Housewife's Household Hacks! Learn How to Utilize a Weekly Meal Planner＊

How do you decide your daily meals?

During my single days, I could decide my daily meals based on my mood...

But once I got married and took on the cooking role, it wasn't that easy.

I want to avoid menu monotony, but it’s difficult to spend time every weekday thinking about the menu from scratch and going shopping...

Many new wives may be struggling with meal planning every day.

It seems there is something called a "meal planning notebook"!

A major concern for housewives is the daily meal planning.

I wondered how everyone decides their menus, so I researched and found something called a "meal planning notebook"!

As the name suggests, a meal planning notebook is a notebook where you record your meal plans.

At the beginning of the week, you think of all the menus for the week and write them in the meal planning notebook, then follow that menu daily.

What are the benefits of using a meal planning notebook?

It's already busy every day, so wouldn’t creating a new notebook for meal management just add to the tasks?

If you’re thinking this way.

Indeed, the task of maintaining a "meal planning notebook" increases, but it greatly reduces the invisible mental burden.

By determining all the weekday menus on weekends in your meal planning notebook,

when the evening approaches each day,

you no longer have to blearily consider,

"What should I make today..."

"Is the main dish meat or fish? What was it yesterday?"

"Do I still have any onions left?"

You can happily start cooking immediately after getting home! ◎

Since the menu is already decided, shopping can just be done once a week.

By purchasing a week's worth of ingredients at once, you eliminate the hassle of stopping by the supermarket every day.

This should make household budgeting easier as well!

After deciding the menu in the meal planning notebook on the weekend, you can shop all at once. Once you get used to it, it seems you can finish within 1 to 2 hours.

It should also reduce wasting leftover ingredients.

I want to see the meal planning notebooks of others!

The time-saving technique devised by busy housewives, the meal planning notebook.

You must be curious about the contents of experienced housewives' meal planning notebooks...!

Here are some people who are skillfully utilizing meal planning notebooks.

This person uses a calendar from Flying Tiger as their meal planning notebook.

They color-code "Japanese", "Western", and "Chinese" and enclose the main ingredients in circles, resulting in a week's menu with no repetitions.

They actively incorporate ingredients that keep the liver healthy, showcasing their high skill as housewives...!

This person uses the monthly page of a schedule planner as a meal planning notebook.

They noticed that the menu for the 10th coincided with their child’s school lunch, and hurriedly swapped it with the main dish for the 11th.

If they have children in the future, they will need to consider the combinations with school lunches.

It seems that the difficulty of meal planning will increase...!

But being able to switch things up like this is definitely an advantage of the meal planning notebook.

Since they are buying vegetables in bulk, they shouldn't have to hurry.

Some people manage their weekly menu using sticky notes for menus and ingredients.

It seems that the dinner-in-charge boyfriend came up with this method so he wouldn't get stuck on the menu.

By combining the main dish, miso soup's ingredients, and salad, the meal is completed.

It's a simple idea, so even beginners in cooking can likely replicate it. ♡

Some manage both breakfast and dinner menus.

It seems they draw out meal ideas on the right page, then sort them into the weekly page on the left.

The presence of words like "frozen gyoza" and "leftovers" makes it feel relatable.

It’s unrealistic to have elaborate menus every week. Even when using a meal planning notebook, you want to plan in a way that’s manageable.

Why not start a meal planning notebook yourself?

A meal planning notebook allows you to decide the week's menu in advance and write it down.

If you’re troubled by daily cooking menus, why not give it a try?

From observing the posts of experienced individuals, many seemed to enjoy their weekend meal planning notebook time! ♡

The approach of transforming tedious housework into something enjoyable is something to learn from as a fellow housewife!

I hope to incorporate a meal planning notebook and enjoy married life even more! ♡