Life can get so hectic with working full time and raising children.  I try to make things as easy as possible. One of the things I do that has worked for my family over the past 10 or so years is meal planning.  I try to keep my meal planning process as simple as possible.  Here are the steps I do to make sure my meals are quick and easy.

1.  On Friday or Saturday, I create a menu for the upcoming week.  I use photos of previous meals, old menus, and new menus from Pinterest or other websites to get ideas of what to cook.
2. I make a grocery list for the items I need for my chosen weekday meals.
3. I survey my pantry and fridge before I got to the store to see what items I already have to complete my meals each week.  Anything I already have, I cross off my grocery list.
4. I go shopping.

It’s that simple.  Now, each day I know exactly what I’m cooking and the ingredients are already at my house.  No need to run to the store multiple times.