How Do I Meal Plan and Why Do I Do It?
If I were to give you one thing that will make your week so much easier, what would that be? Well, I can’t give you a nanny or a cook or a cleaning lady, but I can give you back some time and precious head space.
I can also end the question of “What’s for dinner?” Because in my house, right up there with “Where are my shoes/homework/brush, etc.?” is “What are we going to eat”?
And, I get tired of telling them what we are having and hearing “Oh, yuck”. So, how do you get around that – Meal Planning!
How Meal Planning Helps You
If you are on the fence about whether putting in a little time up front is worth it in the end, here are some things that might help you make you your mind:
Time Saved by Meal Planning
Rather than scrambling around inefficiently at dinner time trying to find something to feed your hungry horde, you can invest 30 minutes (maybe even less once you get the hang of it) per week mapping out all the meals for a week. Then, you post that information on a menu board and no more “What’s for dinner?” and no more arguing because it is written in “stone”.
Less Stress on You by Planning Your Meals Ahead of Time
Meal planning lets you retrieve your precious brain power that might be used on coming up with ideas. There are lot of different methods for doing it and you can do what works best for you. I’ve tried services like Emeals and I liked it.
For a small monthly fee ($5 or so), they send you an email with menus per week based on your wants and needs. It has the recipes and a shopping list at the end, which is VERY handy.
You can also DIY and spend a little time going through your favorite recipes, compare what you have on hand/need to buy at the store and then make your own shopping list for the week. Either way, you shop one time per week which saves you time and money. And, you have your go-to meals for the week figured out which is incredibly nice and freeing.
This also saves you from the “fatigue” at the end of the day that kicks in when you say “forget it, let’s eat out” because it just seems easier at the time. Until you get the bill which for our family of five is always a bit shocking!
Save Precious Brain Power at the End of the Day by Having Meals Planned Ahead of Time
Once you know where your next meal is coming from – your pantry! – and you only need to make it, you can then focus your time and attention on something else you enjoy instead! I would advise making it easy on yourself and save the elaborate meals for the weekend. And, in the making it super easy category, please let me sing the praises of the slow cooker!
There is nothing I like better than putting the ingredients for dinner in the slow cooker and then letting it do its thing while I do mine. My favorite slow cooker cookbook is “Fix it and Forget it – Feasting with your Slow Cooker” which has a wide variety of dishes – beef, chicken, pork, vegetarian, etc.
It is Healthier to Eat at Home
When you eat at home, you know more about what is going into your meals. Unless you prepare everything from scratch and grow all your food, you will never know exactly what you are eating. But, eating from your home allows you to at least source all of your own ingredients and buy organic if you want to do so.
We also have a really large garden, so we use our own vegetables for our meals six months out of the year. If you can’t do that, you can at least read every label of the items you buy for your meals. You can then have control over what you are putting on the table.
You also get to control things like the level of salt that is added to your meals. If you have food allergies, you can make sure that the items you buy don’t have things you are allergic to. You can also control portion size at home. This is a win-win for you and your family.
You Can Save Money by Eating at Home
This may be the biggest benefit. When you eat at home, you get to control what you spend on the ingredients that go into your meals. You can shop for sales and buy things from different stores to save money too.
I hope we all know by now, when you buy a meal from a restaurant you are paying for more than just your food. You are paying for the overhead of the restaurant, the staff, the marked up cost of the food, etc.
There are times when it might seem cheaper to just eat out, but if you do the math you will generally always win by eating from home. Not to mention, when you eat from home, you can save any leftovers for lunches and get multiple meals from one dinner.
The Ultimate Meal Planner
You can take the stress out of meal planning with our Ultimate Meal Planner product! This 63-page digital meal planning organizer is designed to help you plan meals, organize your kitchen, track food inventory, and simplify your grocery shopping. Whether you’re meal prepping for the week, organizing monthly menus, or keeping track of your pantry, this printable planner helps you stay organized and make mealtime easier.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
- 63-page printable meal planner PDF
- Monthly meal planning sheets
- Weekly meal planner pages
- Daily meal planning sheets
- Pantry inventory sheets
- Food inventory tracking
- Meal organization pages
- Additional meal planning and kitchen organization sheets
I hope you give meal planning a try if you haven’t consistently before. I think you’ll enjoy the results. Please let me know your experience – pro and con!
Resources for meal planning services:
Here are more articles on meals and meal planning and how it can work to make your life easier:
Easy Meals – Make Life Easier Series Part Two
5 Easy and Delicious Chicken Dinners for Busy Weeknights
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