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Cooking on the fly was A LOT easier when I didn’t have little ones clinging to me. Now, every time I start cutting up raw meat, my kid’s “mom has raw meat” sensor goes off and they come running to me to make all of their urgent requests…without fail!
I’ve always really enjoyed cooking and trying out new recipes. My favorite thing to do when I first got married was to watch Rachel Ray’s 30 minute meals on the Food Network. I had her garbage bowl proudly next to me whenever I would make a meal! I was legit!
My love of cooking was great and all but in the past, it didn’t help my family in any way. When we were just a family of 3, I’d try a few new recipes over the course of a couple of days, make a huge mess and then not cook anything for a while because cooking all of a sudden felt like too much work. My meal preparations would come and go in waves. One week, we’d eat a lot of frozen meals and take out. The next week, I was a gourmet chef rocking my apron.
Inconsistency ruled my life. My husband would often come home from work to no dinner. Finally, he got smart and started sending texts on his way home from work... “Is there food?” Reading texts like this would make guilt set in. I’d begin frantically searching for recipes to try out again. I was a complete mess…
I never know what to make.
I feel like we eat the same things over and over again.
I have no inspiration.
I know we should be eating healthier but <insert your excuse here>.
No one in the house ever eats anything I make that’s remotely healthy so what’s the point in trying?
Our schedule is too busy. I don’t have the time to cook every day.
Ordering take out or the going through the drive though happens a lot more often than I care to admit.
There’s not enough time to plan meals or grocery shop on the weekends.
Cooking takes so much time I don’t have.
My kitchen gets destroyed and no one helps me clean it.
I’m overwhelmed.
I can relate to all of these! I fought against meal planning for years. My brain just didn’t have the capacity to plan ahead. I knew, in theory, that meal planning would help simplify my family’s week and be more organized but I couldn’t seem to get myself together.
What is the difference between MEAL PLANNING & MEAL PREPPING?
Meal Planning involves looking at the week ahead and compiling a list of recipes that you want to make. It involves creating a grocery list and shopping once, (typically on weekends) so that you don’t have to think about what you’ll be making each day of the week.
Meal Prepping goes a step further. Once your groceries are in the house, you begin cooking some meat, washing your produce, chopping up your veggies and creating snack baggies for the kids. It involves doing some of the prep work in advance so that the actual time you spend cooking is more simplified.
Eating is a part of our lives. It’s a non-negotiable part of our week. If you know that something is going to make a positive impact and create more simplified days for your family, you have to figure out what’s holding you back from taking the steps forward to make that possible.
Why Should You Consider Incorporating MEAL PREPPING and MEAL PLANNING Into Your Week?
#1 It saves money.
Shopping intentionally one time for the week helps keep you within budget. You’ll actually have a grocery list which avoids impulse buys.
#2 It encourages healthier eating habits.
Having a plan is the way to avoid binge eating or fast food.
#3 It helps you to waste less.
A lot of your food goes to waste without having a plan for when you’ll use it. Sometimes we tuck our newly purchased groceries in the fridge and forget what’s in there. By the time we discover the food, itself ’s already gone bad. Prepping your veggies and snacks and creating snack bags in advance ensures that they are actually eaten in a portion controlled way.
#4 Having a pre-determined plan helps ward off tantrums from “hangry” children.
By the time 4pm rolls around, the kids are asking for/grabbing ALL THE SNACKS. You can’t think through that stress. Talk about anxiety overload.
#5 You might lose weight!
You might be surprised just how much your waist line benefits from having a plan of action regarding meals.
For more information on creating healthier eating habits…
READ: How to Lose Weight Without Exercising
#6 You’ll be prepared during a snowstorm!
You can sit back and laugh while others scramble to buy their bread and milk during an impending snowstorm. ;-)
#7 You’ll have more time to focus on what’s important to you!
Sacrificing 1-2 hours of your weekend for a smoother week is so worth the effort.
#8 You’ll spend less time in the store and in the kitchen!
The less time you spend in the store and the kitchen, the better it will be for everyone! Reach out to a local farm or try a butcher box delivery for meat, order groceries online and pick them up/have them delivered…with the goal being to simplify your meals as much as possible in order to be more efficient with your time.
READ: Using Your Time Well at Home: 5 Ways to Declutter & Pursue Minimalism with Kids
How To Meal Plan Consistently Each Week
Incorporating anything consistently can be overwhelming at first but you’ll quickly see that with a simple mindset change and some more minimalistic meal planning strategies you’ll be a meal planning ninja in no time! ;-)
Learn how to cook a whole chicken and use it in recipes throughout the week
One of my favorite ways to cook a whole chicken is in the instant pot. The leftover meat from a rotisserie chicken can be repurposed in a ton of ways…
chicken quesadilla
barbecue chicken sandwich
burrito bowl
chicken nachos
chicken pasta
One of our go to weekly recipes to cook a whole chicken is this one - Immune Boosting Instant Pot Whole Chicken
Utilize time saving kitchen gadgets
I totally get wanting to have a more minimalistic kitchen but there are certain kitchen gadgets that you might want to budget for, if you can, in order to simplify your meal preparation.
An instant pot has a slow cooker function and can cook meals in minutes. It can even cook meat straight from the freezer!
I don’t have one personally but I’ve heard good things about the Ninja Foodi. This gadget kicks up the instant pot a notch. It crisps your meat so that it tastes as if it’s been oven cooked. It’s also an air fryer. I didn’t know about this when I purchased my instant pot. Unfortuantely, it’s much more expensive than an instant pot.
An air fryer is another great option and helps speed up cooking. This one has great reviews!
A good food processor is great to minimize time spent prepping food. I use my food processor to make pizza dough, almond butter, chicken salad and to quickly chop and slice up veggies.
A high quality blender like the Vitamix can even blend and heat up soup! We use it almost every single day by making smoothies to make sure the girls get enough veggies in their diet. They even make their own now.
Read: 5 Mom Hacks For Picky Eaters
The beauty of minimalism for your family is that you make the rules. If you are as passionate as I am about feeding your family healthy, nutritious meals, your kitchen may have more gadgets to get the job done. I’m able to get a lot of cooking done at once this way so that I can spend less time in the kitchen.
Don’t overcomplicate meals
If you know your family loves spaghetti and meatballs, put it on the rotation once a week. No sense in ruining a good thing just because you have this vision of meal times being varied and fancy. Sometimes you have to assess what your priorities are in the life stage that you are in. If you have young kids, there will be plenty of days as they grow that you’ll have more freedom to experiment in the kitchen.
Don’t stress about planning breakfasts and lunches in detail. Simple lists of family favorites and leftovers will suffice.
Theme nights are great to help you build consistency. Friday Pizza night, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday…pick a family favorite and keep making it happen the same night of every week (at least for a while until the family gets bored of it. Then you can switch it up.)
Take Advantage of the good days
Motherhood is a rollercoaster ride. You just never know what each day will bring. Make a habit of taking advantage of days when you have a lot of energy, everyone is healthy and the kids are being compliant to cook extra meals and snacks. Sometimes I’ll prep one of my meals a day in advance. It really helps the week go smoother when you are prepared and plan ahead.
Plan To make Double/Triple Batches of meals
When you meal plan, be sure to purchase enough ingredients to double or triple batch at least one meal each week. You’ll be so thankful when your freezer is well stocked with a meal waiting to be reheated on a busy day.
survey your fridge Before you plan for the following week
Surveying your fridge to see what remains will help you waste less food and save some money. Make your grocery list and plans meals with this in mind.
No more impulse buys
Grocery delivery services are your friend. Due to the pandemic a lot of new families are doing weekly grocery delivery/pick up services. If you happen to live in an area that offers grocery delivery, I suggest you take advantage of it if you can!
Once we get back to reality again, you may want to consider keeping grocery delivery up! You will definitely save money by not getting sucked into impulse buys. If you are going to the store without a plan consistently, you’re going to fall hard off of the meal plan train! Have a plan in place and make it happen each week.
I hope this post inspired you to make simple changes to your mealtime habits to better serve your family and make time for what you value most!