How To Plan Weekly Meals For Your Family
If you’re standing in your kitchen at 7:00 at night and can’t figure out what to make for dinner while answering your family’s ‘what is for dinner?’ questions. You aren’t the only one. Meal planning is not only great for helping lower your stress level each day, but it also helps you eat healthier and gives you more time to spend with your family. With some basic organizational skills, you can turn meal time from a last-minute dash to an organized and pleasurable event.
Understand Your Family’s Needs
The first step to effective meal planning is to understand your family’s food needs. Think about dietary restrictions/allergies or any health goals. Some may be vegetarian, while others are expecting high-protein meals.
It is important to consider how much food is adequate for each person and how many different types of meals are needed to keep each member of your family satisfied and interested over the course of a week.
Choose Your Planning Day
Designate one specific day of the week as meal planning day—Sunday evenings are a common one. When possible, approach meal planning as a family affair by inviting each member to provide input on their favourite meals or new types of meals they would like to eat. Involving the family will allow for greater enjoyment during the planning period and help build the anticipation for every member to be excited about the upcoming meal.
Build a Meal List
By assembling a meal list, you’ll eliminate those frustrating choices later in the week. Start with listing out the staples you go to for breakfast, lunch & dinner each week. By providing yourself with multiple options of food that you are familiar with, you’ll quickly get into a routine that saves you time cooking and always provides you with simple-to-prepare meal options.
Choose A Meal Calendar
Having a visual representation of your weekly plan can help you stay organized. By writing down what you will eat each day, you can stay on track and reduce any confusion about which meal to prepare.
You can create a personalized, printable calendar of your meals for each week using Canva. Simply place a copy of your weekly calendar in your kitchen or dining area where all members of your family can see what is planned ahead of time.
Shop Smart
Once you have your meals planned out, you can create a shopping list of all the groceries you will need to prepare your meals. Having this list will limit any purchases that you may have otherwise made that weren’t planned and, in turn, will decrease the amount of food that goes to waste.
Shopping from the grocery list will allow you to buy only the groceries you need, saving you time while also allowing you to stay within your budget. Consider buying in bulk for items you purchase often and purchasing fresh foods when they are in season to ensure high-quality items at the best price.
Prep and Cook Efficiently
Enough preparation and cooking will make meals easier for busy families. Cutting up vegetables, marinating meat, or cooking up various grains ahead of time will cut down on the time spent in the kitchen on days when everyone is rushing around trying to get dinner ready.
Another option is to “batch cook” larger amounts of food so you can prepare enough for one meal and store the rest for future use. If you cook a large batch of roasted vegetables, for example, you can turn them into wraps when they are left over or make a salad out of them the next day.
Review and Adjust
At the end of your weekly meal plan, review how your week has gone. What meals were a hit, and what ones have not worked at all? Does your family really like a certain meal?
Using that information will help you in your meal planning for future weeks. Try to continue to add new recipes every week, but also keep some of the “old favorites” in your rotation. As you determine how much food you need, be sure to adjust the portion sizes accordingly to avoid waste and ensure that everyone is satisfied.
Conclusion
By doing weekly meal planning, you are building structure, balance, and enjoyment into your weekly routine as a family. There is no need to be stressed out from cooking every day, and you can spend time together making mealtime a special occasion. Meal planning can develop into a habit that will have benefits for your family’s health and family life if you are consistent and have a little fun.
