I quit one of my absolute favorite things…meal planning

It was one of my favorite pass times that I didn’t feel guilty about because it felt useful.

For a season it was.

But then it wasn’t.

When I first started meal planning I would look at the week…then over time that evolved to the month.  I’d look at a lot of recipes plan out the whole month to try to make good use of the bottle of soy sauce or bag of onions. This was fine except what I thought I wanted to eat at the beginning of the month might not actually be what I wanted by the end.

I then went through a phase of make dump meals for the crockpot and freezing then eating them all over the course of two weeks. This I would do again…just differently.

Then as life got busier again I tried weekly once more. Seven recipes decided , grocery list made..simple right?

Except here is what happened.

When I went to the grocery store with a list of different recipes to try it was always 20 to 30% more expensive than when I went and bought basic things. Why… because I was buying different ingredients that I didn’t normally buy a random expensive spice etc. This adds up fast!

Then dinner prep was more stressful because I’d be trying to read the recipe while cooking and managing kids.

Or my life wouldn’t go as I planned on paper and it would create stress, food waste and take out purchases.

So I quit.

Here is a what actually works for my family.

I pick proteins we like.

I always have frozen vegetables.

I always have some jarred sauces and various condiments.

I always have something that I can cook easily if things get hectic.

And most important….almost every mealI cook is deconstructed.

What do I mean by that?

Think of it as a build your own meal bar. I have everything available for a meal like tacos for example… but everyone gets to pick how they want it.

This works for us .

This works because it allows my different family members in different phases of life to always have a meal they will actually eat available to them without making me.a short order cook.

Will I ever revisit the dump meals… absolutely…just not yet.

Here are some simple ways to implement this

Cook your meat of choice seasoned with basic seasons like salt and pepper.

Once cooked for kids who do not want their meat with sauces or in anything… simply serve the meat plain.

For family members that like sauce serve with the sauce you prepared ( say a spinach cream sauce) or if everyone likes different sauces keep a few on hand that each person likes and they can sauce up their meat as they please.

How you construct the meal can also follow this concept.

If you made burrito bowls you can serve all the components separately and allow kids to have it as they want.

When I do this I have some kids who make the bowl you would get it served at a restaurant..all mixed and layered… and I have some kids who eat the various components separately on a plate not mixed. Everyone is fed and everyone is happy. 

Why does this work?

For one I make one meal and simply modify how it is served.

It reduces pressure on me and my children.

I don’t force anyone to eat something they don’t like. I don’t like everything and therefore I don’t make and eat everything.. my children don’t do the shopping or cooking so they have less say already. Given them the choice of how they eat their meat keeps the structure most parents want of eat what I cooked but with the autonomy of how they eat it in tact.

Bonus… my kids actually have gotten more comfortable with more complex foods, textures and combinations this way than when I used to serve a meal the “traditional ” way .

What also works is making a protein like a big pack of chicken breasts, ground meat or this time of year a whole turkey and then using it several ways during the week.

Life is very busy with kids in school, sports  and other activities.  Having the protein cooked and ready to heat on a busy night saves time and sanity. Repurposing into different meals gives variety without pressure.

Ground beef can be tacos one night beef stroganoff the next…assuming you dont season all the meat for tacos before setting some aside 🙂

A pack of chicken can be served as BBQ one night then the next can be tossed into rice for stir fry.

Italian sausages can be sausages peppers and onions one night then served in red sauce with pasta the next night…. and if you have leftover chicken you can make sausage chicken rigatoni!

Meal planning is fun and I do miss the enjoyment of it… but my current season calls for a practical and reliable system that keeps costs in check and reduces pressure. My week can change drastically at any time and my method aligns with changes better than a rigid meal plan.

Quitting meal planning gave me permission to make feeding my family manageable and reduced pressure to perform. That alone was worth even more than the 20 to 30% savings.