Fail-Proof Meal Planning for Busy Moms
I don't know about you guys, but cooking meals, especially during the busy work week, is such a chore for me. The planning, the shopping, the cooking, the clean up -– if there are ways to make any part of it easier, I'm all for it. I started using this meal planning hack when I tried the Whole 30 diet, and while the Whole 30 diet didn't really pan out, I found their meal planning tips to work great.
Plan Your Meals for the Week
I write down my meal plan in my bullet journal, making columns for every day starting with Sunday, making my way through Saturday. Then I make sure to capture breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm guilty of skipping breakfast, but if I write it down here, it's at least a gentle reminder of what I should be eating. Lunch is for the kids, (I'll usually eat leftovers from the night before) this helps avoid 'oh shoot' mid-week moments. Dinner is for homemade meals that take up most of the planning. The last column is to write your shopping list.
Timing is Everything
I've found I need to set aside time to plan or it doesn't happen. Then we're stuck in the cycle of, what are we going to eat tonight? every single night for the entire week. This is NOT one of those things I can do on the fly. For me, I wake up extra early on Sunday morning, before anyone else is awake, to write the plan, go through recipes, and make my shopping list. I've also found, our family needs more than one grocery run a week. If I buy fresh produce at the begining of the week for a recipe that's not planned until Saturday, chances are good the food goes bad before we even get a chance to use it. So for us, Sunday and Wednesday nights are grocery shopping days.
The Shopping List
Once the meals and recipes are picked out for the week, it's time to write down all the food
needed to make each meal. I double check to make sure I'm not buying anything that's stashed in the pantry or fridge which helps negate waste. I also will make a list of snacks to help avoid buying extra junk that nobody really needs but looks so good while you're in the store - hello, bakery cupcakes...
Give Yourself a Fall Back Plan
Let's be honest and admit it. We all have last minute things that come up, an illness that strikes at the most unopportune time, ect. so add to your shopping list at least one no-fuss meal. For us, it's usually plain pasta noodles with alfredo sauce. The kids love it and all I have to is boil the noodles and we're done. This is your fallback meal plan incase you need an easy fix and avoid those last minute grocery runs. Because, mama, you've got much better things to do.
