Quick Meal Plan Ideas!
Are you so busy you wish you had another you? Or more hours in the day? And, wonder how you can pull off meal planning and preparation for your family?If you are a busy parent, with no time to think let alone plan, how DO you plan meals for the week and your family?
One idea is to plan one day a week or month to get the bulk of your shopping done.
Canned foods, rice, beans, toiletries, and other non-perishables should be bought in one trip for the week or month and perishables that cannot be frozen should be bought as needed and based on the frequency of consumption. This would include dairy products and certain meats or similar that must be consumed and only refrigerated until consumed.
Planning out your list before you go, and your meals for the week should be done before the trip; and, preferably, at a time when you can focus, such as when everyone is asleep in your household or during your lunchtime if you work, etc. The list creation will help
you make better choices for your budget, give you a visual of what is ahead and enable
you to adjust your list without the pressure of making decisions while in a potentially
noisy store, tired from a long day’s work, or any other unanticipated reason that may shift your thinking toward less than beneficial choices made on the fly.
Once you have the groceries bought and plan written for your week of meals, again,
choosing a time when you will have peace or focus, if possible, is ideal to prepare your meals. Preparation for your meals could include chopping all your vegetables, one day,
and storing them in plastic containers, like Rubbermaid, or sealing them in freezable bags, so when the correlating meal day comes they can be pulled, thawed and used fast!
Another day could be preparing all your spices, by measuring them out and storing them in suitable containers, as well.
Finally, you can set out the night before, or the morning of the meal day, in question, all utensils, pots, pans and correlating dishes, so when you get home you can get to work right away and whip out an awesome dinner in no time! So, if you plan, it saves time and money to do so and enables you to conserve, not overdo your energy, and allow you to enjoy more time to relax and enjoy family life!
And, don’t forget, to offer the opportunity for your kids to contribute their talents to your meal making, as this can make for great memories and model for them how to effectively plan and make a fantastic family meal!
Remember, stay open to learning new things, as we all grow together!
Evita E. has been a happy customer of Nanny2U, is mom to an Autistic Angel and now is writing, doing photography, videography and creative content, with every available moment in a very dynamic and busy life!