#009: A Busy Parent's Guide to Meal Planning

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No one told me feeding a family will take so much time and energy. Before kids, our budget and our waistlines were loose, to say the least. Eating take-out was no big deal. But middle age is around the corner. We have kids to lead by example, and late-night nacho fries don't hit the same.

I'm going to share the 3 steps to meal planning as well as how to optimize your system to make the most of our time and energy.

Because after a day at work, kids' activities, and home-keeping, the thought of dinner shouldn't make you weep.

Okay, let's do this.

1 - Plan The Important Stuff First (15-30min)

This is the foundation to your meal-planned life. Look over your upcoming week to confirm all activities, events, and commitments.

My wife and I have an official meeting to sync our calendars and solidify activities/events.

Once you have the important stuff set in stone, you can plan meals around it.

This will also trim grocery expenses since you'll know which days and meals to shop for.

2 - Plan The Menu For The Week (15-30min)

Planning meals in advance allows you to streamline your busy life and save time.

Considering our lifestyle and the one-week lifespan of most produce, I find it best to only plan one week at a time. But if you find it effective to plan more, by all means!

With your pre-confirmed calendar in front of you, do this in one sitting:

1. Plan breakfast, lunch, dinner for the week.

2. Check inventory of ingredients needed for planned meals to build your shopping list.

This proactive approach may feel like a lot at first, but like anything else, you will get better at it. Efficient use of time and energy is your goal so you can focus on other important aspects of your life.

3 - Shop the Plan (10-120 minutes)

Shopping sucks. But having a list prepares you best for efficiency.

Organize your shopping list and divide by store section to help you get it all in one sweep. I categorize my items into: Produce, Meat, Dairy, Frozen, Cold, & Dry. (I share the app and template I use at the end of this post).

You really have to have the mindset of a competitive athlete when you go into a store. If your cart isn’t skid marks or tipping on the sharp turns, you’re going to slow. In all seriousness, the slower you go, the more likely unnecessary items will land in your cart.

Grocery Delivery

If it’s in your budget, it may be worth it to have groceries delivered with Instacart or something similar. This is something we’ve tried and may go back to once the budget allows. Here are some pros and cons we found:

Pros:

• Huge timesaver

• Spending is more intentional

• No temptation to throw in those Oreos

Cons:

• Cost

• Incorrect Items

• Poor quality Produce - because no one is going to pick the perfect strawberries like I do

If it’s in your budget and find it supports your week, then go for it!

And now to optimize:

Create a rotating meal schedule

Do everything you can to reduce decision fatigue and simplify. Establish your go-to dishes for each meal.

In our household, breakfasts options are:

• Oatmeal & Berries

• Peanut Butter Toast w/ Berries

• Smoothie

• Egg & Fruit.

No one complains, and if they do, it’s not my problem. They’ll eat if they’re hungry.

Lunches:

• Peanut Butter Sandwich w/ Apples

• Tuna Salad or Chicken Salad with Crackers (Store Bought)

• Rotisserie Chicken Sandwich, or similar, etc.

• I’ll have baby carrots, cucumber, grapes, hummus, etc to throw in as sides. Keep it simple.

Dinners tend to be the most stress-inducing, so establish a list of 7-10 dinner ideas as your go-to’s. A few are for your easy nights, and the others for “I’m a superparent” nights.

Once in a while I’ll look into new meal ideas to incorporate into the rotation. Our little food critics are very honest, and help me determine if a dish stays in rotation or cast out.

Use An Instant Pot for easy recipes that yield leftovers

We fell in love with the Instant Pot when it was in its hey-day. Three of our go-to dinners are Instant Pot Recipes. They yield enough food for 2-3 meals. It feels amazing to know the dinner cooking tonight will be tomorrow’s lunch.

For most recipes, you can throw in all your ingredients, set it, and forget it! This frees up your time for other responsibilities, quality fam time, or chill time without the need to check the stove.

And the best part: easy clean-up.

Who doesn’t want that?

Use ingredients for multiple dishes throughout the week

To further simplify your process, use versatile ingredients to utilize in various dishes.

For example, chicken breast can serve as the protein in stir-fries, salads, sandwiches, and pasta dishes. Rice can be the foundation of different bowls or side dishes.

An example expressing our love for bacon: I make pancakes, eggs, and bacon, then use leftover bacon for BLT’s and omelettes the days following.

This can be a creative way to stay within budget.

Streamline your process with online tools and apps

We’re in an age of technology, so use it to make your life easier. It is your ally for effortless meal planning.

Many platforms offer customizable meal plans, automated grocery lists, and recipe suggestions. All based on your preferences and dietary requirements.

They can also help you calculate serving sizes and adjust ingredients accordingly.

As for me, I use Notion* for all my planning, inventory list, shopping list, and recipe archive. It’s a versatile productivity app that can be used for almost anything that needs organization in your life.

*Notion offers subscription plans, but the free version is all you need!

I designed a custom Notion template to do everything previously mentioned. And now I am offering it as my first free digital product! I’m excited to share a tool that has helped me streamline this whole process. I also ncludie our go-to meals and recipes for you to use (or not).

We all want our families to be healthy and fed, but it shouldn’t drain our souls.

I can’t stress enough how these tips and strategies helped our busy family life. It's possible to be efficient, healthy, and energized with a solid meal planning system. Put in the work up front to set yourself up for success and use your energy and time for what matters most: family, work, & fun.

Have an amazing culinary week!

-Omar