Slow cooker and/or Instant Pot recipes?.Here are some thought starters to help you create your first master meal list. I know how hard it can be to come up with meal ideas on the spot. Our family rotates through a handful of breakfast and lunches - whole grain bagels and cream cheese, eggs and frozen hash browns, avocado toast and eggs, cinnamon oatmeal made with milk, leftover whole grain pancakes or waffles. If you’re new to meal planning I recommend starting just with dinners so you don’t get overwhelmed like I did at first. Just know you don’t have to plan every meal, every day of the week. If you want to include breakfast and lunch ideas on this list, go for it! It won’t hurt to have a running list of favorites for these categories. You can work on healthy modifications and substitutions later. If you’ve got more, great! It doesn’t matter how healthy they are.
#Large family meal planning how to
The ones you can think of off the top of your head, know how to make, and are well-liked by the entire family.Īim for at least 10-20 dinner options.
#Large family meal planning free
Grab a piece of paper or my free guide and master meal list printable, set a 5-minute timer, and write down all of your go-to meals: To create a master list, you’ll need to first brainstorm a list of meals and recipes you and your family already enjoy. Not only that, I’ve found kids enjoy the repetition and predictability of this simplified approach, so it’s a win-win for everyone! How to Create a Master Meal List Brainstorm your favorite meals and recipes.
With a master meal list you can build a meal plan in a matter of minutes and cook with confidence because you already know exactly what you need to do to get dinner on the table each night.Ĭreating a master meal list is the secret sauce of simplified meal planning. It minimizes decision fatigue and eliminates the mental load of constantly searching for and learning new recipes. What is a master meal list?Ī master meal list is simply a list of recipes and meal ideas you and your family already know and love - the ones you can lean on even during the busiest of weeks.Ī master meal list makes meal planning easier by limiting your meal options. I realized the secret to simple meal planning is sticking with what you know. New recipes have a steep learning curve and can easily take triple the amount of time to plan and prepare compared to a meal you’re already familiar with. The secret to simple meal planning: the master meal list. I was spending a lot of time and energy curating and learning to cook new recipes each week. In doing this, I quickly realized the source of nearly all of my meal planning struggles. I hoped a more simplistic approach to meal planning would achieve similar results. After all, simplifying my wardrobe, the toys, our kitchen stuff, and the kids’ clothes had drastically improved our lives. The second time around, I coached myself to meal plan like a minimalist. And as a dietitian who is passionate about eating well, meal planning was something I was passionate to figure out - not just for our family but so I could help other families as well. I tried to quit, but the truth of the matter was my family still needed to eat. I decided meal planning “just wasn’t for me.” Not surprisingly, I became overwhelmed and burnt out after just a few weeks. I never reused any of the plans or grocery lists I had worked so hard to create.I filled my plans with a new lineup of Pinterest-worthy recipes every week.I went from planning zero meals to all the meals - and snacks, too.When I first started meal planning after having kids, I made three huge (and super common) mistakes: Meal planning is now one of my superpowers.
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