If you crave meals that tempt the taste buds and fit your nutritional goals, you need to team your meal-planning and shopping strategies.

When I start to slide on my meal planning, we invariably end up eating meals that aren’t as healthy and—honestly—
aren’t nearly as interesting.

I recently discovered a nifty weekday meal-planning tool in Real Simple magazine, allowing me to jot down our meals for the week, together with the ingredients needed to prepare those meals. I simply printed out the downloadable sheets here, filled them in, and, using a three-hole punch, added them to my recipe binder.

Before heading to the grocery store, I transferred the necessary items to my list. (If you prefer, just bring the sheet to the supermarket.)

With this easy step, I can be sure I have all the ingredients I need to prepare recipes we will enjoy eating.