MEAL PLANNING LIFE UPDATE

You don’t want to be doing a meal that takes a lot of prep time on your busiest day. It’s important to match your schedule with your meal plan. I always put the plan down in pencil so changes can be made easily when needed. Our household planner has a place at the bottom of each day for the meal plan. Once I’ve got the calendar updated, I can start actually planning meals. We have a household command center calendar where everything is kept so everyone can see it.

MEAL PLANNING LIFE UPDATE

Update This Week’s Family CalendarĮach Sunday, I update the family calendar so I can tell who is going to be here for each meal. In addition, I try to keep fresh vegetables in the refrigerator so we can easily add a salad as a side dish any time we want one.

I also have a list of side dishes that we really like. Yes, a meal can have both a “C” and an “F”. I also have a “C” written beside each recipe that is made in the crockpot, and an “F” beside those that are prepared ahead freezer meals. chicken, beef, pork, pasta, fish, meatless. Recipe options are separated them by type of main dish, i.e. I have a list in a folder that is actually multiple lists. The first step in meal planning is to have a list of the meals your family likes. Some of our current favorites were found this way. Some of them end up being tried once and then we throw the recipe away, but others get added to our regular meals.

I also try to plan at least 1 or 2 “new” recipes to try each month to increase the variety. And now that my children are grown, I plan at least 1 night per week where one of them cooks. These include things like hamburgers or hot dogs on the grill, tacos, and quesadillas. Planning super easy meals on very busy nights during the week also helps reduce stress. I try to plan 1-2 meals that are in the crockpot so they don’t take much prep time. I do my meal planning on Sunday afternoon each week. Your meal plan can be fluid enough to adjust to these times. Something that is important to remember is that life will still happen and there will be times when your plan doesn’t work like you thought it would. I will only recommend products that I have tried, and think will be useful for you. Making purchases through an affiliate link doesn’t cost you any extra but it helps offset my blog expenses. *Full Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. As added benefits, you’ll eat healthier and probably save money. There are even some options for meal plan subscriptions online to make it even easier. The time that you spend planning your meals will save you a lot of time and stress later in the week. I mean, they’re already too busy, right? No, they’re wrong. When people get busy, meal planning isn’t something they think about doing because they don’t think they have time.

Meal planning life