Heather Bedard, C.H.E.
Over the years I have found this topic to be instrumental in my ability to eat healthy as well as feed my family nutritious meals. I have found that if I don’t do this, we end up eating fast food or throwing an easy meal in the microwave – which generally ends up not being the best nutritionally! If I have everything planned and prepped, then I have a much better shot at success.
Everyone is going to approach this topic differently based on their lifestyle and personality, but I would encourage you to not just throw something out because it just doesn’t work for you, or you’re not a planner. Adjustments and lifestyle changes don’t just happen overnight. Give yourself a good couple of weeks to try something before you move on to something else.
I have found that I do best scheduling a time with myself to knock this out. For me, it’s on a Friday. But if you work full-time, a Saturday or Sunday might be best depending on when you go grocery shopping. I created a meal planning sheet which you have available to you in your member account. Once you have a time set, I like to write down my goals because once I get going, I forget and then it adds another layer of frustration. Also, just as a side note, this process can be easily doubled if you like to plan for more than a week at a time. Just keep the same menu for two weeks and then you can switch it up the next two weeks if you need some variety.
There are a few questions I’ll ask myself when I get started:
The first thing is, what fruits or veggies do I want to make sure I incorporate this week? I write these down at the stop of my planner. Sometimes there is certain produce that just sounds good or maybe I know that we need to incorporate more greens and that’s my goal for this next week.
Secondly, do I want any special themes this week? If I want to theme my meals according to a particular part of the world, then I’ll write that down too. Some people find it easier to assign each day a meal like Taco Tuesday, or Soup Saturday to help the planning feel less overwhelming.
Thirdly, what is my schedule like this week? I’ll usually base my recipes around what I have going on that week. Like quick and easy for days we’re super busy, or more involved recipes for days I don’t have as much going on. Or even whether or not we’re having company.
Fourth, are there any foods I already have that I need to use?
Lastly, how can I get my family involved? I’ll write down any of my children, that I would like to have participate with me, next to the meal they can help with. One of the things that I think is really important with establishing a healthy lifestyle is to get the family involved. The kids are really excited to help most of the time and if they’re not, then asking them to help with planning the menu can help to spark that desire…and they’ll be more likely to eat what they picked! I usually use this time to teach my kids about why I do what I do. Some days, yes, I just need to meal plan and get to the store. Other times I like to be intentional about involving them in the process so they can learn too. I might set some guidelines around what foods they can choose from and talk to them about how to create a healthy meal…why we choose some things and leave others out. For example, "No. Macaroni and cheese is not on the menu tonight, and here’s why... But, if you really like it, here’s a recipe of a healthy substitute – what do you think? Or let’s add some good veggies that will give us some fiber to help fill you up so you’re less hungry. Let’s add some grilled zucchini…you pick the seasonings we try. Or let's try a yummy salad and you choose the toppings we can add to it. You can even use this time to check in with your family on the foods that they’ve been liking, and those they haven’t. This is one of the reasons why I love the Dynamic Meal Planner. There’s a spot for you to mark each meal, hit or miss!
Once I have the answers to the questions established, I like to take some time to go through my Pinterest page to find the recipes for the week. I have found this app really helpful to find and curate the recipes we like. We do have some constant family favorites, but once in awhile I like to try something new to spice it up a bit. I usually have my planner page set up to where I can write the name of the recipe down on the day I want to use it, notate if I’m cooking for more than just my family, and then a letter depending on where I found the recipe. So if it’s Pinterest I might put a P in parentheses or the abbreviation of a website I frequent. This just helps when you want to go back and cook it or find the ingredients.
I start with dinners because that’s easier for me to establish. The menu for the week might look like this:
Monday – GF spaghetti with organic meat
Tuesday – Burrito bowls with diced potatoes and taco seasoning
Wednesday – Meatless chili
Thursday – Baked potato with pico/guac
Friday – Quinoa, sweet potato Mediterranean bowl
Saturday – Grilled burrito w/peppers
Sunday – Green beans and roasted potatoes
Something like this I like because there’s only one meat dish for the week and the others can have an organic meat easily added – especially if you’re still transitioning your family to a less meat-centric diet.
For lunches, I like to make enough for dinner that there are leftovers. But, if you or your family don’t like leftovers, you can assign some meal prep items that we talk about in the article titled "Meal Preppers", or do veggie wraps, salad in a jar, Bento bowls – which are food items separated out that you can add together (think fancy Lunchable), or veggie/cheeseless quesadillas. A lot of this can be prepped ahead of time for you to take to work, or your kids to take to school, and others you can save for the weekend when you may have more time to cook.
Breakfasts are a funny thing. Only in the western world do we think we need to have processed carbs to make it a breakfast. One of the most helpful things you can do is get that idea out of your head. Easier said than done though, I know! You can begin by slowly adding more savory items to your repertoire as reflected in the sample menu below. I did add one breakfast incorporating animal products.
Monday – Smoothie, toast w/ peanut or almond butter (if you’re like me, it’s hard to just have a smoothie for breakfast. I like to chew something!)
Tuesday – Overnight oats
Wednesday - Chia seed pudding
Thursday – Breakfast hash (potatoes, peppers, pico)
Friday – Muesli
Saturday – Oil/egg free pancakes
Sunday – Eggs and toast
There are many different approaches to meal planning based off of meals or ingredients, batch cooking etc… But, if you like going by trying recipes, then you’ll write down the ingredients on your grocery list, going through the recipes one at a time, and mark the quantities down that you’ll need. With any luck you’ll have multiples of many ingredients and you can batch cook those...which also makes it a lot cheaper! This is also a good option if you choose your recipes based around themes like Italian or Mexican. Many of these foods will have similar ingredients and can be prepped ahead of time. Some people like to organize their list by aisle or food category. That takes way too much time for me. I will usually try to categorize based on the store or stores I will shop at and then produce vs non produce to keep it simple. Plus, now with more curbside options, you don't even have to worry about this!
Last, but certainly not least, put your meal plan in a place where the whole family can see it. One of my least favorite questions is, “Mom, what are we eating?”. It happens multiple times a day times four because somehow no other child is in the room when I answer each time. Make it easier on yourself and put it on the fridge or an obvious place.
Meal planning doesn’t have to be stressful or strenuous. Having a great place to write down the things you need in an organized way can be so helpful. I encourage you to print out and make copies of the meal planning sheet that is located with your printable resources...let's make meal planning fun again.