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#Family meal planning life how to

This, I think, may have been my biggest problem getting started - and I doubt I’m the only one. This has the benefit of spreading the work equitably and you always know who is responsible which nights. There is no ambiguity!Ī note: Meal planning involves making a map of menus for some predetermined period of time - it’s not synonymous with meal prepping, which entails actually getting food ready/prepared (washing/cutting/chopping/cooking/mixing/etc) to eat later on. Divide and conquer - if you have a partner in parenting, divvy up the days (ie, someone takes M/W, someone else takes T/Th – and eat out on Fridays!).

Pick your busiest, most stressful nights and start by just planning meals for those nights.

Pick one meal to focus on - i.e., breakfast, lunch, or dinner - and plan only that meal for one week.

Pick themed nights, such as Taco Tuesday or Stir Fry-days.

(The last thing we need is yet another exhibition to keep up with…)Įspecially if you’re just getting started, you want to strike a balance between planning things out specifically enough that it’s actually helpful (i.e., we’re having baked chicken with roasted rosemary potatoes and green beans rather than we’re having meat, a starch, and a veggie) but not getting too far into the weeds (aka, meals that involve multiple new time-intensive recipes).

Meal planning need not be an all-or-nothing endeavor, nor must it look pretty. Wade InĪt the risk of repeating myself… it’s easy to burn out quickly if you dive in the deep end. When you see what you’re eating/serving on paper, it’s an automatic invitation to be more mindful of choosing balanced menus and working in a greater variety of foods. It was easy, I admit, but less than ideal… Similarly, if I’m planning things out from more of a bird’s eye perspective, I can make sure I don’t schedule bagel sandwiches for breakfast and paninis for dinner on the same day (because, let’s face it, that’s an awful lot of bread…).

Kids learn to like new foods simply by trying them and by planning things out, it’s much easier (possible?) to keep track of what your children have eaten in any given week.įor example, before I was meal planning, I remember realizing at some point that my kids had had toast for every single breakfast for as many days as I could remember. You can incorporate more balance and greater variety.When I’m organized enough to make these decisions the night before, or in the morning, and take advantage of the two Crock Pots I own, I feel better about dinner.” Amen. Take it from someone who’s been there: overambition is a fast track back to square one.Īs one mother told a group of researchers: “It’s not the cooking as much as it is the planning that makes me dread the 5 o’clock hour (sorry Jimmy Buffett). Don’t go all Martha Stewart from day one. Rather, I suggest you pick and choose what resonates with you. The following tips come from various avenues, and you don’t need to use all of them. I’ve culled the depths of food blogs and influencers, nutritionists’ and dieticians’ advice, and spoken with countless friends and family members about meal planning. (And for the record, I actually do now meal plan…) So there. Maybe you’re thinking: why would I get meal planning advice from you?īut I actually think that, having given up so many times before, and being the kind of person who feels inclined toward meal planning but apparently isn’t (obviously), I may actually be a decent conveyor here. If I had one day’s meal plan for every time I’ve sworn to the gods on high that I’m really going to start meal planning - FOR REAL THIS TIME - and then quit after one over-hyped meal-gone-wrong, I’d probably have a month’s worth of menus mapped out.

#Family meal planning life how to

Meal Planning for Busy Parents Updated August 2022 Why It’s Hard and How to Make it Easier