One of the biggest challenges our clients have is meal planning. Just like you would plan out your retirement, you must plan out your nutrition. It may appear to be overwhelming but with some great tools, you can develop the habit of meal planning!
- Recipe Gathering
Collect and gather recipes that fit in your schedule. Look over your families’ schedule for the week. Busy weekday nights mean slow cooker meals, air fryer meals, sheet pan meals (prepped the morning or night before) and utilizing leftovers if that works for your family. We love Eating Well as a source for yummy and healthy recipes, our Pinterest page, and of course our Meal Planning app.
- Get Family Input
We know it’s hard especially when you have teenagers, (mom just get food), but asking everyone if they have any request for meals can actually help get your family in the kitchen more and even excited to sit at the dinner table. One time in my weekly roundup of meal requests, my daughter asked for Shepard’s Pie (by the way I have never in my life made this dish and I have no idea how she hard of it!). I found an amazing recipe that included premade mashed cauliflower so our lower carb family member can enjoy and it was a hit! It is now in rotation every month. Ask what they want to eat, it might just bring a new fan favorite in the house!
- Check Everyone’s Schedules
Which nights are crazy with activities, work events or meetings? Plan quicker meal ideas, such as a crock pot, air fryer, pre-assembled sheet pan meal or utilize leftovers. Having a plan for those crazy weeknight meals makes a huge difference and may even save you money from dining out. Also, think about your weekend. We love crockpot meals on Saturdays after a busy day of errands and plans. It is so nice to come back to a yummy meal that makes your home smell delicious.
- Keep a magnetic dry erase board on the fridge
Write down items and staple foods you run out of to add to the list. We also keep track of what frozen meals we have in the freezer on this too!
- Use a Meal Planner
Write out your meals (maybe even your breakfast, lunch and snacks!). This will remind you to put items in the crockpot, prep a sheet pan meal or even prevent you from dining out. We love the ones below, as well as our meal tracker so that we can plan more balanced plates.
General Healthy Meal Plan Tracker
- Schedule Grocery Shopping
Create a routine weekly schedule of grocery shopping and putting items away, including 1-3 times a week you can prep some meals (you only need about 15-20 minutes to do this, and you can prep while you are making a meal).
It may be difficult at first, but once you get into the weekly habit of meal planning, it will be like second nature. If you need some extra help, our meal planning subscription does the recipe searching for you (and even the food delivery)!.
