This is Part 3 of my meal planning series
I don’t claim to have years of meal planning under my belt. Being organized and cooking are not natural talents of mine. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that getting nutritious and tasty meals on the table takes planning.
Because I’ve been doing this for a while now, you can benefit from my mistakes. So I’ll share with you my meal planning secrets. And I hope if you have some of your own, you’ll share them in the comments below.
Jump Ahead
1. Pick a day to get it done
I take one day to plan the meals for the week and do the big grocery trip. (I’ll cover the grocery list and shopping in next week’s post.) I currently only plan dinner meals but I am going to start planning other meals and snacks. For me the best day of the week to meal plan and shop is Sunday. I’ve tried various days including Monday but have found Sunday is the best because it allows me to get stocked up for the week so Monday can be spent having fun with the kids.
2. Look at the week ahead
When it comes to picking meals for the week you’ll want to grab your calendar and consider what’s going on that week. I’m lucky that I have a regular schedule. For example, Wednesday and Thursday are workdays so I plan an 8-10 hour slow cooker meal for Wednesday. Thursdays are leftovers. Monday, Tuesday, and Fridays I can make something in the oven or a slow cooker meal with a shorter cook time. Saturday we eat out and Sunday is dinner at my mother-in-law’s.
3. Let each family member have a say
My husband and I generally like the same things but I like to include his favorites (as well as mine!). My daughter’s favorite meal is Mexican food so we have that every Monday. There really aren’t a lot of dinner meals she’s guaranteed to eat, but meatballs and soup or stews with beans can be hits. When she’s older I’ll have her play a more active part in planning weekly meals. Recently when I asked her what she wanted for next week’s dinner and she said “cookies and apples.”
I also consider my 10-month-old boy who has recently started feeding himself (and will eat anything — gotta love babies!). A couple of our recent slow cooker meals have been soft enough for him to eat with a little mashing. I love that we are getting away from separate meals so early. He loves our food!
See: How to Please the Whole Family at Dinnertime
4. Ensure Balanced Nutrition
I think planning meals is the key to providing your family with a variety of nutritious foods. The three big picture nutrition items I look for are fish twice a week, beans 2-3 times a week (as entree or side) and at least one vitamin-A rich veggie and one vitamin-C rich fruit daily.
5. Incorporate simplifying techniques
I have found that picking “theme nights” makes planning easier and more fun. For us, Mondays are Mexican night, Wednesdays are for the slow cooker, and Fridays are fish. I leave Tuesdays and Thursdays open.
I try not to make too many complicated dishes at once – it stresses me out. If it’s a time-consuming entrée, for example, then the veggie has to be easy. A more complicated veggie or side has to be made with a slow cooker chicken or fish. When I first started cooking, I had my share of disasters. I think it’s progress that I haven’t had one in a while.
See: 6 Kitchen Shortcuts that REALLY Work
The last simplifying technique I use is pre-prep. Every night before bed I look at what’s for dinner and do pre-prep if needed. It’s either taking meat or fish out of the freezer, chopping fruit and vegetables, making salads, or putting together slow cooker dishes for the morning. The key is to do most of the work ahead of time so the preparation part is easy.
Let me know how these tips work for you. Happy meal planning!
Next: How to Spend Less Time Grocery Shopping
Previous: How to Uncover Easy and Healthy Family Meals
How does your meal plan work – especially for working families. 3 preps? really?
The prep is totally optional. When I work I only prep either in the evening or morning but days off I usually do something during my kids naps. So I thought it would be better to have more options. People can use it however they want. Make sense?
I find using my slow cooker helps in my meal planning too. I do a few minutes of prep while I’m cleaning up after dinner and then put everything in the slow cooker before I go to work. I have a bunch of healthy slow cooker recipes that I post on my blog if you’re interested.
Thanks for all the meal planning tips – they are quite helpful! I particularly like the tips on balanced nutrition, which I think I often forget about. I also love using my slow cooker to help with meal planning. I work all day and take classes several nights a week, so it’s a life-saver. I bought one that has a timer and then a “keep warm” feature, so I can leave it for 12+ hours. Another meal planning tip I use is to use my slow cooker on Sunday mornings to cook a whole chicken or chicken pieces, so that I can shred them and use them for salads and other recipes during the week.
Colleen — Thanks for the tips…those are great. I’ve been meaning to cook a whole chicken in the slow cooker. I don’t know why but whole chickens scare me…
I was very intimidated by the whole chicken in the crockpot too, but once I tried it, I realized how easy it was! I still only cook it when I home, though, so that I can watch and make sure it isn’t over/under cooked. Also, I especially like doing it in the crockpot because I can remove all the skin, but the chicken still stays moist!
I’ve been trying to incorporate more nutrition and variety into my meal plans, and I realized I really don’t eat beans, except for in chili or the occassional side dish of black beans. Do you have any tips for healthful recipes that use beans or how you incorporate them? Or lentils? I’ve never cooked them, but it seems like I’m missing a nutrition goldmine!
Thanks! Oh and I’m really enjoying this series of posts!!
Here are a few I’ve posted:
http://www.maryannjacobsen.com/2009/12/easy-two-bean-salad-and-results-of-the-giveaway/
http://www.maryannjacobsen.com/2009/11/quick-dinners-slow-cooker-minestrone/
http://www.maryannjacobsen.com/2009/04/family-dinners-burrito/
I plan to post more but if you search you’ll find a lot of meals with beans especially slow cooker meals. Here’s a super-easy recipe from 5 dollar dinners for lentil and brown rice casserole.
http://www.5dollardinners.com/2009/09/lentil-and-brown-rice-casserole.html
I’m glad you are enjoying the series!
Those are some great ideas! Thank you!
I signed up for your email service and would like the meal planning chart. I couldn’t find it on your website. Would you please tell me how I can get it? Thanks.
Am in same boat as Irene…I am not able to find your meal planning chart.
I’ve been a subscriber and was re-reading these posts and looking for the meal planning chart and grocery list and cannot find them. Thank you!
Sorry need to add those back in…here they are
http://www.maryannjacobsen.com/recommended-books/free-downloads/