Here we are at the end of meal planning week at Purple House Cafe!  

I hope you’ve enjoyed some of the tips and tricks I’ve shared, and maybe you’re planning to try meal planning yourself!  I think you’ll be glad you did!

 Here’s what the week looked like, in food!

Quinoa Cakes with Poached Eggs and Caesar salad

Steak Salad – link to the recipe HERE

Want my recipe for blackberry salad? Post to come soon!

Carmelized Onion and Bacon Mac n’ Cheese!

My last tips for you:  

• TIP #7:  Once I’ve got my meal plan basically established, I run it by my hubby.  Does anything look revolting to him?  Any suggestions?  No?  Okay.  Making sure that everyone is on board is key to your success when it comes to meal planning!
• TIP #8:  Finally, I take a look through the plan and map out what I will have to make in advance.  For example, Monday’s meal of quinoa cakes with Caesar salad came together a lot more quickly because I had cooked the quinoa and fried up the bacon for the salad on the weekend and stored them in the fridge.  If you’re able to dedicate an hour or two to prep cooking on the weekend, that’s great, but I also find that it’s not too difficult to have an extra pot on the stove for the next night’s dinner or to throw some muffins in the oven while I’m preparing the evening meal.

 If this week’s posts have inspired you to start meal planning, I want to hear all about it!  What were your successes?  What did you find difficult?  Did you find any awesome go-to dishes?