Meal Planning

Dun, Dun DUUUUNNNN.  

This seems to strike fear into the heart of every person I have ever met. Don't get me wrong. Sometimes I love it, but other times, I really, really, hate it. A Lot. 

I think that the hate usually stems from my frustration over my families strange likes and dislikes, and lack of newness in the planning. While with my family the limitations on meals are all in their heads I know other families with allergies that tend to feel the same frustration. So as I am sitting here starting to plan meals for the second half of the month, I figured I'd practice good avoidance technique and blog about the process instead. 

First things first. Pick how long you are going to plan for. 3 days, a week, two weeks, a month? The choice is up to you and how often you can go to the grocery store, or go between visits. At our last house we had a big pantry, two full sized refrigerators and a chest freezer, I could have planned for 2 months at a time easily with just quick trips for fresh veggies every once in a while. And since for a long time I was the only one who wanted the veggies, it was even easier. This house, not so much, one fridge, one dorm sized fridge and an itty bitty pantry with flimsy shelves that feel like they will collapse with the weight of a large bag of sugar on them. So for me we are doing a two week plan. 

Step two, find a really cute calendar or printable to put the meal plan on. This can easily kill a half an hour, especially if you go on Pinterest. Then you can tell your family that this meal planning process takes HOURS and they will be extra kind to you on meal planning days. 

Okay, no, the real step two. I ask each of my family members for one meal they do want, and one they don't. Sometimes these requests cancel each other out, and that's okay. They know that's how the process works. For example my oldest ALWAYS asks for Chicken and Rice Casserole, but my youngest doesn't love it, so she will sometimes veto it. My youngest LOVES blue box mac and cheese, but my husband and I will sometimes use our veto for something a little more meal like. 

This time our list looked like this. 

• AJ - wants Asian Chicken  and doesn't want Baked Potatoes (shocking, potatoes make her gag)
• P-Nut - Pecan Crusted Chicken and it all sounds good. 
• David - Nothing too Heavy, but no specific requests. (Thanks, honey, that's super helpful)

Well That gives me two things. out of 14. Yay. Not. But it's a start at least. It looks like we will be eating a lot of chicken dishes this fortnight. 

Okay. Then the next thing I look at is how much time I will have to cook the meals this week. Since I am currently unemployed and only one of the kids has picked up their chosen extracurricular activities in our new location this is much easier than it used to be. I just have to make a meal that is quick to eat on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  Something that can be eaten after Jiu-jitsu but before bed. 

Step 4, I think I'm on 4, right? Whatever, it doesn't matter, all that matters is getting this done. I hate meal planning, did I mention that? Is to start entering the requested meals into the open slots and then start filling in with some favorites. Don't forget to add in days for leftovers or eating out. You don't have to do these on the days you plan them necessarily, but it allows for some things to go a way that you didn't plan for them to go. I also add one to two new meals each couple of weeks. You know what this means, MORE PINTEREST!!!! I mean we have to research those recipes right??  Always mark where you have the recipes save so that you can find them later, this is one of those learn from my mistakes moments.

And after all of that you have a completed meal plan. Yay! Now to start making the grocery list, and that's a whole different ball of wax.