Meal Planning When You Have no time

There is this song that the lovley, singing vegetabls of VeggieTales sing. Well, a lot of people have sung it, it's called "Oil in My Lamp." But in the VeggieTales version they sing "give me umption in my gumption so I can function, function, function..."

Ever felt like that? Like you need some umption in your gumption to function? I know I do... a lot. 

But one way I feel more "functional" is to plan our weekly menus. Don't get me wrong, I think the practice is boring and I often feel like I am just making the same thing over and over. But I'm not. 

Here are some tips to meal planning when you have zero time. 

1. Have a theme: I know that each Friday night we have pizza and a fresh fruit salad. Now sometimes that is a pizza I make myself (crust, sauce, cheese toppings. Take no time.) and sometimes it is a pizza I got at Publix with a coupon while it was on sale. 

But I know I can skip over planning that day because it is already set. 

You could do the same thing with a meatless Monday or Taco Tuesday. You get the idea. 

2. Plan to have leftovers: We're pretty good about eating leftovers for lunches, but we still have quite a bit leftover. So on weekends that's what we eat for a few meals. We will have a buffet of leftovers for lunch Saturday. 

Also, I love cooking a whole chicken or roast and then making 2-3 meals out of that. 

3. Pull from your freezer: If you are like me and you make two casseroles and stick one in the freezer, pull from there during a week when you are strapped for time or creativity. 

Click here for my free freezer inventory printable. 

Are you on a tight budget? Here are some tips for meal planning when you are low on cash.