Can you relate to this scenario?

You arrive home from work, or a day out, and both you and the kids are starving. It's getting close to dinner time, and you've been wondering all day what on earth you could make for dinner, but you're not even sure what you have in your fridge. You want and need something quick and easy, but also nutritious and fulfilling.

But as you stare into the empty fridge, you're at a loss with exactly what to make. The stress kicks in, the kids are starting to lose it, you're feeling tired and frustrated...

Sound familiar? Wish you had an easier, less stressful approach to your evenings?

The answer my friend, is meal planning.

You've probably heard before that planning your meals is one of the best ways to save yourself time, effort and money, and reduce stress, and in today's episode of The Organised You TV, I'm sharing 2 simple strategies I use to plan our meals. One of these methods is for when I'm short on planning time, and just want to quickly jot things down. The other method allows me to pick and choose, mix and match to quickly plan for a week or fortnight's worth of meals for my family.

One key thing to remember when you're meal planning is to incorporate variety.

Whether you choose 'themed' evening meals i.e. Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Spanish; or types of food i.e. fish, vegetarian, chicken, beef, egg-based; or family favourites; be sure to mix things up to make the meals more exciting, and something you can all look forward to. If it's the same thing week in week out, it's likely that you won't stick with meal planning. Variety is key.

Whether you quickly jot your meals on a post-it note, or use a pre-made template (like the one from my Productivity Pack), or use a whiteboard or magnetic board, choose an approach that is easy for you to follow and stick with.