| Simple meal planning for real life |
Ah. Meal Planning. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
I’ve had the itch to write an article to share all my meal prep ideas with you since I’ve taken this journey into a simpler approach to our life, but there was one big problem. Meal planning is not really my strong suit. I’ve tried lots of different approaches waiting for ‘the one’ that was going to feel right and work well and would become my kitchen b.f.f, but it never came. Instead, it continued to be that aloof co-worker that seems to get along with everyone else but me.
But, no fear friends, after buckling down on my health journey recently I have finally found some tips and tricks that make meal planning not just friendly and likable, but realistic for the everyday family. If you’re the type of person that cringes at being told what you must eat for dinner next Friday by that tyrannical list you made two Sundays ago, I’m with you. I’m kinda fickle like that. Like that Bobby Brown song says, it’s my prerogative to change my mind and want something different instead.
More likely that not though, when a meal plan goes awry it’s because a schedule changed last minute, or your day got otherwise turned around and now that risotto you’d been planning for two weeks is no longer a viable option. (Ok, seriously if you can cook risotto please invite me to dinner)
So, let’s talk simple meal planning for real life.
There are a few core mindsets I’ve adopted that I want to share. You can adopt which parts you like, or change them to fit your life, but hopefully they are a good jumping off plan for you to find a meal plan process that works for you.
- Be Realistic: I LOVE Pinterest. Like really love it. I could just poke around on it for hours. (Seriously, someone stop me.) I pin lots of new recipes and ideas and get pretty pumped to make that whole roasted chicken with garlic parmesan petite potatoes. But I forget to thaw the chicken. Or I forget to consider that roasting a whole ANYTHING takes more than 30 minutes. Yeah, 30 minutes is my sweet spot in meal prep. So my point here is that being a realist when it comes to meal organizing and planning is important. If you need ‘quick and easy’ on weeknights, save that new recipe for a slower paced Sunday meal.
- Use what you have. I know, you love grocery shopping, too right??! (Said no one ever) So having to run to the store for specialty ingredients that you’re not likely to use again isn’t going to save you time or make you want to make that meal. Before you plan out your meals, do a cabinet inventory. Take stock of these three types of foods: Proteins (your meats, fish, eggs, etc.), Complex Carbohydrates (this is your brown rice, quinoa, potatoes, etc.) and finally your Veggies. Build your meals around what you already have and fill in the gaps with items that you can use more often like sauces and spices.
- Ask for input. Have everyone in your family share a list of their favorite meal. If everyone shares 4-5 meals that they enjoy you can zero in on the total family favorites and pepper in (see what I did there?) the ones just one or two people enjoy so everyone is happy. This saves you tons of time trying to reinvent the wheel and figure out what those picky kids will actually eat. From here you can add in one ‘new’ meal a week or a month and if it’s a hit, it can be added into the rotation.
- Don’t Lose It – Reuse It. Okay, maybe I’ve seen too much Paw Patrol (if you don’t currently have a preschooler you’re probably scratching your head. It’s cool. Stay with me.) One thing that I try to do is to cook extra of my protein or complex carb and save it to ‘remake’ into something else the next night. For example, on Sunday I made chicken breast with a spicy lime marinade and black beans. I had options of the table so the meal could be made into a taco, eaten as is, or made into a chicken salad. (Options make my kids complain less.) The following day I took that chicken and diced it up with some extra quinoa I had in the fridge and added some peas and seasonings and voila, a whole new meal that took no additional prep time. I like to take this approach to make myself lunches by reusing something from dinner into my next day’s lunch.
- Be flexible. As much as I want to have a meal plan laid out for 2 weeks at a time to remove the need to think about it nightly, I know that my week will not go as planned. I also know that I will get to next Tuesday and probably not really want what I planned. In those instances, I pick a different item from the calendar that I have on hand and swap. Hey, meal plan… you don’t owwwwnn me! I find that planning meals is simpler if I only plan one week at a time. Also, I simplify this further by ONLY planning one type of meal. Dinner. Breakfast is usually a staple of a few options in our home: Cereal, Waffles, Oatmeal or Eggs. Lunch is that same concept. Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to plan all your meals. Just start with the one that you eat as a family.
- Take a break. When I did research on meal planning, there was one common thread I saw a lot. It was themed nights. Think “Taco Tuesday”, “Pizza Friday”, “Sunday Salad”. Guys, I gotta tell you a secret. I hate this idea! This feels so boring and restricting to me. My husband, on the other hand, he would love this. (But he’s an engineer, so…) For some reason, the idea of eating tacos every Tuesday would ruin my complete love affair with Mexican food and that just wouldn’t be okay. So I do not do theme nights. I do, however, take a break and plan for ‘leftover night’ and ‘fend for yourself, I don’t care if you eat cereal for dinner’ night. There is no rule that said we need to cook a meal Every. Single. Night. Give yourself a break. Simplify the meal planning and take a night off.
So, let’s recap real quick:
If you’re looking for simple meal planning for real life you want to be realistic about what that real life looks like and how much time is actually available. Don’t overwhelm yourself by constant trips to the store for specialty ingredients. Use what you have on hand and purchase items you will use again and again. Get your families input on favorite meals so you don’t have to get decision fatigue trying to plan them yourself and cook extra protein items and complex carb items to reuse into something else the next day. Be flexible and know that you’ll probably change your mind and take a break and have a free for all night. Make extra so you can plan for leftovers, or like we do, after cooking a meal for 2 or 3 days, we pull out all the mismatched leftovers and have a “pick what you like” meal.
If you’re looking to cut your grocery budget, another tip I have is to do a ‘eat down the pantry’ challenge. We do this about two times a year where we use only what is in the pantry, fridge and freezer and make random and weird meals until we get through most of it. During a challenge like this we usually only purchase milk, bread and fruits and veggies as needed.
What meal planning tips do you have to share?
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