Thoughts on meal planning for two

A few places we like to shop for groceries: 

TJs- canned food, cereal, juice, coffee, snacks, in season produce
Whole Foods- hard to find items and the occasional vegan baked good or lunch on the go.
Sprouts- produce, good bulk bins


In the Crane house we have developed a routine that really works for us. I am the meal planner because I love to cook, grocery shop and experiment with new and strange ingredients. I usually plan five dinner meals a week and I grab a few extra ingredients to create easy meals for the weekend depending on our schedule.

Here's a little peek into a typical week around here...  

Routine: We make dinner (typically) on Sunday- Thursday night. Each dinner we make is a four serving recipe. We create two slightly smaller portions for me and split the rest into two servings for Blake. We eat the two leftover potions for lunch the following day. 

Monday night dinner

Tuesday lunch 

Tools: We keep a little menu pad on the refrigerator so that Blake can see what's coming up but mostly it's so I don't forget what I planned. I also use Pinterest to organize the recipes so they are quick and easy to find. 

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Pros:

1. Most ingredients at the grocery store are large portions that better accommodate a four serving, rather than 2 serving meal.
2. By making bigger meals we cut down on the amount of wasted produce in our house. 
3. We automatically have lunch for the next day or leftovers for busy week nights or weekends.

Cons:

1. If we use a new recipe that neither of us is all that excited about, we have to eat it one more time.
2. Salads can get soggy in the fridge over night so it took some trial and error to prepare some of the less sturdy greens such as arugula and romaine 
3. If we don't make dinner, we don't have lunch ready for the next day. 

So guys was this helpful? Do you plan your meals each week? What works for you and your family? I would love to hear how you stay organized and keep the menu fun.