Today I’m going to show you how I meal plan for the week, clean out my fridge, get groceries and do a little bit of food prep, all in video form! You’ll get a deep dive into the nitty-gritty of how I get this part of my week done. Watch the video for some recipe inspiration along with motivation to prep your fridge and food for the week!
Fridge clean out
I don’t do a fridge clean out every single week or when I go to meal plan. But my fridge was starting to look a little messy, super disorganized, and as you’ll see in the video, it’s a bit broken too. It forms massive ice blocks every few weeks, and it was time to get rid of it!
To start my fridge clean up I begin with taking everything out of the fridge. I give it a good wipe down and remove the big ice block. Then the food that is still good gets put back in, in a more organized fashion.
I can then see what I have on hand to use before I make a grocery list for the upcoming week.
Doing this helps me to waste less food, and not purchase what I already have on hand.
Meal plan with me
The next day after cleaning out my fridge, I sit down to meal plan.
I always meal plan in my Meal Planning Mamas Meal Planner, which I love! The way that it’s organized works really well in my life. I plan out our dinners, a couple of ideas for breakfast, lunch, and snacks, then I can flip to the other side and write out my grocery list (by category). There’s even a place for items to prep, which helps my brain stay organized.
Before I even start writing out any meals, I look ahead at the weather, along with what we have going on during the upcoming week.
I love taking the temperature into account when I plan out the type of meals we are going to have.
Next, I look at the upcoming week, to see what’s going on at dinner time. I know Monday-Thursday we have lots of kid sports going on, so dinner needs to be quick or made ahead.
Meal plan for the week
Monday – Dry Rubbed BBQ brisket (from Cook Once Dinner Fix)
Tuesday – Chipotle Chicken Tacos
Wednesday – Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
Thursday – Asian Chicken Chop Salad (from the October Meal Plan)
Friday/Saturday – away for the weekend
Sunday – pull from freezer Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers (from Cook Once Dinner Fix)
Grocery order
I’ve been placing online grocery orders most weeks.
I just love the simplicity of doing that at home, then picking it up.
I usually place my large grocery order for pick up, then at some point during the week I go into a grocery store to grab bananas and a few items that we end up needing. It’s been working out well for us!
In addition to grocery orders, I order from Thrive Market for healthy pantry staples at a better price.
Putting groceries away
Once my groceries are home, I unload everything onto the counter quickly. Once I can see it all, then I put it away in an organized fashion. Items that I am going to prep before I put them away stay out.
Prep with me
I typically don’t do a big amount of food prep. However, this upcoming week I wanted to feel more ahead, so I prepped more! Most of the time I prep items when I’m already in the kitchen (ex: make waffle batter for the next day when I’m making dinner).
Here’s what I prepped in advance:
- Pumpkin protein waffles (added pumpkin and pumpkin spices into the batter)
- Peanut butter pumpkin overnight oats
- Chopped kale
- Chopped cabbage
- Roasted sweet potatoes
That’s how I meal plan and prep for the week!
I hope you found this helpful for meal planning and prepping for the week. Whether you’re feeling like you need to clean out your fridge or pantry, just know that it really helps in feeling calm for the week ahead!
If you enjoyed this and want to see more videos/posts like this one, please let me know in the comments!
XO
Heather