In this planner, I take a "start where you are" approach. I'll help you build running lists of what you've got on hand and what your favourite meals are, as well as encourage you to do a weekly check in on what needs to be used up before it goes bad.

I don't provide any menus, as I have always found that other people's plans do not work for my life. What I do provide is space for you to build lists so that you don't have to remember what you enjoy eating. I don't know why that is so hard, but for some of us, it is. And then we get stuck in ruts.

How to prevent that 4:30 pm panicky feeling...

1. Keep track of what's in your house (pantry, freezer, and longer-term fridge contents
2. Keep lists of meals that you like to make, meals you want to make, and family favourites
3. Each week, look at what still needs to get used up in your fridge (previous leftovers, veggies you have too much of, things that are going to go stale)
4. Check your calendar for special events, days that only part of the family is going to be home, days with guests... include that information on your plan.
5. Only now, you make a list of dinners you're going to make that week. Pick things that are appropriate for the amount of time you have available. Things you like. Things on your list.
6. Pick up the groceries to fill in the gaps (and restock your pantry if necessary).
7. Each day, you should be able to pick one of the remaining meals from the list and be confident that you have everything you need.
8. If you make something new and you think, "Hey, I should make that again," add it to the list of dinners.
9. Rinse and repeat.

This approach moves the hard part of decision making to your down time, reducing the weekly "planning" task to choosing from a list of options... Options you selected in the first place, not idealized menus that require you to use a cookbook every night. Who has time to use a cookbook every night?!?

Also, my daughter laughed in all the right places during the intro and instructions, so you should probably buy it and find out why.

Available for purchase on Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085DQXFQH

And Amazon.ca: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B085DQXFQH

A note: I provide space in the planner for five main dishes, since I found that if I planned seven meals for a week, we wound up with too many leftovers and things went bad. There is extra space on the page if you really want to have all seven meals planned.