Meal Planning Part 1

It’s a funny thing about eating; we do it every day, multiple times a day, and it can be a tireless – sometimes thankless – job coming up with ideas of what to feed our hungry crew. Meal time can become stressful pretty quickly if you are not even sure what to eat. Add soccer practice, play rehearsal, a husband’s late work schedule, and food allergies, and it can become a time of day that you dread instead of look forward to. That’s why you need a plan.

Meal time can be a time of great enjoyment and celebration of family and food…even if you’re only serving hot dogs, broccoli, and macaroni and cheese. See, meal time is less about the feast and more about the feasting; less about the food and more about the opportunity to gather together after a long, hard day and reconnect.

This looks different in different seasons, though, and you need to be realistic about what season you are in right now. The mom with the baby who is still nursing every two hours need not burden herself trying to cook elaborate new recipes just yet. The busy mom of tweens carpooling everyone from one activity to the next does not need the average weeknight meal to require a lot of prep. There are seasons that you can experiment with new recipes and there are seasons that the crock pot needs to be your best friend.

For those who have mostly littles

If you haven’t depended on your crock pot much before this stage, you will now. Try to allot at least one night a week for a crock pot meal. Graciously accept help and meals when it is offered and don’t be afraid to ask, especially when there is a new baby in tow. Be sure to stock your freezer your last few months of pregnancy so that you can focus on your new little one instead of worrying about what to feed everyone else. For the toddler/preschool crowd, keep things simple. This is not the season for elaborate meals with many ingredients and steps. Stick with basics like “meat-potato-veggie”, glorified “finger food” meals, and simple soups. Try to be sure that there’s at least one item on the menu that you know your little one enjoys so that the entire meal is not a challenge. Laying the table and allowing your child to choose his own food will do wonders in helping him to become a healthy eater.

For those who have mostly big kids

This is a time to branch out a little. As long as your children are not in too many extracurricular activities, you should still be home quite a bit in the evenings. The children are old enough to amuse themselves for longer periods of time or even help out with the process of cooking and preparing the meal. They may also be more reasonable about trying new dishes. Try new veggies, cook something a new way, and even ask for requests. Big kids love to be a part of the cooking process – even the planning – and it’s a great way to get in some discreet life training. If you shop online, let them do some of the shopping. Just be sure to check your cart before accidentally purchasing five boxes of cookies.

For those who have mostly tweens and teens

You will lean on your meal plan more than ever as you shuttle kids back and forth to different activities which are often planned right in the dinner time slot. You may have to get creative about the time you eat, as well, allowing early or late dinners for the sake of getting everyone fed and having as many family members as possible gather together at once. Another thing to keep in mind is you’ll probably have to start doubling your main course. Kids this age are growing fast and need the fuel to do so. This means taco night will likely need 2 lbs. of meat instead of one and you may need to double your side portions. This also means that if you’ve been in the habit of doubling your meals and freezing them you’ll need more ingredients to give yourself leftovers.

The Plan

There is nothing worse than feeling victorious about your homeschool wins for the day just to realize it’s 4 o’clock and you have nothing planned for dinner. There have been many nights my family ended up eating sandwiches and cereal because the day got away from me and it was too late to make any sort of real dinner. A weekly plan will go a long way to relieving your stress and ensuring that your family eats “real food” that night.

It’s important to pick the same day every week to fill in your meal plan. My day is Saturday because that’s the day I do my online grocery order. We pick up the food Sunday on the way home from church and everyone is available to help put it away. In my home, we are very prone to lounging and snacking on Friday nights and Saturdays so they are free to do that with all the “cast off” food from the week and when we start fresh Monday morning we still have a full fridge.