Busy Mom? Simplify with My Five Steps for Meal Planning Success
Don't even know where to start with meal planning? Trust me, I was once with you. But after refining my process over the years I have developed five foolproof steps to make meal planning simple and efficient.
In this episode I outline my 5 Steps to Meal Planning Success that work for me.
1) Step 1-Decide what you want from your food
2) Step 2-Don't over plan
3) Step 3-Fill in recipes based on schedule
4) Step 4-Use leftovers wisely
5) Step 5-Re-use your weekly plans
Transcript of this Episode
Andrea Heyman 00:00 Adventures In Feeding My Fam is a weekly podcast discussing the challenges and fun around feeding your family healthy meals. I'm Andrea Heyman, and I've been a registered dietician for over 25 years. So I know the importance of good nutrition. But I'm also a mom of three, so I understand the challenges and tumor that comes along with trying to make this happen. In this podcast, I'll share my tips, tricks and menus, but also share the stories and food prep failures that come along the way to interview guests. We'll discuss family through traditions, how to strengthen bonds around the family table, as well as their favorite family recipes. There isn't one right way to feed your family. But there are countless stories, you can take bits and pieces and learn from all of them. Welcome to another episode of adventures and feeding my fam the podcast. This week, I'm doing something a little different. And I'm coming to you and I am going to tell you all about how I meal plan. I get a lot of questions about this. So I just wanted to tell you that I have a pretty organized system about this. And I break it down into five simple steps. But before I get into those specifics, I want to kind of describe how things have been looking for me and the household. As far as eating goes. Prior to COVID, we were the house that really had a very structured meal plan. Every day, we would pack lunches for everybody, we would have a dinner prepared at home. But since COVID, I have to say that has really gone out the window. Since I've been working from home three and a half days a week. I tend to nosh all day, graze around the house, maybe I'll get a slice of cheese. Maybe I will have some almonds and dried cranberries, which these choices aren't necessarily bad. It's just that I don't sit down and eat a regular lunch and a regular meal. So then what happens is roll around three or four o'clock. I'm pretty hungry. So I will just grab whatever super convenient. And then a lot of times I haven't been hungry for dinner. So with this school year starting and the kids obviously back in school, I decided that he needed to reel in these habits pretty pretty hard here. And the school years really makes for a good opportunity to do that. So going back to the way I meal plan, this is what lights me up. I think it is so much fun. One because it makes us get makes me get organized. But it also makes ensures that we have healthy meals, and I get to eat the healthy foods that I love and feed my kids and be a good role model for them of what healthy food should look like. But when we have these meals prepared, we tend to sit down together. Even if people have activities and homework and things like that. If we have a meal prepared, we tend to be together, if not all of us than the majority of us. And that is a win win for everybody. It makes me slow down instead of just kind of working through a meal. And it also shows the kids that Yeah, we can come together and eat and have our regular solid routine and connect after a pretty busy day.
Alright, so I break my meal planning down into five simple steps. If you are completely irregular meal planner, these tips can help you kind of fine tune your process. If you're not you're at the other end of the spectrum. That's okay. All right.
So my first step in meal planning is really to decide what I want from my food. So are you an omnivore, a pescatarian a vegetarian? Are you trying to manage certain health conditions? Are you trying to somewhat accommodate a picky eater? These are all factors that go into determining what you want from your food. So in my case, I'm a vegetarian. But once you define what you want from your food, you can proceed by selecting recipes that are right for you and your family. Your weekly meals should consist of lots of fruits and vegetables, and lean protein sources, whether those lean protein sources are animal based or plant based. That's for you to decide. And then we want to make sure our food choices are packed with vitamins and nutrients. For families that have picky eaters, remember that if your child only decides to eat one item from that dinner, we're going to let that be and decide that that's okay. So you want to make sure that every choice that's on their plate, for the most part is a pretty healthy choice. And if they only ate one thing, that you would be okay with it. Alright, so tip number two, or step number two, I should say, is don't over plan. Ah, what do I mean by this? Have you guys ever I'm sure you have, I have definitely been guilty of this, I will make a meal plan that is so elaborate. And every night of the week, I'm going to make these I plan to meet these really fancy meals. And then life happens, the week gets away from us. And that is just not practical. And we're trying to balance 10 bazillion other things. So then by the end of the week, you have all this beautiful produce, that has now gone bad and not a not been used and gone to waste. So that is the most frustrating thing. I hate wasting food. And I try not to do that. So I don't over plan. And the way I do that is by using the 2-2-2 method. Okay, this is what my lovely friend and neighbor Wendy called when I described to her how I meal plan. So two to two means I plan to more interesting, maybe a new recipe new recipes during the week. And then I plan to include two meals for dinners that are going to be a little more modest. And then I have two that are super, super easy take 10 minutes of preparation. What's really nice about this two to two method is that I tend to feel less overwhelmed. Because I haven't over planned, I haven't made a plan that is to elaborate. So therefore, I'm much less likely to grab something on the way home that might not be as healthy of a choice. Or obviously when you're eating out more. It is more expensive.
So step number three in my meal planning process is to look at my calendar and plug in those meals on the days that will work in my schedule. So you want to look at this and determine which nights of the week are your busiest nights, and which are your not as busy nights. So for me, my less busy nights are Fridays and Sundays. So those are typically the days that I make those meals that we talked about in the previous step that are a little bit more time consuming or elaborate or a new recipe that I'm not as familiar with, so that I can have some experimentation and try something new, and the family can try something new. Next, I look at my calendar and find those days where Oh, it is so so busy. We've got meetings or activities, although we don't have as many activities these days. But there's just a lot more going on. Those are the nights that I plug in those super, super 10 minute meals. And that's what we plan to have on those nights. And finally, I plug in the last two meals, those are the moderate meals.
Step number four is that I like to use my leftovers wisely. I don't really call them leftovers. I like to call them planned overs, since they're usually not really technically leftovers. So for example, if I have two recipes that required quinoa I might make those meals back to back so I might make them on a Sunday and a Monday for example. Let's say I might make a keyword veggie bowl on a Sunday. And then if I'm making quinoa cakes another day of the week, I'll make sure it's on Monday or Tuesday so that I really only have to make the keto diet green once a bigger quantity, but have enough for both recipes. Just a really simple time saving tip. In addition, I use my leftovers for lunches. And I really plan on having those leftovers. If, if for some reason we don't have leftovers after a meal, then I don't know what to have for lunch, I have to think about that. And I don't like that I like to do my thinking once for the entire week, and then be done with it.
Alright, step number five, this is the last one, save your weekly meal plans, you do not have to reinvent the wheel week after week after a week. In fact, sometimes I go into a system where I just have a two or three week menu cycle, and then repeat. So or I might keep the majority of the week the same, and then only switch out one or two meals. So if you are new to meal planning, I really suggest you allocate time for this. It's gonna sound hard at first, and it might be but hopefully these five steps will kind of break things down for you. And make it super simple and at least have like a systematic way to go about doing it. So I hope this was really helpful for you guys. I also wanted to come on and tell you that I have really loved doing the podcast. I've said this before, and I'll say it again a couple months ago, I had no plans to start up a podcast. But I have loved interviewing guests. I love the conversations that I've had with those people. I've gotten to talk to them in a deep way. And I've learned things about people that I've known for many, many years that I didn't know, I love hearing the stories and the traditions people have around food, it is so incredible.
There's really no right or wrong way to feed your family. But there are so many ways to do it. And so many ways to make tradition and memories around food and the family table. And to me that is super cool. So if you like this podcast, go ahead and subscribe so that you can listen every week and not miss a single episode. rate the episode and also leave a review. This week I'm giving away a prize. For someone who does all of these tasks. All you have to do is like I said subscribe rate, leave a review. Once you're done, take a screenshot and then send it to me on Instagram at adventures and feeding my family. I will get a lucky winner out of those entries that I receive and you will receive a gift for my friends at Semih love shop. Remember, in general, you can find me at adventures and feeding my family on Instagram. And I also have a Facebook group of the same name but then she wasn't at my fam
Transcript of this Episode
Andrea Heyman 00:00 Adventures In Feeding My Fam is a weekly podcast discussing the challenges and fun around feeding your family healthy meals. I'm Andrea Heyman, and I've been a registered dietician for over 25 years. So I know the importance of good nutrition. But I'm also a mom of three, so I understand the challenges and tumor that comes along with trying to make this happen. In this podcast, I'll share my tips, tricks and menus, but also share the stories and food prep failures that come along the way to interview guests. We'll discuss family through traditions, how to strengthen bonds around the family table, as well as their favorite family recipes. There isn't one right way to feed your family. But there are countless stories, you can take bits and pieces and learn from all of them. Welcome to another episode of adventures and feeding my fam the podcast. This week, I'm doing something a little different. And I'm coming to you and I am going to tell you all about how I meal plan. I get a lot of questions about this. So I just wanted to tell you that I have a pretty organized system about this. And I break it down into five simple steps. But before I get into those specifics, I want to kind of describe how things have been looking for me and the household. As far as eating goes. Prior to COVID, we were the house that really had a very structured meal plan. Every day, we would pack lunches for everybody, we would have a dinner prepared at home. But since COVID, I have to say that has really gone out the window. Since I've been working from home three and a half days a week. I tend to nosh all day, graze around the house, maybe I'll get a slice of cheese. Maybe I will have some almonds and dried cranberries, which these choices aren't necessarily bad. It's just that I don't sit down and eat a regular lunch and a regular meal. So then what happens is roll around three or four o'clock. I'm pretty hungry. So I will just grab whatever super convenient. And then a lot of times I haven't been hungry for dinner. So with this school year starting and the kids obviously back in school, I decided that he needed to reel in these habits pretty pretty hard here. And the school years really makes for a good opportunity to do that. So going back to the way I meal plan, this is what lights me up. I think it is so much fun. One because it makes us get makes me get organized. But it also makes ensures that we have healthy meals, and I get to eat the healthy foods that I love and feed my kids and be a good role model for them of what healthy food should look like. But when we have these meals prepared, we tend to sit down together. Even if people have activities and homework and things like that. If we have a meal prepared, we tend to be together, if not all of us than the majority of us. And that is a win win for everybody. It makes me slow down instead of just kind of working through a meal. And it also shows the kids that Yeah, we can come together and eat and have our regular solid routine and connect after a pretty busy day.
Alright, so I break my meal planning down into five simple steps. If you are completely irregular meal planner, these tips can help you kind of fine tune your process. If you're not you're at the other end of the spectrum. That's okay. All right.
So my first step in meal planning is really to decide what I want from my food. So are you an omnivore, a pescatarian a vegetarian? Are you trying to manage certain health conditions? Are you trying to somewhat accommodate a picky eater? These are all factors that go into determining what you want from your food. So in my case, I'm a vegetarian. But once you define what you want from your food, you can proceed by selecting recipes that are right for you and your family. Your weekly meals should consist of lots of fruits and vegetables, and lean protein sources, whether those lean protein sources are animal based or plant based. That's for you to decide. And then we want to make sure our food choices are packed with vitamins and nutrients. For families that have picky eaters, remember that if your child only decides to eat one item from that dinner, we're going to let that be and decide that that's okay. So you want to make sure that every choice that's on their plate, for the most part is a pretty healthy choice. And if they only ate one thing, that you would be okay with it. Alright, so tip number two, or step number two, I should say, is don't over plan. Ah, what do I mean by this? Have you guys ever I'm sure you have, I have definitely been guilty of this, I will make a meal plan that is so elaborate. And every night of the week, I'm going to make these I plan to meet these really fancy meals. And then life happens, the week gets away from us. And that is just not practical. And we're trying to balance 10 bazillion other things. So then by the end of the week, you have all this beautiful produce, that has now gone bad and not a not been used and gone to waste. So that is the most frustrating thing. I hate wasting food. And I try not to do that. So I don't over plan. And the way I do that is by using the 2-2-2 method. Okay, this is what my lovely friend and neighbor Wendy called when I described to her how I meal plan. So two to two means I plan to more interesting, maybe a new recipe new recipes during the week. And then I plan to include two meals for dinners that are going to be a little more modest. And then I have two that are super, super easy take 10 minutes of preparation. What's really nice about this two to two method is that I tend to feel less overwhelmed. Because I haven't over planned, I haven't made a plan that is to elaborate. So therefore, I'm much less likely to grab something on the way home that might not be as healthy of a choice. Or obviously when you're eating out more. It is more expensive.
So step number three in my meal planning process is to look at my calendar and plug in those meals on the days that will work in my schedule. So you want to look at this and determine which nights of the week are your busiest nights, and which are your not as busy nights. So for me, my less busy nights are Fridays and Sundays. So those are typically the days that I make those meals that we talked about in the previous step that are a little bit more time consuming or elaborate or a new recipe that I'm not as familiar with, so that I can have some experimentation and try something new, and the family can try something new. Next, I look at my calendar and find those days where Oh, it is so so busy. We've got meetings or activities, although we don't have as many activities these days. But there's just a lot more going on. Those are the nights that I plug in those super, super 10 minute meals. And that's what we plan to have on those nights. And finally, I plug in the last two meals, those are the moderate meals.
Step number four is that I like to use my leftovers wisely. I don't really call them leftovers. I like to call them planned overs, since they're usually not really technically leftovers. So for example, if I have two recipes that required quinoa I might make those meals back to back so I might make them on a Sunday and a Monday for example. Let's say I might make a keyword veggie bowl on a Sunday. And then if I'm making quinoa cakes another day of the week, I'll make sure it's on Monday or Tuesday so that I really only have to make the keto diet green once a bigger quantity, but have enough for both recipes. Just a really simple time saving tip. In addition, I use my leftovers for lunches. And I really plan on having those leftovers. If, if for some reason we don't have leftovers after a meal, then I don't know what to have for lunch, I have to think about that. And I don't like that I like to do my thinking once for the entire week, and then be done with it.
Alright, step number five, this is the last one, save your weekly meal plans, you do not have to reinvent the wheel week after week after a week. In fact, sometimes I go into a system where I just have a two or three week menu cycle, and then repeat. So or I might keep the majority of the week the same, and then only switch out one or two meals. So if you are new to meal planning, I really suggest you allocate time for this. It's gonna sound hard at first, and it might be but hopefully these five steps will kind of break things down for you. And make it super simple and at least have like a systematic way to go about doing it. So I hope this was really helpful for you guys. I also wanted to come on and tell you that I have really loved doing the podcast. I've said this before, and I'll say it again a couple months ago, I had no plans to start up a podcast. But I have loved interviewing guests. I love the conversations that I've had with those people. I've gotten to talk to them in a deep way. And I've learned things about people that I've known for many, many years that I didn't know, I love hearing the stories and the traditions people have around food, it is so incredible.
There's really no right or wrong way to feed your family. But there are so many ways to do it. And so many ways to make tradition and memories around food and the family table. And to me that is super cool. So if you like this podcast, go ahead and subscribe so that you can listen every week and not miss a single episode. rate the episode and also leave a review. This week I'm giving away a prize. For someone who does all of these tasks. All you have to do is like I said subscribe rate, leave a review. Once you're done, take a screenshot and then send it to me on Instagram at adventures and feeding my family. I will get a lucky winner out of those entries that I receive and you will receive a gift for my friends at Semih love shop. Remember, in general, you can find me at adventures and feeding my family on Instagram. And I also have a Facebook group of the same name but then she wasn't at my fam