Busy-Mama Meal Plan Hacks

Do you ever feel overwhelmed and trapped by the responsibility to feed your family food they can all agree on? Do you struggle to keep the right ingredients on hand to pull together nutritious meals? Does all this stress keep you from preparing dinner at a regular time each day? If you have experienced any of these frustrations you’re not alone. 

Home is a safe place where our family members can gather after a long day of work and school to feel loved, validated and nourished. Food is at the heart of that feeling of comfort we all associate with being home. 

thenourishedchild.com argues 10 benefits of having family dinners together including the fact that research shows children who eat dinner with their families get better grades. It also states that children who eat dinner with parents can be more confident, learn better manners and can cultivate a positive relationship with food. Knowing the importance of creating a family culture of eating together, It’s no wonder that moms feel the weight of the importance of providing tasty nutritious meals for their families and to keep a regular meal time each day. 

As a young mother with 3 small children I dreaded meal times. As dinner drew nearer I felt a pit in my stomach growing as I raced my mind through all the possibilities of what I could make for dinner that day. Tacos could work but did I have the right ingredients? Tuna casserole is fast but my baby won’t eat it....and on and on.

One day while talking to a neighbor she mentioned that someone she knew had a theme for each day of the week for her dinners. This intrigued me so much that I decided I needed to try it. Any plan was better than no plan right? 

So I thought about meals that I like to make and I began to make my categories.

Monday- Pasta

Tuesday-Mexican

Wednesday- breakfast for dinner

Thursday-meat (in the winter this is soups or meat and potatoes and in the summer it’s something on the grill)

Friday- Pizza

Saturday-leftovers

Sunday- crockpot

These themes work great for me since we have several meals that fall into each category that we like. For your family the themes may look completely different. The point is to create your themes around meals you know you all enjoy. 

Once you’ve created your themes brainstorm meals that would fall under each theme that are winners for your family. Here is an example of what my Monday meal options are:

Pasta Options:

Spaghetti 

Tuna casserole 

Beef stroganoff 

Alfredo with chicken

If you can come up with at least 4 meals per category that your family likes then you will be able to come up with 1 month of meals without repeating a meal. In my family we don’t mind eating the same meal after a couple of weeks so I usually repeat the meals I know they enjoy and I don’t worry about making a perfectly unique meal for every day of the month

Here is what a monthly calendar would look like in our family.

Once you get into the rhythm of using your daily food themes shopping becomes so much more regimented. You’re not wandering around the store piling things into your cart without a purpose. I have a specific route that I take and I know where everything is on that route that I need for each theme. I often don’t even need to make a list because I just go through each day in my head and quickly grab the ingredients I don’t already have on hand. 

If you’re wanting to create a storage of food for an emergency or you just like the idea of going shopping less frequently then you can compile a list of all the ingredients you need for one month of meals each time you go shopping you can get all those items at once and then you’re only having to run to the store to grab milk and and maybe fresh fruits and veggies on the off weeks. 

Better yet you can buy all the non-perishable items on your shopping list for several months ensuring that you won’t need to worry about these items for many weeks. Our grocery store has times of the year when they offer case-lot sales. During these times. We like to take advantage of buying items our family loves in bulk so that we don’t have to worry about buying them each time we go shopping. 

Having a storage of food staples bring peace of mind during unpredictable times. It also saves money because we all know that when we are going to the store every few days we end up buying things we weren’t planning to buy and may not really need. 

How does this schedule work for picky eaters? We’ve all had kids that refuse to eat certain meals. If there are meals that multiple children don’t care for I try to stay away from those meals. But if there is a meal that everyone loves but that one child complains about you could try an idea I heard from a friend who has a meal planning day where all her kids get to decide what they’re going to eat on a given day of the week/month. Once each person has given you their choices explain to the family that they all got to have a say in what you’re having for dinner. There will be days when you may not love what is being served but remember, your day is coming up and then we will all eat what you chose. 

 I have a child with high-levels of anxiety. He likes to be able to know what’s going to happen next and doesn’t do well with surprises. The meal themes give him a feeling of security as he can know exactly what type of food he will be eating each day.

Sometimes I come across a new recipe that I just have to try. I like to remind my kids that they’ll not always live in a place that has predictable food options and learning to try new things is a good practice for being a successful grown up. When we find new recipes we all enjoy we add them to our menu. 

Start today by making your own themes. You don’t need to change the way you shop all at once if that feels overwhelming. You’ll find a system that works best with your family and your budget. Remember the heart of the home is the kitchen and the heart of the kitchen is the table. Happy meal planning!