How to Meal Plan for Success!

Ready to prep like a pro? Here are some tips that can help make you successful and decrease the stress of cooking every week!

Do you ever get to Sunday evening and realize that you have just a few hours to try and get your life together before another busy week of work and mom life? Yep, me too!

Well have no fear, even if you aren't a full-fledged meal planner (full disclosure, I'm not always either) I think these tips will come in handy ,and it's simple things like this that I use to help "plan" my week.

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1. First of all, What do I already have on hand? I always start with this! I HATE wasting food, so if I have anything left in my refrigerator from the last grocery trip, I will make sure to use that first. Maybe that's also the institutional dietitian in me that learned the First In, First Out method to help you rotate your stock in a food storage room so nothing expires. Things that have to be used first will go on Monday or Tuesday to ensure they get used up. I also check the freezer stash to see if there are any meats that I can pull out and use up. This will also cut down on your grocery store bill! Win, win!

2. Next, I always take into account, When can I get to the grocery store this week? I don't know if your anything like me, but my weeks vary and I can't always, nor do I want to go to the grocery store on a Sunday afternoon. Sometimes I go on my way home from work before I pick up the kids, other times I'm pushing one of those "you basically need a CDL to drive this obnoxious thing" carts through the store with all 3 kids. Point being, you can't plan for meals if you aren't going to get to the store to get them. Once you know when you can make it to the store then you can work on actually planning.

3. Something else I always consider...What did we have last week? Again, that would be my institutional dietitian coming out and being used to a rotating 4-week cycle menu. I try to get some variety in our meals. So if we just had burgers last week, chances are we won't be having it this week. I also try to vary the veggies and snacks. If we had Brussel's sprouts last week, then I may opt for zucchini this week. Same with some of the fruits.

4. Most importantly, What are some of your favorite meals? I know I'm not the only mom who has to keep what my kids will eat in mind when meal planning. After all, we are responsible for feeding them, at least for now...(insert eye roll). I also know I'm not the only mom who has picky kids at times (not sure how or when that happened either, insert second eye roll). To prevent total meltdowns and ensure that my kids actually eat SOMETHING at meals, I make sure that there is at least one food that they will eat. Sometimes that one food isn't the entree or the protein and that's OK. Once you have figured out what some of those favorite meals are, make a list of them!

5. Once you have a list of guaranteed meals, plug those meals into your week! To keep from getting too bored, try one or two new meals a week. If the new meal is a success, add it to your favorites list, if not, try another new recipe next week! This allows you to come up with a great list and variety of meals that you can eventually just plug into your week with ease!

6. LEFTOVERS!!! I don't know about you, but I could totally live on leftovers! I mean, you're already doing the prepping, cooking and clean up so why not make a bit more and then you eliminate all that work for an entire meal! They are also super convenient to pack for lunch or when you only have 30 minutes to feed the family before you're back out the door for t-ball practice.

7. Now that you have you're meals planned, you can make your grocery list!

I know, it's quite the process to get delicious and nutritious meals on your table but I promise by just taking a few minutes while you're helping the kids with homework or loading the dishwasher, you can fill out my WEEKLY MEAL PLANNER and then not have to worry about "Mom, what's for dinner?" until next week!

Email me at healthyyoubyamy@gmail.com and I'll send your FREE Weekly Meal Planner PDF right over!