Meal planning- we’ve all heard about ad nauseam at this point. While I also tend to roll my eyes when someone talks about meal planning and prepping, I can’t deny its benefits. What to have for dinner and packing lunches can be a huge source of unneeded decision fatigue and meal planning really is the key to streamlining that part of your life so that you can better focus on the things that really matter.
When most people talk about meal planning, they are usually referring to cooking for a full family- spouses, kids, etc. I don’t have any children, so my husband and I are just cooking for two. Because of our lifestyle at the moment, we really don’t need to have a strict and structured meal plan- we have a bit of wiggle room to go with whatever we are feeling in the moment.
However, our work schedules don’t always overlap much- my husband goes to work early and therefore goes to bed early. I’m a night owl and my job means I'm often working evenings. Having food ready for my husband to have when he gets home is really nice so that he can stick to his sleeping schedule and I'm not rushing around like a crazy person, trying to get dinner done.
What I’ve started to do is pick three meals per week. I find recipes on Pinterest, and I follow some recipe bloggers like Emily Bites and I signed up for emails from Yummly, which has been super helpful on coming up with ideas.
I try to go grocery shopping just once a week. I grab what I need for meals that week and any regular groceries that we are out of, so that I have everything I need on hand to make dinners and pack lunches for the week.
I write the meals in my planner to remind me of the “plan” but I don’t really assign them to a specific day. I try to make a meal every day that I am at home, which for me is about three times a week. I try to make as much food as possible while I am cooking so that we can have leftovers for lunches or that my husband can warm up when I’m out of the house.
The point that I’m trying to make here is that meal planning and prepping should be totally customized to your lifestyle. If you’ve tried meal planning in the past, but felt like it didn’t actually work out for you, it’s probably because you’ve tried to do it just like someone else you know or someone else you saw on the internet. When it comes to meal planning, don’t feel like it has to be perfectly structured to work. Make it work FOR you and for your lifestyle and it’s far more likely to stick.
P.S. Here’s a recipe we’ve loved recently- https://www.eatyourselfskinny.com/healthy-turkey-lettuce-wraps/
Hey, I’m Meghan
I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!
