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Simplify dinnertime with a Capsule Pantry

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Capsule Pantry, Meal Planning · January 24, 2021

How to Meal Plan only 4 times per year

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Introducing… the Capsule Pantry™!

I had such a hard time coming up with a title for this post because it’s something completely new: a system that will allow you to spend less time in the kitchen, but also less time meal planning. So, some of the possible names were: The Meal Plan for People Who Hate to Meal Plan, A Foolproof Way for Achieving Bliss in the Kitchen (okay, that one’s a little dramatic), A Meal Plan for Minimalist Moms, or Dinner on Autopilot: How to Create a Meal Plan with a Revolving Pantry. They really all apply but the thing I thought would stand out the most to you was that, with this system, you only have to think about a meal plan every 3 months! So that’s what I went with!

(This post probably contains affiliate links. My full disclosure policy is quite boring, but you can read it here if you’d like!)

Would you have picked something different?

Either way…

This is the third post in the series How to Solve the “What’s for Dinner?” problem. Over the past few weeks we’ve talked about different ways to make sure you always have dinner on hand: Rescue Meals, Freezer Cooking, and now the Capsule Pantry™. When you add them all together, you will have a seriously solid meal plan!

You can find the rest of the series here:

  1. Creating a Dinner Backup Plan with Rescue Meals
  2. How to Solve the “What’s for Dinner” problem with Freezer Cooking
  3. How to Meal Plan Only 4 Times Per Year (part 1) – this post!
  4. The Capsule Pantry™: A Faster, Easier Way to Meal Plan (part 2)

A little backstory…

A few years ago, I was a work-at-home single mama with two boys – a teenage boy who ate me out of house and home (it is NOT a nasty rumor, mama, they really DO that!) and a little guy with food allergies. Dinner stressed me out tremendously, along with the never-ending grocery list and shopping.

I yearned for a simpler system.

I dreamed of a simple and quick dinnertime routine.

I needed to grocery shop less and be in and out of the store quicker.

I wanted to make healthy meals for my family, and get dinner on the table on time for once!

Sound familiar???

I fell in love with meal planning and making freezer meals, and I’ve been doing that for years. But the thing that still takes up so.much.time is the decision-making process of it all. I mean, there are like 8.2 ga-trillion chicken recipes on Pinterest. How’s a girl to decide???

I love to cook and I love to try new foods, but what I don’t love is being all stressed out about what to put on my meal plan…and losing my ever-loving mind over the number of decisions I have to make revolving food every day (or how many times I have to tell my small child to put the gummy bunnies down and back away!).

He can’t possibly be that hungry all the time. It’s like he’s hard wired to only ask about food all day long and I’m constantly battling the little wanna-be lawyer – they’ve got the best negotiating skills ever, right?!?

FBI hostage negotiators have nothing on a 3 year old that wants a snack.

Anyway. My point is that I am (was/will be again in about 10 minutes) so tired of thinking about food all day long.

Right now, I’m in aseason of busy and I felt the need to refine my meal planning technique even further. Relate???

So I created the simplest, easiest, meal plan and grocery list on the planet. And I’m so frickin’ excited to share it with you all!

Let me back up a sec and try to make this make sense for you. So have you heard of a capsule wardrobe? It’s all the rage right now, especially with people wanting to simplify or be more intentional. If you haven’t, it’s basically a limited wardrobe that mixes and matches with items that you absolutely love wearing and feel good in. There are rules, like only having a certain number of clothes, having multiple “capsules” for the year (usually every 3 months), and not adding anything new to your current capsule in the middle of it.

Now, I don’t always strictly stick to the rules of the capsule wardrobe – what can I say, I like to break the rules sometimes. #rebel. I do what I like to call an “intentional wardrobe” for myself and my kids and I love it. No more mate-less socks or endless loads of laundry.

Anyhoo. Back to this new meal planning system… the capsule wardrobe has helped me so much, I thought – why not make a capsule “wardrobe” but for food?!?

Stay with me here…I promise it’ll make sense.

  • Unlimited recipes that you love making and eating.
  • A certain number of ingredients in your capsule (aka your master grocery list).
  • The meal plan repeats monthly.
  • Don’t change it up until the next capsule (next season).

This eliminates the decision making process to once every three MONTHS. Not 3 days, not even 3 weeks, 3 months. That sounds like heaven.

Yes, I was totally IN.

I know what you’re thinking – eating the same thing over for 3 months is so boring. No, no, no it’s not. It revolves around YOUR favorite foods. And it rotates every 3 months, seasonally (which totally helps with your grocery budget because you’re buying what’s in season!). And remember, the ingredients may be the same but the recipes certainly don’t have to.

Do you think you could eat your favorite food once a month for 3 months and then take a break from it? Do you think you could you eat your least favorite food once every 28 meals and not go crazy? I think you could.

Just like a capsule wardrobe, your Capsule Pantry has core ingredients (protein, grains, produce, etc.) and accessories (seasonal vegetables, a special treat, something new you want to try, etc.) and things that won’t “count” (like spices, oil, broth, and water).

Ok, let’s get down to business. Print out your free Capsule Pantry™ Success Kit and I’m going to show you how to create your super-simple meal plan!

FREE Capsule Pantry meal planning kit

PLAN

GATHER RECIPES

  • Family favorites.
  • Easy recipes that you don’t consider “recipes” – think spaghetti, burgers, grilled chicken and veggies, tacos or fajitas.
  • Some dinners you’ve made in the past few weeks.

BUILD YOUR FOUNDATIONS

Write the meal ideas all out on the left side of a piece of paper and the ingredients on the right side. When you come across a recipe or meal that uses the same ingredient, just put a hash mark next to the ingredient.

The ingredients that repeat and have at least a few hash marks next to them are your foundations.

This is when some recipes get the cut. If they don’t use any repeating ingredients or they’re not in season right now, take them out. You can always put them in next season’s capsule if you miss them!

ADD ACCESSORIES

  • Ingredients that don’t repeat but they’re for a recipe you just LOVE (kinda like that one dress you feel great in!)
  • Seasonal produce
  • Specialty ingredients

You can find an updated version of this Capsule Pantry planner in the Freebie Library.

CREATE

MASTER MEAL PLAN

Let’s stick with the number 35 (5 weeks x 7 days makes it easy to repeat).

Consult your calendar for any evenings you are repeatedly not home, need a quick dinner (crockpot!), or anything else that affects your weekly dinner routine. Like if your daughter has soccer practice every Tuesday night or you get home late from work on Thursdays (let’s think repeating events for the next approximate 3 months though, not single appointments).

You could even add themes here like Meatless Monday or Crockpot Tuesday – but only if it’ll make planning easier – not harder! Go read this post if you need theme night ideas!

IMPLEMENT

Yay, the hard part is done! Now what? Time to execute! You could do any of these things to help finalize your brand-spankin’-new meal plan:

1. Copy the recipes from the first week of your master list to a weekly meal plan and put on the fridge.

2. Laminate (or put in a page protector) the master list and write the dates of the month over it.

3. Take a picture so you have a record of your new plan.

Re-write the ingredients into a master grocery list so you always have a set grocery list!

Don’t forget breakfast, lunch, and snacks. They may not be part of your dinner meal plan but if you repeatedly eat the same things, they can go on the master grocery list and make your life easier.

If you’ve been following along the past few weeks, we first talked about making a Rescue Meal Plan – dinners you always kept on hand in an emergency – and then we talked about how to create Crockpot Freezer Meals. Now, we just introduced a new way to meal plan that will tie in all the steps so you can save your sanity in the kitchen and not spend all your time planning dinner.

Which meals from your Rescue Meals list or your Crockpot Freezer Meals list could you put on your Capsule Pantry™ plan? Or you could always leave those as bonus meals, for those inevitable times you’ll need a backup!

 

Oh, and as for grocery shopping, I tell you exactly what my shopping strategies are in the next post (#4 in the green box above!).

Are you ready to stop scrambling for dinner every night and know exactly what’s going on the table? Download your Capsule Pantry Success Kit and get crackin’!
FREE Capsule Pantry meal planning kit

In: Capsule Pantry, Meal Planning

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Comments

  1. Seana Turner says

    June 19, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    This is a very interesting idea. I think it could be very helpful for families for whom time is at a premium. I will share this out and see what reaction I get – very thorough!

    Reply
    • mpblueprints says

      June 19, 2017 at 2:57 pm

      Thanks so much Seana!

      Reply
  2. Janet Barclay says

    June 19, 2017 at 3:27 pm

    I love this idea! There are a few meals we happily eat nearly every week, so this would be pretty easy to do!

    Reply
  3. Jill Robson says

    July 17, 2017 at 11:46 am

    Very interesting, i also hate the “deciding” part of meal planning, which i have done for many years, but i am definitely going to try your method.

    Reply
    • mpblueprints says

      July 17, 2017 at 9:28 pm

      Decision fatigue is so real! I hope you try it, let me know how it works out!

      Reply
  4. Linda Samuels says

    July 17, 2017 at 7:46 pm

    Anything that takes the stress out of meal planning and prep is a winner! And your enthusiasm for the Capsule Pantry is jumping off the page. Bravo for thinking it up.

    We keep things quite simple around here and don’t exactly plan each meal, but we do have the basic ingredients so that meals can easily be assembled and prepared. For me the biggest change has been making sure that I have enough ingredients and that I have things cut up (especially the vegetables) in advance so that I can quickly make a salad with some protein.

    Reply
    • mpblueprints says

      July 17, 2017 at 9:29 pm

      Thank you Linda! I love simple and I definitely love prepping things ahead of time. I always had to do it as soon as I got home from the store, otherwise it never got done 😉

      Reply

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I could tell you so many things about this girl... I could tell you so many things about this girl... 
...my BFF Cara @apurposedrivenmom 
...but I want to focus on how she KILLS it at going after her goals. And loves teaching other busy mamas to do the same. 
She helped me map out an action plan for my goals on Saturday and wow, guys. Just wow. 
So I asked her if she would help my audience with their goal setting for the new year...
...and she agreed! 
Join both of us this Thursday (LIVE!) for “How to Take MASSIVE ACTION on your Goals (without burnout or overwhelm)”.
Sound like something you want to chat about with us?!? Link is in my bio (just click this picture of Cara and I!).
Who else hates throwing away lots of un-eaten prod Who else hates throwing away lots of un-eaten produce at the end of the week as much as I do? 
Focus on an ingredient-based meal plan instead of the other way around. That's what the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar does. Here's this week's meal plan...
🍕🌮 🍔 
‣‣‣Monday: Dinner Blueprint # 51 (A4+B1+C3)
Homemade Pizza Dough & Pizza Sauce (two recipes)
‣‣‣Tuesday: Dinner Blueprint # 33 (A3+B1+C1)
Blackened Tilapia Tacos
‣‣‣Wednesday: Dinner Blueprint # 10 (A1+B3+C2)
Crispy Lemon Chicken & Veggies
‣‣‣Thursday: Dinner Blueprint # 5 (A1+B2+C1)
Santa Fe Double Chicken
‣‣‣Friday: Dinner Blueprint # 40 (A3+B2+C4)
Baked Fish Sticks (+ leftover veggies or salad)
‣‣‣Saturday: Dinner Blueprint # 13 (A1+B4+C1)
Santa Fe Double Chicken Soup (just add a carton of chicken broth to leftovers to make soup)
‣‣‣Sunday: Dinner Blueprint # 3 (A1+B1+C3)
Chicken Parmesan w/Pasta
🍕 
If you're following along on the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, these are the same Dinner Blueprint #’s for each day. You can use the blueprint to come up with your own dinner idea, or use the linked example recipe.
🌮 
If you don’t own the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, you can purchase it by clicking my link in bio or if you're seeing this on Facebook, click here:
https://mpb.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1065589/?action=signup
🍉🥬Tell me... what fruit or veggie do you always end up throwing away? (watermelon and fresh spinach here!)
I don't know about you, but I can waste time like I don't know about you, but I can waste time like a CHAMP. Like re-drying the same load of laundry 3 times or scrolling IG like a zombie in bed.
Anyone else?
But I don't like it. 
And I definitely try to be more intentional on the things that give me more time back than what I spent on it. 
Meal planning is one of those things. Spend ONE hour a month meal planning, and you'll gain so many more hours each day (and *bonus* - it's during that dreaded pre-dinner time when the kids are maniacs!)

P.S. Please stop weekly meal planning. That doesn't actually save you time. (you can watch the ✨free training✨ in my link in bio if you want to know how often I suggest!)
Tell me...what would you do with an extra 30 mins each day?
New Month...new meal plan! Take an hour and make a New Month...new meal plan!
Take an hour and make an easy, monthly meal plan that focuses on the ingredients you eat and love - not one that tells you what to make (and then you have to go grocery shopping to get everything!) 
That's a backwards-based meal plan, friend.
Here's a sneak peek at my method:
Make a quick grid of 3 rows and 4 columns.
3 rows: A, B, C
A - main ingredient
B - side dish
C - flavor profile
4 columns: 1, 2, 3,4
Assign each space an ingredient and then mix and match... 
Here is each "formula of the day" for the rest of the week (since Jan 1st lands mid-week). Straight outta the January meal plan from the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar... 
🍕🌮 🍔 
‣‣‣Friday: Dinner Blueprint # 36 (A3+B1+C4)
Parmesan Crusted Tilapia w/butter pasta
‣‣‣Saturday: Dinner Blueprint # 14 (A1+B4+C2)
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
‣‣‣Sunday: Dinner Blueprint # 23 (A2+B2+C4)
Italian Stuffed Peppers
🍕 
If you're following along on the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, these are the same Dinner Blueprint #’s for each day. You can use the blueprint to come up with your own dinner idea, or use the linked example recipe.
🌮 
If you don’t own the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, you can purchase it by clicking my link in bio or if you're seeing this on Facebook, click here:
https://mpb.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1065589/?action=signup
🍔 Tell me... what's on your meal plan this week?
The 9-gazillion chicken recipes on Pinterest overw The 9-gazillion chicken recipes on Pinterest overwhelms me.
You too?
One of the many reasons I love chicken is because it's just so versatile. I mean, it cooks quick and there's sooooo many options out there. Just search "chicken recipes" and you'll come up with tens of thousands. 
(I'm looking at you again, Pinterest...). 
These are way too many options for me, so I created a simple mix and match method to come up with new dinner ideas.
✔️ limited ingredients means I'm not overwhelmed 
✔️ starts with flavors my family already loves to eat
✔️ less options means I can get dinner on the table quicker instead of staring into the fridge hoping dinner will just jump out at me!
Here's a few of these ideas on my meal plan (right outta my Annual Meal Planning calendar...).
What's your family's favorite chicken recipe?
My cup is so full! I just finished working on rele My cup is so full! I just finished working on releasing my new podcast and I’m sooooo excited to share it with you. What I’m even more ecstatic about is for you to learn how to focus on the most important things (for YOUR family!).
The latest episode is jam-packed with the exact steps you can use right away to meal plan only 4 times per year. Click the link in my profile @mealplanningblueprints and click the Podcast button to listen on iTunes. I can’t wait to hear what you think!
Hey beautiful new faces! If you were here in pers Hey beautiful new faces!  If you were here in person I'd sit and chat with you at the kitchen counter and offer you a cup of coffee (peppermint mocha or caramel vanilla cream?). 
☕️
But since we can't do that, I thought I'd introduce myself...
I'm a NYer that just moved to NC. I say "ya know" a lot and sometimes get teased for my accent - especially for "dawg" and "cawfee". 🤷🏻‍♀️😂 
3 things I love: 
💛 I love being a mama. Swipe to see my two cuties - one big, one little. I've always done this parenting thing solo, and I believe single parenting can be a blessing and have so many perks! 
💚 I love being minimal-ish but I can't have enough fun colored pens and pretty notebooks. Oh, and books. Wayyyy too many books.
💙 I love finding simple and efficient ways to do things. I need all the time I can possibly get so I'm always looking for ways to make my life easier! (truth: sometimes I spend more time looking for new ways to do something than doing it in the first place 😂).
And that's my approach to meal planning too. 
I sign off my emails with "keepin' meal planning simple" - I believe less is more because I don't have time for complicated meal plans or even sitting down every Sunday to do it (and I know you don't either!).⁣
✨
You might find some unconventional ideas here.⁣
You might find some refreshing honesty or tough love.⁣
But it's all to help you create a simple, minimal, intentional life you love 💚⁣
✨⁣
So, welcome! If we were sharing some coffee in my kitchen, what are 3 things you'd tell me about you?
Throw back to the time I forgot an ingredient for Throw back to the time I forgot an ingredient for dinner and needed to go the store AGAIN and I didn’t realize just how sick he was until that moment he fell asleep in a Walmart shopping cart.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And this picture totally gives me #momguilt for taking my sick baby to the store, and it reminds me of how my weeks used to be...⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
​⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Day 1 - grocery shop. But boy was that tiring, so I gave the kiddo a sandwich for dinner (or ordered pizza 😉).⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Day 2 - go to make Dinner 1 on the meal plan, but I forgot an ingredient. Shoot. Served mac & cheese and an applesauce packet, I snacked on crackers and a cheese stick. Plan on going to the grocery store tomorrow to get missing ingredient so I can make Dinner 1.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Day 3 - forgot to go to the grocery store, but I defrosted spaghetti sauce and made spaghetti. “It’s okay, I’ll pull it together tomorrow”. *Wrote “stop at the store” on a post-it note.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Day 4 - Remembered to go to the grocery store (yay!). Made the Dinner 1. Everyone hated it and didn’t eat it so I just about threw a yogurt and a banana across the table and called it “dinner”.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Day 5 - Done with trying to meal plan. Exhausted.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And just like that, I’m frustrated and blame meal planning as the problem. And gave up.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Can you relate?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I’d bet my PSL that you identify with some part of that - and whatever “IT” is, it just keeps repeating itself over and over.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Maybe it’s not forgetting an ingredient…⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Maybe it’s a crazy busy schedule that changes...⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Maybe it’s just being exhausted at the end of the day…⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Maybe it’s looking a full fridge and pantry and just having NO idea what to make…⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I’ve been there too and I know you’re expecting me to say that a solid meal plan is the answer. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
But a meal plan is NOT the answer... (cont’d in comments)
Simplicity is the name of the game. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I don't extreme coupon.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I don't buy every ingredient on the planet.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I don't meal plan every week.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
But...⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I do use coupons intentionally.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I do make sure we try new foods and have variety.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I do utilize a Capsule Pantry.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And most importantly...⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I do give myself grace if the plan doesn't work out.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Keep it simple. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#mealplanningmadeeasy #mealplans #mealplanner #menuplanning #menuboard #monthlymealplanning #mealprepsunday #dinnerideas #healthydinnerideas #newmomlife #workingmomlife #dinnerathome #dinnertonight #mealplanningtips #mealplanningblueprints #organizedpantry #capsulepantry #minimalistkitchen #livewithless #konmari #zerowastefood #simpleliving #simpledinner #minimalistlifestyle #slowliving #habitandhome #ohheymama #livesimple #seeksimplicity #honestmotherhood
These two. Who made me a mother. So grateful! Happ These two. Who made me a mother. So grateful!
Happy Mother’s Day!
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