Meal planning can feel like a grind but it surely doesn’t need to! Try these five suggestions or hacks from a registered dietitian to make meal planning easier!
I used to DREAD meal planning. And I’m a dietitian and food blogger! I’m speculated to like it.
But every Sunday would roll around and it could feel like such a grind to need to meal plan, again. Didn’t I just meal plan like yesterday?
It felt like I used to be at all times meal planning. And recreating the wheel. Coming up with latest ideas each week. Searching the web for delicious recipes.
It took more time than I wanted it to.
Then we had a baby! And I couldn’t find the time to cook, let alone meal prep. So we relied on a whole lot of prepared meal delivery and takeout for that first yr and a half post-baby.
Until I had the bandwidth AND the tools to make this easier on myself.
I used to be inspired by a life coach for working mamas, Katelyn Denning. I did a gaggle coaching program with after I was 8 months postpartum and attempting to get back into work. She shared her meal planning system with us and on the time I didn’t have the bandwidth to try it but about eight months later I did!
And I discovered it much easier and more helpful than what I used to be doing before!
Full disclosure, I don’t at all times use this method. For instance, this summer we have now a CSA box and I don’t know what produce we’re going to get each week so we’ve been improving more these days and never having a set meal plan.
But that’s the important thing with meal planning – let it’s flexible. Use it when it serves you and don’t use it when it doesn’t. It could make sense that different systems and methods are going to work higher for us in numerous seasons of life.
Try a few of the following pointers to make meal planning easy!
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Have themes for many nights of the week.
For those who sit right down to meal plan and haven’t any structure or inspiration in anyway, it’s going to feel like looking at a blank slate. And also you’ll spend so way more time and energy ranging from scratch.
But what in case you had different culinary themes for various nights of the week? That may take a whole lot of guesswork out of the equation and simplify / narrow down your options. Listed below are some different ideas for nightly dinner themes:
- Meatless Monday (vegetarian or vegan)
- Taco Tuesday (or Mexican-inspired night)
- Breakfast for dinner
- Pasta night
- Italian night
- Pizza Friday
- Indian-Inspired
- Stir-fry night
- Seafood night
2. Try planning monthly as a substitute of weekly.
Imagine having to take a seat down each weekend and spend time determining a meal plan for the week ahead.
Now imagine having to take a seat down once a month to spend time determining a meal plan for the month.
Would you reasonably meal plan 4x/month or 1x/month?
I attempted on the monthly meal plan as an experiment and realized I much preferred this method over weekly planning. I enjoyed only having to give it some thought once a month vs. having to give it some thought every weekend.
Here’s how I do it:
- I print out a free monthly calendar for whichever month it’s.
- I start by penciling in any date nights / travel / solo parenting nights, etc.
- Then I pencil in meals based on themes like Mexican-inspired / Taco Tuesday, Seafood night, Pizza Friday.
- Sunday’s are my day to try a latest recipe which may take more time so I page through my cookbooks to seek out ones I need to try.
- I pencil in leftover nights – Monday’s, Wednesday’s, and Friday or Saturday. Yes, we depend on leftovers ~3x/week!
- I reference my running recipe document to pencil in the remainder of the month (see tip #3).
- I try to incorporate at the least one night per week that’s just protein + frozen starch + veg (ie very minimal prep / cooking involved)
- I take into consideration variety – if there’s still some nights to pencil in, I’ll see what’s missing from that week – seafood? pasta? chicken?
3. Keep a running document of easy, 30 minute or less, tried-and-true recipes.
I keep a Google document where I can add recipes we tried that we enjoyed which might be half-hour or less to make (or in the event that they’re longer I’ll make an observation of it). I may also access this document from the Google Docs app on my phone so it’s easy so as to add recipes in real time.
It’s really easy to forget what you tried that you just (and hopefully the entire family!) liked so this document serves as a reference to maintain out while you meal plan. Why recreate the wheel when you may repeat recipes that everybody loved?!
4. Be flexible.
I often get asked is there room for meal planning with intuitive eating?
The reply is YES!
Whenever you’re an intuitive eater, food takes up some mental space but not lots or all of it.
The important thing to meal planning while eating intuitively is FLEXIBILITY.
There was a time in my life after I was not flexible with my meal planning (before I discovered intuitive eating). Something would come up – someone would invite us out to dinner last minute, for instance, and I might get so wired about wasting food and changing up the plan.
Today, I’m crossing off things on our monthly meal plan / moving things around all. the time. Yeah it’s messy. But it surely’s real life. And I don’t stress out about it anymore.
Especially now that we have now a toddler at home, we have now to be flexible. There have been many nights when one in every of us is solo parenting, Luca is requiring all our attention, and we don’t have the time or bandwidth to cook.
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 tool, not a tough and fast rule.
Notice in case you’re projecting some perfectionism onto the meal plan, get interested by why that’s, and see in case you may give yourself permission to loosen the reigns a little bit.
5. Keep your meal plan visible for the entire family to see.
Okay ya’ll, big pet peeve comin’ at you. It really irks me when my husband asks me day-after-day what’s for dinner. And if I had older kids, it could probably equally irk me if in addition they asked me on a regular basis what’s for dinner.
I don’t need to be the keeper of dinners! I’m sure you don’t either.
So make your meal plan (whether it’s weekly or monthly) accessible and visual for the entire family to see!
I tape ours up on the fridge so we will at all times see it once we’re within the kitchen.
Now let’s be real, even with this taped in your fridge, you recognize your loved ones continues to be going to ask you, right (old habits die hard)? So then you could have to set a boundary.
Be certain your loved ones knows that you’re going to now not be communicating what’s for dinner – they’re liable for checking the meal plan on the fridge (or wherever you retain it).
The thing about boundaries though is that we frequently need to proceed to strengthen them. So if someone forgets to examine the meal plan, well then dinner is a surprise for them that night!
Speaking of the entire family, if it could make meal planning easier to have their involvement, by all means, ask for some support and help! Sometimes I’ll ask my husband for ideas if I’m feeling stuck or I’ll ask for any requests ahead of time before I sit right down to plan.
Are the following pointers helpful? What would you add to this list? Please leave a comment below and let me know!
For more intuitive eating suggestions, try my posts below!
6 Tricks to Make Cooking Easier
6 Ways to Find More Enjoyment in Cooking
Am I Hungry? Signs of Hunger to Watch For
Am I Eating Enough? 8 Signs You’re Undereating
5 Tricks to Deal with a Bad Body Image Day