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I was recently approached by Oscar-Mayer to participate in an online campaign geared toward busy moms. As a busy mom myself (what mom isn’t a “busy mom?”) I was excited about the opportunity, though clearly this was only going to make me more busy.

As part of this campaign, I was asked to offer some tips to make life a little less busy and hectic. One of my favorite ways to maintain my sanity is to create a meal plan each week. This has saved me so many times by keeping me from asking “What’s for dinner?” and ordering a pizza on any given night of the week.

One of my fellow mom bloggers, Andrea at Mommy Snacks, is SO good at meal planning and posts her menu plans for the week. Carrie at Carrie’s Cooking even has a series of blog posts to get you started with meal planning. Or check out the Recipe Index at $5 Dinners. As a bonus, all of the recipes cost $5 or less for a family of four – not per person!

I just have three guidelines for weekly meal planning, and here they are.

1) Do it Every Week. Choose the same day every week to sit down to lay out the meals for the week in advance of your grocery trip. Once you get into the routine it will be easier to do and maintain week after week.

2) Save Money with Meals Built Around Sale Items. If chicken breast is on sale then look for recipes with chicken. The same goes for if you have a bunch of ground beef in the freezer. Use what you have in the week’s meals to save money and make it easy for you.

3) Keep it Simple. I strive to put dinner on the table in 40 minutes or less from start to finish. I just don’t have time to fool around with fancy recipes. I have three kids and we need to eat, clean up, get baths and relax all before 7:30 or 8 p.m.

I know lots of moms who read my blog create weekly meal plans. I’d love to hear your tips and tricks for success.

I was recently approached by Oscar-Mayer to participate in an online campaign geared toward busy moms. As a busy mom myself (what mom isn’t a “busy mom?”) I was excited about the opportunity, though clearly this was only going to make me more busy.

As part of this campaign, I was asked to offer some tips to make life a little less busy and hectic. One of my favorite ways to maintain my sanity is to create a meal plan each week. This has saved me so many times by keeping me from asking “What’s for dinner?” and ordering a pizza on any given night of the week.

One of my fellow mom bloggers, Andrea at Mommy Snacks, is SO good at meal planning and posts her menu plans for the week. Carrie at Carrie’s Cooking even has a series of blog posts to get you started with meal planning. Or check out the Recipe Index at $5 Dinners. As a bonus, all of the recipes cost $5 or less for a family of four – not per person!

I just have three guidelines for weekly meal planning, and here they are.

1) Do it Every Week. Choose the same day every week to sit down to lay out the meals for the week in advance of your grocery trip. Once you get into the routine it will be easier to do and maintain week after week.

2) Save Money with Meals Built Around Sale Items. If chicken breast is on sale then look for recipes with chicken. The same goes for if you have a bunch of ground beef in the freezer. Use what you have in the week’s meals to save money and make it easy for you.

3) Keep it Simple. I strive to put dinner on the table in 40 minutes or less from start to finish. I just don’t have time to fool around with fancy recipes. I have three kids and we need to eat, clean up, get baths and relax all before 7:30 or 8 p.m.

I know lots of moms who read my blog create weekly meal plans. I’d love to hear your tips and tricks for success.