Not a meal planner? Try this

Now that Fall sports and school have officially begun, our lives just became a new sort of complicated, which means planning for dinner is a must!

I don't know about you, but I am not a meal planner. There's many benefits to it, but it's just not for me.

Instead, we take a more relaxed approach to meal planning. We don't pencil out the details of each day's meal, but we do still make a rough plan.

Here's how I do it:

At the start of every week, I pull a variety of meats from the freezer and set them into a glass bowl (or raised pan) in our fridge to thaw.

I usually pick about 4-5 items at a time:

• A ground meat (power grind, beef, lamb, sausage)
• Some type of chicken or turkey cut
• A few different breakfast meats (links, bacon, ham)
• And a quick cooking cut like steak or chops

If there's a day in the week that I know we'll be extra busy, I pull something for the slow cooker, too. Either a roast, ribs, or even a whole chicken that I can set on low in the morning and come back to dinner already made later that night.

How Much to Make:

Now, every family is different in regards to how much meat they eat. You should only pull as much meat as you think you'll eat within 5 days. Remember, you can always thaw more, later!

How much meat per meal will differ, too. With teenagers and growing kids, we almost always cook 2 pounds of meat for dinner to make sure everyone gets their fill after a hard day's work.

And of course, having a little bit of leftovers is always nice, too.

Keep It Simple, and Delicious:

With a thawing supply of meats in your fridge, making plans for dinner becomes easier. 

Instead of staring into a vast freezer with endless options, you have just a few items to choose from that are thawed and ready to cook.

To further simplify meal planning, we have a few "routine meals" in the week that we know to plan for.

For example, we always have power grind ground beef on Wednesdays to ensure we're getting some liver in our diet. It's so versatile that we can make anything with it: tacos, burgers, spaghetti, sloppy joe, etc.....

When it's a busy day and we want to keep dinner simple, but tasty, I go to the quick cooking steaks or chops. I fry them up, serve them with salad or some steamed veggies, and some fruit, rice, or whatever we have, and we're set!

If there's a special meal I know I want to make, or something that takes a little more time, I plan for that, too, and make sure I've got the special ingredients I need for it.

Most of our meals are chopped veggies, tasty meats, and healthy fats thrown in a skillet together with a bit of seasoning. They're delicious, simple, and inspired by what we already have in our fridge!

Finding Inspiration When You Don't Know What to Make:

I've also found a great trick for gaining some inspiration if you don't know what to make, is to search the internet for the items you do have....pork chops, apples, rice....and let the recipe suggestions guide you to making a great meal for you and your family!

Having a steady supply of food items you routinely use (sauces, salsa, rice, noodles, beans, carrots, salad, etc.) is key to making dinner plans simpler and more budget friendly.

Pick Your Perfect Freezer Restock:

To help simplify your freezer stocking, we offer pre-assembled bundles, varying in size, that feature an array of family favorite cuts to make meal planning easy.

They also come at a discounted price and ship free to your door!

The Best of the Farm Box and the Beef Sampler Box are our top 2 selling value boxes, but our seasonal boxes (like the Summer Savings Box) are customer favorites, as well, because they're specially designed to have the season's best cuts (like BBQ favorites in Summer and comfort foods in the Fall).

Of course, now with the release of our NEW Subscribe and Save model, you can build your own box with your family's favorite staples to keep your freezer stocked at your preferred frequency and save 5% on your order every time*.

Start Simplifying Your Life:

Our Very Best of Bundles collection and new Subscribe and Save are the best ways to make meal times simpler and more budget friendly, as the busy season starts back up again.

As always, feel free to reply with any questions you have. If you have meal planning tips you'd like to share, please do! We'd love to hear them. :)

Thank you!

*Subscribe and save only available to home delivery customers at this time.