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I used to think meal planning was kind of silly. Then I had two kids, and figuring out dinner every single night turned into a real hassle. It was time-consuming, and we ended up making the same boring meals over and over. So I started to meal plan and never looked back. Now with four kids, here’s my weekly routine for planning our meals and ordering our groceries.

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Sunday night planning on the couch

On Sundays, after the kids go to bed, I sit down on the couch with my husband. We turn on an old repeat of The Office or Parks and Rec that we’ve seen a thousand times, and I plan what we’re going to eat for dinner that week.

I use the Evernote app for all kinds of notes and lists because it syncs between your phone and your computer. I like it better than writing things down on paper, because I end up with a running list I can scroll through and pull ideas from. Copy and paste is my friend here.

I go through different seasons in how I meal plan. I used to look up new recipes on Pinterest every week, but that got very time-consuming and sometimes a little costly. Right now I’m in a pretty lazy but frugal season, and that’s good.

Three dinners, plus leftovers

Here’s what a typical week of dinners looks like for us:

• Three meals we cook that we don’t mind eating as leftovers the next night
• Pizza one night. Sometimes frozen, sometimes picked up hot and ready
• Fast food occasionally. It’s nice when the kids can go play in the play place, or when we’re in a hurry on the way to soccer practice

Honestly, we prefer to eat at home or at a friend’s house.

I used to try not to repeat recipes every week and only have one leftover night. But it is so nice not to cook every single night, and eating all our leftovers saves us money. We also eat that same meal for lunch the next day.

I know some of you are thinking there’s no way you could eat the same meal three times in a row. I get it, that’s kind of a lot, and it may not be for everybody. But with four kids, it’s so nice not to have to think about what I’m fixing for lunch every day of the week.

My husband’s secret weapon: the sous vide

Side note: my husband has a very handy cooking tool called a sous vide, and it has changed how we cook meat. We use it for everything except chicken. Pork tenderloin, beef roast and steak turn out super moist, tender and delicious. He usually cooks with it about once a week. Honestly, he’s a way better cook than me in general, but I feel like I’ve got to pull my weight around here.

Easy lunches the big kids make themselves

On days we’re not eating leftovers for lunch, I pick easy things my big kids can make on their own:

• Bagel Bites
• Corn dogs
• SpaghettiOs
• Sandwiches
• Canned veggies
• Steamer microwave bags of broccoli (their favorite right now)

We always keep a lot of fruit on hand too.

Simple breakfasts (because mama is lazy)

Most mornings, breakfast is easy stuff the big kids can make themselves:

• Oatmeal
• Peanut butter toast
• Raisin bread
• Frozen sausage biscuits
• Honey Bunches of Oats cereal
• Yogurt

Saturday is when we usually do chocolate chip pancakes or cinnamon rolls. That’s my favorite day.

Why I love grocery pickup

Once my meals are planned, I’m ready to place my grocery order. Goodbye to the days of carting my wild herd through the grocery store and feeling like I need a meltdown by the end of it. Dramatic, I know, but you get it.

I love grocery pickup. It’s free, and sometimes I even wear my jammies to pick up and no one is the wiser.

I never used to shop at Walmart. It stressed me out because it’s too crowded and too loud. But they seem to have the cheapest prices on most items, so I’m really glad I can shop there online now without going in the store. You can also buy a lot of non-grocery items online. Not everything they carry in the store, but a lot, and that’s really convenient.

If you want to try it, here’s my Walmart Grocery Pickup referral link.

How I place my order

1. Start the online order on Walmart’s grocery site.
2. Pick a pickup time slot.
3. Work from our shared list. We use the free OurGroceries app to add things all week. My husband and I both have it on our phones, and we can tell the Alexa in our kitchen to add things to it. It feels very space-age, but it’s actually quite convenient. I pull up the list and check off each item as I add it to my cart.
4. Review your usual items at checkout. There’s a handy page of things you normally buy, so you can scroll through and make sure you didn’t forget anything.
5. Pick up. I aim to grab our groceries every Monday morning.

What happens with substitutions

If Walmart is out of something you ordered, they’ll try to substitute it, usually with a nicer brand or a bigger size, so it often works out nicely.

Most times they email you before pickup so you can read through your substitutions. When you get there, you can tell them if there’s anything you don’t want to accept. That email also lists anything they couldn’t find a good substitute for. Those items get taken off your order, and you’re not charged for them.

That can be inconvenient, but for me the overall convenience is worth that tiny occasional risk.

Key takeaways

• Plan once a week, at a set time, and keep a running list of meals you can copy from.
• Cook three leftover-friendly dinners and eat the leftovers for dinner and lunch.
• Stock easy lunches and breakfasts older kids can make themselves.
• Use a shared grocery list app so everyone can add to it during the week.
• Grocery pickup saves you from dragging kids through the store.

What viewers say

“I feel like I gotta pull my weight around here..” 👏🏽😂love it!

@keeperofmyhome on YouTube

I'll have you and Bud over for dinner!!!

@mollycarlson6012 on YouTube

Things we mentioned

• Walmart Grocery Pickup referral link
• The sous vide we use

Want more real-life big family routines? Come hang out with our crew on YouTube. Subscribe to The Johnson Crew on YouTube.

FAQ

How many meals do you plan each week?

I plan three dinners that we don’t mind eating as leftovers the next night, plus a pizza night and the occasional fast food night.

What app do you use for meal planning?

I keep my meal plans in Evernote because it syncs between my phone and computer, and we use the free OurGroceries app for our shared grocery list.

What do your kids eat for lunch?

Leftovers from dinner, or easy things the big kids make themselves, like Bagel Bites, corn dogs, sandwiches and microwave steamer broccoli.

What happens if Walmart is out of something?

They usually substitute a nicer brand or bigger size and email you before pickup. You can decline substitutions at pickup, and you aren’t charged for items they couldn’t find.

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Full transcript

Hi guys welcome back to my channel if you're new here welcome my name is Sarah I have four kids and today we're gonna be talking about how I plan for the week and our meals and our groceries I used to really feel like meal planning was silly for some reason and then I had two kids and was like wow this is like really a hassle to think about what I'm gonna make for dinner every night and time-consuming and we ended up just making a lot of the same boring meals all the time

And that got really old so I started to meal plan and never looked back so I want to walk you through my weekly routine and how I plan for our meals for the week and then do our grocery ordering so let's jump in so on Sundays after the kids go to bed at night I sit down the couch my husband and we turn an old repeat of the office or Parks and Rec that we seen a thousand times and I plan out what we're gonna eat for dinner for the week I like to use the app Evernote for all kinds of notes

And lists because it syncs between your phone and your computer I also like doing it this way rather than writing it down because then I have a list I can easily scroll through and pull ideas from and copy and paste is my friend here I go through different seasons on how I liked a meal plan I used to look up new recipes every week on Pinterest but that became very time-consuming and a little bit costly sometimes and so right now I'm currently in a pretty lazy

But frugal season so that's good I like to plan three meals that we cook each week that we don't mind eating as leftovers the next night then we have pizza one night sometimes frozen sometimes picking it up hot and ready occasionally we do fast food it's nice to let them go play in the play place or if we're in a hurry on the way to soccer practice but honestly we prefer to just eat at home or at a friend's house side note my husband has this very handy cooking tool called the sous vide which I'll link to below you really need to check it out it has revolutionized how we cook meat everything other than chicken

But pork tenderloin beef roast stake it turns out amazing it's super moist and tender and just delicious so he likes to cook in that usually once a week honestly he's a way better cook than me just in general but I feel like I got to pull my weight around here so I used to try and not repeat recipes every week and only have one leftover night a week but it's so nice not to have to cook every single night and it saves us money eating all our leftovers we also eat that meal for lunch the next day

And I know summer you're thinking there's no way I could eat the same meal three times in a row and I get that's kind of a lot so this may not be for everybody but honestly with four kids it's so nice not to have to think about what I'm gonna fix for lunch every single day of the week now for lunches on days that we're not having leftovers I like to opt for things that are pretty easy things that my big kids can make themselves we do a lot of frozen foods Bagel Bites

And corndogs SpaghettiOs sandwiches canned veggies or this steamer microwave bags of broccoli that's like their favorite right now and then we always keep a lot of fruit on hand for breakfast most mornings we do pretty easy stuff as well that also my big kids can make themselves cuz mama is lazy oatmeal peanut butter toast raisin bread frozen sausage biscuits honey bunches of oats cereal and yogurt Saturdays is when we usually do chocolate chip pancakes or cinnamon rolls but that's my favorite day so once I have my meals planned then I'm ready to do my grocery order goodbye to the days of carting my wild herd through the grocery store

And feeling the need to have a meltdown by the end of it dramatic I know but you get it I love grocery pickup it's free I even wear my jammy sometimes to pick them up and no one is the wiser I never used to shop for groceries at Walmart it just would really stress me out it's too crowded too loud but they do seem to have the cheapest prices on most items so I'm really glad that now I can shop there just online and not have to go in the store also you can buy non grocery items online not everything that they have in the store

But a lot of things so that's really convenient I've included link below it's my personal referral link that will get you $10 off your first order and it also sends me $10 so thank you in advance if you decide to try it okay so I go to grocery dot Walmart calm to start my online order select my pickup time slot then start adding to my part the other thing we do for our grocery list is use the free our groceries app to add things to throughout the week my husband I both have the app on our phones

And we can tell the Alexa in our kitchen to add things to it which feels very space-age but it's actually quite convenient so I pull that side up online and can check each item off as I add it to my cart when you click checkout they have a handy page of your usual items that you can scroll through to be sure you didn't forget anything now if Walmart is out of what you ordered they will try to substitute it with usually the nicer brand or bigger item larger quantity

So really it works out pretty nicely most times they email you before you come to pick up your order so you can read through what your substitutions are and when you get there you can tell them if there's something that you don't want to accept that email will also list out if there was anything that they couldn't find a good substitution for they'll tell you that this item was out of stock and they've taken it off your order you're not going to get charged for it obviously

Now that can be inconvenient but the overall convenience is worth that tiny occasional risk so I aim to pick up our groceries every Monday morning and that's it hope this was helpful if you've tried another online grocery ordering system another store let me know below what you think of that and if you end up trying Walmart how you felt they compared thanks for grocery shopping with me tonight and I'll talk to you later bye