat flour. There are also many recipes that are naturally gluten-free, such as rice and beans dishes, salads, and soup. With a little bit of planning, you can easily make meals that everyone can enjoy.
How Do I Make A Weekly Food Menu?
Making a weekly food menu can be a great way to help you stay on track with your eating goals, whether you’re trying to lose weight, eat healthier, or just save money. Here are a few tips for creating a successful menu:
1. Plan ahead
The best way to make sure you have healthy meals available is to plan ahead. Make a list of recipes you want to make during the week and then do your grocery shopping accordingly. This will help ensure that you have everything you need on hand and that you aren’t tempted to go out for dinner or order in instead.
2. Keep it simple
When creating your menu, try to keep it as simple as possible. Choose recipes that are easy to make and that don’t require a lot of ingredients. This will save you time in the kitchen and help you stay within your budget.
3. Make sure you have some variety
Don’t make the same thing every night for dinner. Mix it up and include a variety of different foods in your menu. This will help you avoid getting bored with your meals and ensure that you’re getting all the nutrients you need.
How Do I Start off Meal Planning?
To start off meal planning, make a list of all the meals you and your family enjoy. This can be anything from simple pasta dishes to chicken recipes. Once you have your list, try to group similar meals together so that you have a variety of options throughout the week. Making a master list of your favourite meals will help when planning your weekly menus and ensure you’re never stuck for ideas.
Reducing food waste is another key component of successful meal planning. One way to do this is by writing down exactly what you need for each recipe, and then shopping accordingly. This way, you’re less likely to buy excess ingredients that might go bad before you have a chance to use them. If you need four eggs on Monday, think of a way to use up the rest of the carton before they go off – you could make scrambled eggs for breakfast for instance.
If you like to batch cook then starting a meal planner is a great way to help you make the most of your time in the kitchen. Batch cooking is when you cook a large quantity of one dish and then portion it out into individual servings to eat throughout the week. This can be a great time saver, especially on busy weeknights. Simply cook a double batch of your chosen recipe and then store the extra portions in the freezer for another time. When you’re short on time, simply remove a portion from the freezer and heat it up. Voila – dinner is ready in no time!
With a little bit of upfront preparation, healthy and delicious home-cooked meals can be enjoyed all week long!
Creating a weekly food menu can be a great way to save time, money, and stress. And our printable weekly meal planner template with snacks can help make the process easier. So why not give it a try? You might be surprised at how much easier your week becomes.
Printable Weekly Meal Planner with Snacks and Grocery List
This printable weekly meal planner has been designed to make menu planning a breeze. Whether you are bored with the lack of variety in your diet or fed up with the last-minute dash to the shops every evening, this printable will help organise your meals and reduce the stress in your life.
Meal Planner Printable
Our printable meal planner is available to buy via Etsy.
This meal planner printable has a simple and minimalist design that’s not only easy on the eye but will help keep you organised too. It’s undated so you can start using it whenever you like, and there are spaces for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks so you can plan your meals in advance. The minimalist design also makes it fast and inexpensive to print.
Planning for special dietary requirements is simple. Either use a separate planner page or a different coloured pen to distinguish between different types of meal. For example, you could use a green pen for vegetarian dishes and a blue pen for seafood.
This printable weekly meal planner is an easy way to take the stress out of menu planning.
The shopping list printable has been designed to make shopping easier too with ready organised sections for different supermarket aisles. This makes it easier to find what you’re looking for while shopping and avoid the temptation of going off track or over budget. Print out a few copies and keep them in your kitchen or planner so you always have one on hand when you need it.
Weight loss is easy with this planner by your side. Organise your meals for the week to make sure you stay within your calorie allowance. You just have to stick to your plan!
Whatever your goal, this planner will help to reduce the stress in your life, improve your diet and reduce food waste.
The pages are also fillable using Adobe Acrobat Reader so you can type in your meal plans if you prefer.
What’s Included?
- 1 Weekly Meal Planner Printable
- 1 Shopping List Printable
The download includes separate .PDF files to print in the following paper sizes:
- A4 – 210 x 297mm / 8.3” x 11.7”
- A5 – 148 x 210mm / 5.8” x 8.3”
- US Letter – 215.9 x 279.4 mm / 8.5” x 11.0”
How to Use This Template?
To use this template, simply print out the pages you need and bind them together into a journal. Alternatively, you can keep the printables loose in a notebook.
This printable is great for busy families who want to make sure they’re eating healthy balanced meals during the week. Simply print out a copy and keep it in your kitchen so everyone knows what’s on the menu.
This meal planner is also great for college students who want to save money by cooking their own meals. This printable can help you plan your meals in advance so you know exactly what ingredients you need to buy.
Once you’re comfortable with meal planning, you can start planning for longer periods of time, such as two weeks or even a month. This can be especially helpful if you find yourself short on time or if you want to batch cook meals in advance.
How to Print this Meal Planner
These inserts have been designed to print easily on any printer. Pages have 0.5″ margins all round for no fuss hole punching. The files are clearly named so that you can easily pick and choose which pages and paper sizes to print.
Simply open the file for the paper size you would like and send to your printer as usual. Print as many copies of each template as desired. If you experience any problems with printing make sure the ‘print actual size’ setting is selected in your printer settings.
In addition to being printable, this template can also be used on your computer or tablet.
To Use on a Computer
This is a fillable PDF with editable form fields. Simply open the file on your computer or tablet, fill in the form fields using a PDF editor such as the free Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software, and save your changes. You can then print as normal from your computer if desired.
To Use on your Tablet
This template can be imported into notetaking apps like Goodnotes or Notability so you can use it digitally on your iPad or tablet. Import the file into your preferred app and duplicate as many pages as you like to create a notebook or import the template into an existing notebook or planner.
Paperback Meal Planner
In addition to our Etsy printable we also sell our paperback meal planner via Amazon.
