Crash Course in Meal Planning
We’ve all been there…It’s 5 pm and someone asks, “What’s for dinner?” You have no idea, nothing thawed, and the thought of stopping at the store on the way home with your tired children makes you break into a cold sweat. Or maybe your refrigerator is filled with wonderfully delicious fresh foods, but you have absolutely no energy or time to prepare any of it.
Either way, you end up picking up a pizza or eating out throwing any hopes of sticking to your healthy habits out the window.
This is a struggle I’m sure most of us are familiar with. There is always room for a night like this from time to time. Those crazy days that end in pizza deliveries are usually when we make the best memories. But if we are trying to make healthy habits stick, we want these nights to be the exception and not the norm.
When I take a little extra time out of my week to plan my meals I find things are so much easier. I’m less stressed during the dreaded witching hour, I save money, and I eat healthier.
I’ve put together this three-step process for making meal planning easier.
Step 1: Take Inventory
In my previous life before kids, I managed restaurants. My goal each week was to have one piece of chicken left in the walk-in without ever running out of anything. Obviously, this was impossible, but it forced me to think about what items we use and how much so that there was as little waste as possible.
I learned pretty quickly that if I wanted to save time and money when placing an order I had to first see what was on the shelves, take into account how much we use in a week, and then calculate how much we needed to get us through to the next order.
Most of us don’t have huge walk-in refrigerators or shelves and shelves of liquor in our pantry…well, maybe some of us do… But the concept and the process are the same. Knowing what you have and writing it down will help you to be more efficient when you get to steps 2 and 3, planning the meals and creating your list.
Here is my process for taking inventory of your kitchen.
- Take out a sheet of paper and divide it into 4 sections: Frozen, Pantry, Refrigerator, Household.
- Write down everything you see. The first time you do this it might take a while and you might get an urge to re-organize your kitchen. This is a good thing!
- Pull out anything you won’t use and take it to your local Food Bank. Fresh, frozen, or that weird bottle of marinade you bought two months ago and never used. Don’t let it go to waste!
Once you make this a habit and do it every week before you make your list, it should only take you 10-15 minutes, provided your three-year-old doesn’t decide to have a meltdown and you need to run damage control.
Step 2: Plan Your Recipes
Now that we know what we have let’s think about what we want to make. Dinner is where you will spend the bulk of your time planning, but here is my philosophy on breakfast, lunch, and snacks.
Make it fast. Make it easy, or make it ahead of time.
The average adult makes 35,000 conscious decisions a day, so any chance I have to make the healthy option the easy option I will take it.
Except for when I’m
I’m a huge fan of the #fancysnack, but I really rely on quick whole food plant-based options that I can eat with one hand. Seasonal fruits and veggies are perfect. Sometimes I’ll make these energy balls or hardboil some eggs (obviously not plant-based, but easy and filling.)
For lunch, I typically have a fruit smoothie, but soup is another great thing to have on hand. Trader Joes carries a vegan Split Pea Soup that is delicious.
What’s for Dinner?
Before you get lost in the wonderful world of Pinterest. Let’s focus our search.
Look at your inventory and plan your meals around those items first. Then fill in the rest of the nights. Say, for instance, you bought these pasta shells a few months ago and never opened the box. You can search for a healthy recipe that includes pasta shells… yes there are healthy recipes for pasta shells.
Look at your calendar and see what your schedule is like. Make note of nights you will need quick and easy recipes or crock pot meals and nights that you will have more time for prep. Do not skip this step! Planning a more complicated meal on a busy night will lead to HANGRY kids and less than healthy options.
Consider theme nights like Meatless Monday or Taco Tuesday to help you narrow your choices. I like to eat plant-based at least twice a week. You would be surprised how many delicious and filling meals there are out there and it helps me to stay on track with my health and fitness goals.
DON’T forget the kids! If you have a picky eater on your hands as I do, look for recipes that can be easily broken down without too much effort. If I make Chicken Tortilla Soup, I’ll take some of the chicken and make a chicken quesadilla for the kids. On nights you make something they won’t eat be sure to have something planned for them as well. These Crescent Sandwiches are a favorite in our house.
Once you plan your recipes for the week write them down somewhere you can see them. I hung a dry erase board in our kitchen. Each morning I check it so I know what I need to thaw and or prep for that day.
Step 3: The List
Now that we have cleaned out our pantry, taken inventory, and planned our meals, it’s time to make a list we will stick to.
The fewer trips you make to the market the less money you spend because let’s be honest when was the last time you went to the store and only got ONE thing? Having a list will also keep you on
Eventually, it’s just you and that tempting tub of ice cream and if you have a list you are less likely to give in
So how do we create a list that is easy to read and efficient?
Apply the same process you used when taking inventory. Organize your list is by grouping items the way they are in the store. So, you have fresh produce, bakery, meat, frozen, etc all listed together. In the restaurant business we call this, “shelf to sheet.” This way you are less likely to have to backtrack in the store because you missed something. I have been using this All Out Of list for years and love it.
Don’t forget your staples!
I asked my Facebook buddies what was the number one thing they forgot at the grocery store and they all came back with staple items like toilet paper, tampons, pepper, plastic baggies, and bananas. These items are so common that we don’t think we need to write them down, but the grocery store is designed to distract you. Write these items down first and be as detailed as possible.
Ingredients for your recipes
Add the items you need for the recipes you planned in Step Two. Don’t forget to check for spices, oils, and vinegars.
Household items
Check your shampoo, toothpaste, laundry detergents, etc. Do you need batteries, light bulbs, plastic baggies?
I hope you enjoyed this post. I had a ton of fun writing it.
