Of all the questions a mom gets in a day—“Where’s my other shoe?” “Can we get a hamster?” “Can I watch a show?”—I don’t think any feel more like a 50-pound weight on your shoulders than “What’s for dinner?” And kids ask it. Every. Single. Day.
The solution, at least in my life, is meal planning. What about you? Do you a) like meal planning and want to up your game, b) want to do it but can’t find a system that works for you, or c) have zero interest whatsoever?
Meal planning for busy moms isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. So whether you chose a, b, c, or a category all your own, here are 10 ideas that will help you conquer this task and always have an answer to “Mom, what’s for dinner?”
To Group A: You’re pros ready to up your game. It is time.
1. Double your plan.
I used to plan meals for one week at a time. Then I stretched it to two and now (my husband thinks I’m crazy), I’m considering shooting for four weeks. I won’t make four separate plans. I’ll just duplicate what I did for weeks one and two and grocery shop with that in mind.
This is a money saver. There are no more chicken thighs sitting lonely in the back of the freezer. It’s all getting used. There’s a plan and a purpose for every ingredient.
2. Make dinners that can become lunches.
When we have leftover lasagna, my kids beg to take it to school in their thermoses the next day. Sometimes, knowing they can bring it for lunch gets them to pass on serving themselves seconds. If you can plan dinners that save you time, energy, and money on lunches, you’ve hit professional-level meal planning.
3. Buy frozen food for the end of your plan cycle.
If you plan stuffed portobello mushrooms for dinner seven days after your grocery trip, you’ll be stuffing slime. Use the fresh veggies first, and save frozen ones for the last days before your next trip to the store.
To group B: You struggle to stick to a system. Let’s fix that.
4. Forget about variety. It’s quicksand.
Meal planning for busy moms doesn’t have to mean you never repeat. Quite the opposite because we’re creatures of habit. You know the 10 meals your family enjoys. Rotate them over two weeks.
5. Shoot for easy.
Neither my husband, nor I are gourmet chefs; we don’t own a mandolin, and we don’t have time to braise anything, whatever that means. The best recipes are the ones that are so simple you can’t mess them up, and you practically have them memorized.
6. Determine where you’re saving your ideas.
Sometimes we lose steam on meal planning because we exhaust ourselves searching for ideas. Whenever you find a recipe that sounds good, text it to yourself. Your text thread will be a little digital recipe box! Did you find a recipe in a magazine or cookbook? Snap a pic and text it to yourself.
To group C/the “don’t care” crew: I can’t believe you’re still reading.
7. Ask yourself why you care.
You’re still here, so there must be something about meal planning that piques your interest. Consider why you care (even just a little). How could meal planning make your life better?
8. Now take a baby step.
You’ve named your motivation. Let that push you to take a baby step. Try planning one meal per week. Make it a double batch. You’ll save money by not wasting the other half of that onion; you’ll have two nutritious meals; and you’ll have answers to two days of dinner interrogations!
9. Take an even smaller baby step.
Plan for takeout. Is that really meal planning? Well, takeout is a meal, and if you write it down, it’s a plan. And knowing you have a cooking break tomorrow can motivate you to make a healthy meal today.
10. Make it worth your while.
When I first started meal planning, I told my husband, “I’ll plan it, but you have to cook it.” I loved not having to rinse beans, dice peppers, or flip quesadillas. It made the chore of meal prepping worth it.
I know it’s daunting to meal plan. Some people are naturally better than others. But you should celebrate your effort, no matter how small.
What are your best tips for meal planning for busy moms leave them in the comments below. Need more to get you motivated? Check out this episode of the iMOM Podcast and subscribe to get new episodes every Monday.
