Any mothers into meal planning???

I am!

I don't use any websites to help with it, other than just writing down in a notebook what the meals will be that week. I have to plan for 2 adults and a toddler, and she eats usually what we eat. I always have a few "emergency" foods on hand in case she refuses to eat what we are eating, or it's not something she can eat.

I love to cook, so I don't mind the time it takes to cook a lot. I use Saturdays to prep for veggie broth (if I need to make any), make bread (2 loaves for the week), and those kind of bigger ventures. Saturday I also plan the meals for Monday-Sunday night for the next week.

First I think of what we should eat for lunch. We usually eat the same thing for lunch all week, and the sides vary. For instance the past week we ate subs (organic deli meat, cheese, veggies) with a side of either rice cakes, almonds, dried edamames, or leftover butternut squash soup.

Then I think of what we should eat for dinner. I use Pinterest for some inspiration, but because I like the Mediterranean diet/cuisine, I do some research on authentic Mediterranean (Spanish, French, Middle Eastern, Italian, etc) cuisine. Usually two recipes will yield us not just 2 dinners, but leftovers for 2-3 more days as well.

I usually buy a frozen Amy's pizza, or a Naan pizza just in case a recipe goes horribly wrong or I didn't have the time to cook that day.

We always buy a bunch of bananas and about 5-7 pieces of a certain fruit -- which I switch seasonally.

Allrecipes.com is a great website with lots of recipes. I prefer, for dieting, skinnytaste.com. VERY healthy and inspirational!

I make up a meal plan along with the grocery list as well. I usually buy foods know we eat regularly that are either canned or can be frozen (meats, pasta, canned tomatoes, frozen veggies, etc.) when they are on sale, and then plan out a weekly menu based on what fresh produce is on sale (or seafood, which I don't like to freeze).

I use allrecipes a lot for recipe ideas. I've been using Pinterest a lot lately too. Other websites I love -- Kaylyn's Kitchen (South Beach Recipes), eatingwell.com, and skinnytaste.com. There are quite a few once a month menu planning sites out there too.

I usually plan suppers and do leftovers for lunch, or cook up extra chicken and make a salad. (Ds often opts for peanut butter). I also buy lots of snack food (fruit and 2% cheese/cheese sticks are favorites around here). I try to keep ingredients for a few staple meals on hand too, even if they aren't as nutritious as I'd like (thinking of frozen ravioli and jarred spaghetti sauce here... but still cheaper and healthier than eating out!).

Try Onceamonthmom.com. They just converted to a membership site, but you can get all of their meal plans from 2011 and prior for free. Really a great, informative help for meal planning, all the way down to spreadsheets you can use.

I make a "Dinners for the Week" sheet that I hang on the fridge. I make that list based on what is on sale that week. My kids are older so they do their own breakfast/lunch thing (2 are away at college, the 24 year old is home)