Simplifying Your Meals
It never failed - every evening my husband and I would look at one another and say, “What do you want for dinner?” No one wanted to make the decision. No one wanted to prep the meals. It’s just that end-of-the-day, trying to get to the finish line, hoping the other has a Hail Mary idea, that always left us coming up short. So we’ve started doing a few things that make the week a little easier. Here are some things that we do:
Meal Plan, Not Prep
Every Sunday we take inventory of the week ahead and map out a game plan for our dinners. It is not a huge undertaking of sorts, just a few quick go-tos written down, mapping out evenings where we might need to grab take-out, etc.
Keep It Simple
I have to remind myself that every night does not need to be a gourmet meal. Keep it simple with easy meals, or maybe even weekly themes. For example: Mondays are always chicken; Tuesdays are always beef; Wednesdays are always pork; etc. When you stick to a simple theme like that your menu could be something like:
Monday: Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan
Tuesday: Lazy Lasagna with ground beef
Wednesday: Crock Pot Pulled Pork sandwiches
Keep A Running Grocery List
We keep a running grocery list of all the items that we need on the fridge, and on Sundays (unless it’s needed before), we make a big run to Costco and the grocery store. One thing I also love about modern technology is the ability to order grocery pick-up. I can easily dump all the items I need into the online shopping app and have them ready for pick-up or delivery. This is a game changer when you have little ones!
Meal Delivery Service
This is not your typical boxed meal service - this is something different. Hear me out. We found a local business in Columbus, Ohio that makes healthy meals that you can pick-up or have delivered to your home every week. These meals are already made - right there in their commercial kitchen - packaged and perfect for taking for work lunches or popping in the oven for dinners. The service that we use is not a chain, so I highly recommend that you do a local search in your area for these meal prep services.
What are some ideas that you stick to every week to keep your meal planning simple? Our Meal Planning Notepad will be the February 2022 Product of the Month, so keep your eyes peeled for that!
