The Deal with Meal Planning

When I was a working professional, meal planning heavily consisted of utilizing meal kit services, frozen lunches and eating out. Our family’s higher cost for food was justified by the convince and enabled by our combined income. However, since separating from the Air Force over a year ago, circumstances have necessitated that I be much more intentional in this area of homemaking.

The transition for me to stay home with our children was sincerely desired and has been extremely life-giving, but I really did feel a sense of failure in those fist few weeks because the act of getting food on the table was extremely stressful. To make a long story short, I would like to present you with a few benefits we now experience because we meal plan:

- Eliminates Stress : Have you ever reached the end of a long day, hungry and tired, just to look at your spouse and ask one another: “What’s for dinner?” - Having a plan to work off of decreases hangry interactions and boosts a sense of security within the family.

- Cost Effective : By planning your meals, you curate a specific grocery list, which eliminates the cost of unplanned purchases and snacks. Having a curated list also allows you to enjoy the money and time saving benefits of grocery pick-up. Additionally, you are much less likely to spend money eating out, and with all of these factors combined, the savings really add up quickly!

- Less Snacking : When you have a plan, you know what your next meal is going to be, and because you planned it, it’s likely to be something you enjoy eating. Because of this, it is easier decide not to snack so that you can build anticipation for your next meal and enjoy it with an increased appetite - two great benefits: weight management and money saving!

- Health/Weight Management: Taking a few moments to think about things ahead of time enables you to make healthier decisions so that you’re not at the mercy of convenience when you’re hungry.

- Enables Flexibility : Having a plan to start with allows for flexibility when things change.

- Creates Memories : Meal times should be special, not stressful. I have been able to translate the energy saved from my inefficiency into creating special mealtime traditions, to include meals served in courses on random week-day evenings and exciting new culinary experiences.

- Builds Community : Because you’re thinking about it ahead of time, it is easier to make plans to break bread with others.

- Reduces Waste / Easier Inventory to Manage: It doesn’t feel good to throw away food that you paid for because you forgot it was there.

If you’re interested, here are a few strategies and resources to make meal planning easier to implement:

- One Week at a Time : What is your schedule for the next week? Are some days busier than others? Plan accordingly, and only shop for that week’s groceries.

- Intentional Leftovers : Our current strategy is to make enough food for dinner that we have leftovers to eat for lunch the next day. What would be best for you?

- Reference List : Consolidate a list of your favorite meals and their required ingredients for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Reference the list if you feel stuck in your planning.

- Make it Fun : I decorated a special folder dedicated to meal planning, which contains my recipes, reference list and fun meal planning paper pad: )

Thanks for reading this far, bon appétit!