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[quote=Anonymous]I agree with the others, meal planning is planning what you are having that week - not having the same thing every Friday.

I think how you ease into it, depends on what you do now.  I personally did not cook a lot, but was throwing togethor odd meals at home (baking a potato, nuking veggies).  So I had to start by just coming up with ideas of what people ate, and finding recipes.  What kept me sane was starting out with 2 nights a week of something super easy (like frozen veggie burgers).  If you do take out now, you could ease into it by planning for take-out one night.

I do think some people do things like "pizza fridays" or "pasta Tuesdays" because it makes planning easier.  So that is one way to ease into it.  But if you find that unappealing, you could do something simpler.  For instance, in the winter I do one crockpot meal a week.  Not the same one, not the same day, but one.

A few things that have worked for me:
1.  I go through phases where I make myself try one new recipe a week.  
2.  Once I find a recipe I like, I print it out on paper (or copy it) and laminate it and put it in a binder.  Now I have a binder with all of our favorites.
3.  I keep a few things in the pantry for nights the new recipe fails horribly.
4.  You can keep it flexible.  Say your plan for tonight was roasted chicken, or the thought of chicken makes you ill.  You can swap it with another night (as long as the other meal didn't need prep)
4.  When possible, I try to have one meal that can be postponed.  Things happen (last minute playdates, get stuck at work and pick up take-out).  So I need a meal that won't go bad if I don't use.  And yes, I try to push that one towards the end of the week.
5.  "Eat leftovers" is a plan.  So is "do take-out".  Some weeks call for a nice break.

I found the first few weeks to be the worst, as planning seemed so hard.  Now I can't even imagine not doing it.  I mean, how do you know what to buy?  Why not know what you are going to cook, so you can buy all the ingredients?

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