5 Tricks to Make Meal Planning Simpler

September 14, 2023

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Meal planning can really feel like a grind however it doesn’t must! Attempt these 5 suggestions or hacks from a registered dietitian to make meal planning simpler!

I used to DREAD meal planning. And I’m a dietitian and meals blogger! I’m imagined to find it irresistible.

However each Sunday would roll round and it will really feel like such a grind to must meal plan, once more. Didn’t I simply meal plan like yesterday?

It felt like I used to be all the time meal planning. And recreating the wheel. Arising with new concepts every week. Looking the web for scrumptious recipes.

It took extra time than I wished it to.

Then we had a child! And I couldn’t discover the time to cook dinner, not to mention meal prep. So we relied on plenty of ready meal supply and takeout for that first 12 months and a half post-baby.

Till I had the bandwidth AND the instruments to make this simpler on myself.

I used to be impressed by a life coach for working mamas, Katelyn Denning. I did a gaggle teaching program with once I was 8 months postpartum and making an attempt to get again into work. She shared her meal planning system with us and on the time I didn’t have the bandwidth to strive it however about eight months later I did!

And I discovered it a lot simpler and extra useful than what I used to be doing earlier than!

Full disclosure, I don’t all the time use this method. For instance, this summer season we have now a CSA field and I don’t know what produce we’re going to get every week so we’ve been enhancing extra recently and never having a set meal plan.

However that’s the important thing with meal planning – let or not it’s versatile. Use it when it serves you and don’t use it when it doesn’t. It might make sense that completely different methods and methods are going to work higher for us in numerous seasons of life.

Graphic with quote: "But that's the key with meal planning - let it be flexible. Use it when it serves you and don't use it when it doesn't. It would make sense that different systems and strategies are going to work better for us in different seasons of life."

Attempt a few of these tricks to make meal planning straightforward!

Have themes for many nights of the week.

Should you sit all the way down to meal plan and haven’t any construction or inspiration in any way, it’s going to really feel like looking at a clean slate. And also you’ll spend a lot extra time and power ranging from scratch.

However what in the event you had completely different culinary themes for various nights of the week? That may take plenty of guesswork out of the equation and simplify / slim down your choices. Listed below are some completely different concepts for nightly dinner themes:

Meatless Monday (vegetarian or vegan)
Taco Tuesday (or Mexican-inspired night time)
Breakfast for dinner
Pasta night time
Italian night time
Pizza Friday
Indian-Impressed
Stir-fry night time
Seafood night time

2. Attempt planning month-to-month as a substitute of weekly.

Think about having to sit down down each single weekend and spend time determining a meal plan for the week forward.

Now think about having to sit down down as soon as a month to spend time determining a meal plan for the month.

Would you relatively meal plan 4x/month or 1x/month?

I attempted on the month-to-month meal plan as an experiment and realized I a lot most well-liked this methodology over weekly planning. I loved solely having to consider it as soon as a month vs. having to consider it each weekend.

Right here’s how I do it:

I print out a free month-to-month calendar for whichever month it’s.
I begin by penciling in any date nights / journey / solo parenting nights, and many others.
Then I pencil in meals primarily based on themes like Mexican-inspired / Taco Tuesday, Seafood night time, Pizza Friday.
Sunday’s are my day to strive a brand new recipe that may take extra time so I web page by means of my cookbooks to seek out ones I need to strive.
I pencil in leftover nights – Monday’s, Wednesday’s, and Friday or Saturday. Sure, we depend on leftovers ~3x/week!
I reference my working recipe doc to pencil in the remainder of the month (see tip #3).
I attempt to embody not less than one night time every week that’s simply protein + frozen starch + veg (ie very minimal prep / cooking concerned)
I take into consideration selection – if there’s nonetheless some nights to pencil in, I’ll see what’s lacking from that week – seafood? pasta? hen?

3. Maintain a working doc of straightforward, 30 minute or much less, tried-and-true recipes.

I preserve a Google doc the place I can add recipes we tried that we loved which are half-hour or much less to make (or in the event that they’re longer I’ll make an observation of it). I can even entry this doc from the Google Docs app on my cellphone so it’s straightforward so as to add recipes in actual time.

It’s really easy to neglect what you tried that you just (and hopefully the entire household!) favored so this doc serves as a reference to maintain out if you meal plan. Why recreate the wheel when you may repeat recipes that everybody liked?!

4. Be versatile.

I typically get requested is there room for meal planning with intuitive consuming?

The reply is YES!

While you’re an intuitive eater, meals takes up some psychological area however not rather a lot or all of it.

The important thing to meal planning whereas consuming intuitively is FLEXIBILITY.

There was a time in my life once I was not versatile with my meal planning (earlier than I discovered intuitive consuming). One thing would come up – somebody would invite us out to dinner final minute, for instance, and I might get so wired about losing meals and altering up the plan.

In the present day, I’m crossing off issues on our month-to-month meal plan / shifting issues round all. the time. Yeah it’s messy. But it surely’s actual life. And I don’t stress out about it anymore.

Particularly now that we have now a toddler at residence, we have now to be versatile. There have been many nights when certainly one of us is solo parenting, Luca is requiring all our consideration, and we don’t have the time or bandwidth to cook dinner.

Giving ourselves that permission to pivot and alter is every part. You deserve that very same permission!

Take a look at your meal plan as a device, not a tough and quick rule.

Discover in the event you’re projecting some perfectionism onto the meal plan, get interested in why that’s, and see in the event you may give your self permission to loosen the reigns somewhat.

5. Maintain your meal plan seen for the entire household to see.

Okay ya’ll, large pet peeve comin’ at you. It actually irks me when my husband asks me daily what’s for dinner. And if I had older children, it will most likely equally irk me if in addition they requested me on a regular basis what’s for dinner.

I don’t need to be the keeper of dinners! I’m positive you don’t both.

So make your meal plan (whether or not it’s weekly or month-to-month) accessible and visual for the entire household to see!

I tape ours up on the fridge so we are able to all the time see it once we’re within the kitchen.

Now let’s be actual, even with this taped in your fridge, you realize your loved ones continues to be going to ask you, proper (outdated habits die arduous)? So then you must set a boundary.

Ensure your loved ones is aware of that you’ll not be speaking what’s for dinner – they’re answerable for checking the meal plan on the fridge (or wherever you retain it).

The factor about boundaries although is that we frequently must proceed to bolster them. So if somebody forgets to test the meal plan, properly then dinner is a shock for them that night time!

Talking of the entire household, if it will make meal planning simpler to have their involvement, by all means, ask for some assist and assist! Generally I’ll ask my husband for concepts if I’m feeling caught or I’ll ask for any requests forward of time earlier than I sit all the way down to plan.