Family Meal Planning 101: 5 tips for Busy families
We are busy. We, like you, have a lot going on and like you, like to spend time with our family.
With both my husband and I with full time jobs, we do not have a lot of time for cooking. I like to cook. I like wholesome healthy meals. According to the 5 Love Languages. My love language is “Acts of Service”. Cooking for my family is one of the ways in which I show them I love them. And I love cooking. There is something so special about taking different food and ingredients and coming up with a cohesive meal. With that said, I reiterate, we are busy.
I am sure that you are busy too. I mean you wouldn’t be here if you had all the time in the world to make sure that your family has healthy meals, you wouldn’t be reading this. However, meal planning doesn’t have to be a daunting or super time consuming task. Here are five tips for providing your family with healthy meals.
Make time to make a plan.
If I do not schedule a time to actually sit down and plan out our meals, it would not happen. We would not have a meal plan. I actually like to make our plan on Saturday. I typically only plan out our meals for Monday through Friday. (More on that later.) On the weekend, I use that time to plan. I still cook on the weekends, but my time is freer to make dishes that take longer that 30 minutes to prepare. So, I carve out my time to make our plan.
Inventory what you have on hand and only buy what you need for the week.
Nothing is more annoying to me than wasted food. It is a waste of time, money and genuinely hurts my heart. Taking a moment to see what you have in the fridge that is about to go bad. Don’t forget to check what you have in the freezer and the pantry. Build your meals around what is available and watch your grocery budget decrease.
Use recipe books and online recipes.
I have a rotating list of about 20 recipes in my head. If I had to rely on just my recipe knowledge, we would not have much variety in our diets. Variety is not only important, but necessary. Our traditional diet was varied and seasonal. I like to use vegetables and fruits that are in season because they are generally cheaper and I like keeping variety in our lives.
Make a plan for leftovers
I like to create a plan for leftovers in the form of a repurposed breakfasts/lunchs. The easiest breakfast for me is to use roasted veggies front he night before and add eggs scrambled, fried or boiled. It takes minutes and is more filling than a shake. I will also use the protein in a repurposed meal for lunch. Like I said, I like variety andI will not stick to a meal plan that is the same food every day. We save the weekends to order out, finish any leftovers or for meals that take longer than 30 minutes.
Plan your most time consuming meal first and build your meals around that.
I look at my weekly calendar and see what is happening and how much time I have. I always plan our dinners first. It is usually the most time consuming meal to make and since we are working form home, I try to act like I am in my office, even though it is the dining room table. I also like to make sure that dinner is a substantial meal. I also usually cook extra for dinner and I have found out, the hard way, that if the littles do not have a filling meal for dinner, they will stay up longer past their bedtime and not fall asleep as easily.
Bonus Tip: If you are trying a new food with littles, make sure to also have something you know they like so if they try and do not eat enough of one food, they will eat enough of their favorite food. In our house, in order to get more you have to finish what you have and I usually plate a smaller portion of the new food.
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Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are my own.
