Meal planning.
That thing we try to do each week to help us keep our families fed.
The thing we do to ensure that meal prep is easy and effortless.
That thing we do to make sure that we are eating healthy meals so our bodies are fuelled and able to get us through our days. However, we know that meal planning is not always easy and can sometimes leave us feeling uninspired or frustrated.
We have put together a fool proof list of our top 5 tips to help you take your meal planning routine to the next level. Here we go!
YOU DO YOU and HAVE YOUR FAMILY's GO-TO WEEKNIGHT MEALS
Jamie: Choose meals that work for you and your family. My family loves breakfast for supper - pancakes, omelettes, waffles, eggs and bacon. (Yes you read that right. Even though I can’t stand bacon, my family devours it, so I cook it sometimes.) Once a week I make sure to plan one of those meal options. I also know that my family doesn’t like meals where everything is in one pot, so I rarely cook them. They do love tacos and Buddha bowls though. Both are quick, easy and provide lots of options to keep everyone fed and happy.
Kellie: We most definitely have a few meals that we make sure to have every week or two. Taco night, spaghetti and spaghetti squash with meat sauce, Buddha bowls, and make-your-own pizza are favourites at the Willies! Keep a list of these family favourites that are quick and easy so you can plug them in to your weekly planning and everyone will be happy!
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Jamie: Not every meal you make needs to be from a recipe or even be a beautifully put together dish. I am the queen of looking at what I have in my fridge and pantry, cooking a few things up, throwing it together into a bowl and calling it supper or lunch. This is why I love rice bowls and salads.
Kellie: Some of our best-eaten meals are the simplest! For example, just last week we had BBQ’d chicken thighs with corn on the cob and a few raw veggies. It definitely doesn’t fill the table and Brooke even said “this is all we are having?”, however, everyone ate until their bellies were full! A bonus for BBQ night...minimal dishes! In slight contrast, Buddha Bowls are very popular in our home! I am a huge fan of putting multiple bowls on the table and having many delicious and healthy options for everyone to create their own plate! Bonus: the table becomes extremely colourful!!
FED IS BEST
If you have time to cook home-cooked meals all of the time, amazing! If sometimes just getting food into bellies is your priority, that’s ok too. Homemade waffles and a variety of oatmeal can be found being devoured in our homes on any given morning, but we also enjoy the simplicity of toast or cereal. We love filling our tables with dishes full of colour and nutrients, but we also serve grilled cheese sandwiches and french fries or crackers and cheese and sausage. We are what we do most of the time, so focus on what you do 80% of the time and let the other 20% go.
COOK ONCE and EAT TWICE (or Thrice!)
Jamie: This is probably one of my favourite time saving points. Plan your meals around each other so they use similar ingredients. When you prep for one dish, prep enough for the week. I don’t love leftovers, but I do use the same ingredients all week. Sunday nights we will have a nice meal and I will always make extra protein and veggies. I then use the extra protein and veggies for my lunches for the week. I also leave some of the cut veggies raw for easy snacks throughout the week. Monday’s meal prep is easy because I can repurpose Sunday’s leftovers into Monday’s meal. For example, BBQ chicken and roasted veggies with rice for supper Sunday night and then salads, quesadillas or omelettes for supper the next night, or even make a fun sauce and put everything together into a rice bowl, using all of the ingredients we used on Sunday.
Kellie: We love this one too, however, we take a slightly different spin on it! I always plan for leftovers. Depending on the week, it might be for a different weeknight meal when we won’t have time to cook, or it might be for the next two days of lunches. I will also plan on cooking extra to freeze as quick and easy meals when Keith is out of town for work. These points both lead really well into our final tip!
MAKE TIME TO PLAN
Putting in the time, once a week to write out what you will eat for the week can be a huge time saver. It helps keep you organized and saves you trying to think of something to eat on the fly every night. This can also be a money saver. As you create your week’s plan, you can plan your groceries so that you only buy items you will use throughout the week, hopefully cutting back on needless spending and waste.
We LOVE online grocery shopping!
If planning for the entire week seems overwhelming, then we suggest having two shorter time frames that you plan for half of the week. This is also a great way to ensure that you will follow your plan as best as possible and also to use your produce while it is fresh!
All this being said, know that plans may change over the course of the week and know that is part of this wild and fun stage of life!
These 5 tips are some of the things we do regularly to help take some of the pressure off meal times. What tips do you have to make meals easier?
Watch for our next post where we will share what meal planning and prep looks like for both of us.
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