When Life is Busy But Meals Are Still Needed
Until a couple of years ago, I wasn’t a big meal planner. I had tried meal planning before but it never really seemed to work for me; however, in recent years it became a necessity that I get my meal planning act together. After I got married, especially to my husband who happens to have a unique work schedule, and tack on having a toddler, and then becoming a full-time homemaker I have seriously embraced meal planning.
What On Earth Do People Eat Every Day For Every Meal?
I used to wonder how people did it. The dauntless task of coming up with meals for a whole week and ones to appease everyone’s specific tastes felt ridiculously difficult. Not to mention the expectation of having the meal not only prepared but ready to put on the table at a specific time seemed even more impossible.
When I first got married I tried to have a freshly made home-cooked meal on the table every night but I still worked full time before becoming a full-time homemaker so that was a huge struggle not to mention the complication of my husband’s schedule. He worked nights and week to week his schedule rotated so that threw an additional wrench in the gears. Plus, to top everything off I had no idea what recipes to make and ended up spending hours online looking or going through all of my physical cookbooks to find the perfect meals, and who has time for all that?
The Meal Planning Options
I have tried many different versions of meal planning over the years, but it wasn’t until recently that I finally figured out what works for me and the style of meal planning that I can actually stick to.
My friend writes out her whole month of meals on a hand-drawn calendar but committing to an entire month of meals was too much for me and too much time spent sorting out meals at one time. Seeing online meal planner ideas seemed appealing I liked the idea of a pretty printable I could notate the week’s meals on but that was still impractical for me. It didn’t help to print off something, even if it was super pretty if I wasn’t going to use it. I found that I needed something more on the fly and something that could shift and change as needed with our lifestyle’s schedule.
The Meal Planning Technique That Works For Me (And I Bet For You Too!)
You know that handy dandy little Notes app on your phone (the one I’m using to write this post right now actually)? It is my meal-planning app of choice. Free and conveniently already on my phone. It’s not pretty and it isn’t an app with bells and whistles, it’s not a cute notebook or a nicely decorated meal planning printable BUT it’s everything I NEED it to be.
Convenience Matters
For one thing, keeping my meal planning on my phone makes it so convenient. I can jot down a recipe idea whenever and wherever I am. Also, if I find a recipe while looking online I can simply copy and paste the link to the recipe into my notes on my phone and when I’m ready to cook I have the link saved and ready to go.
I also discovered that I prefer to meal plan week to week. Planning a whole month was overwhelming and didn’t leave much room for a schedule change but planning weekly meals is reasonable and it also helps with grocery shopping and budgeting. For instance, if I make a meal that only calls for a single carrot (yes those recipes are out there) then I can find another recipe that uses carrots that same week to prevent waste since it’s hard to just buy one carrot at most grocery stores.
The Benefits of Meal Planning
I can also have a good mix of rotation for what I make that week when I can see it planned out. For example, if we have chicken in the first half of the week then I can do red meat in the middle of the week, and by the time we finish that meal, we can have chicken again for the weekend. It prevents us from eating too much of the same back-to-back and burning out on recipes or specific food items.
I also tend to cook bulk meals because of my husband’s schedule. I will often cook meals that last us 2 – 3 nights so I don’t have to cook dinner EVERY night which is so nice! Plus, this can be a big money saver.
Also, since I’m doing a week-by-week meal plan I don’t have to revise my schedule and get thrown off for the whole month if something pops up one week. If something does come up on the week I’ve already planned it’s usually pretty easy to push any meals I’ve already purchased items for to the next week.
Helpful Links
If you are looking for a great place to find recipes to start filling out that notes section on your phone then check out these great websites:
- I will frequently be updating recipes here on my site so check out the Recipes section here.
- One of my favorite go-to websites for dinner recipes – https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/
- Another top website for amazing dinners – https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/
- Let dinner cook in your slow cooker while you sleep (one of my favorite ways to cook dinner) – https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/
- For your baking needs and search her site for some great dinner recipes too – https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/
Go Forth and Meal Plan!
So there you have it. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, and nothing that takes too much time or energy to create – just a simple moderate way of meal planning. In my opinion, the perfect method for a busy homemaker!
