You know the thing that takes the absolute longest when meal planning?
Coming up with meal ideas, and then deciding which ones to actually make.
Yes, that endless task of decision-making that taunts a mother day and night. Decisions never end.
My solution to the decision fatigue revolved around meals is to create a menu of meals, or, as I call it, a meal list. This gave me SO much time back. The benefits of a meal list are that it is…
- a quick go-to when you’re glancing over meal ideas
- a list of meals you ALREADY KNOW how to make
- categorized the way you need it to for easy decision-making
Basically, a meal list saves you time and energy by cutting down on the first part of meal planning: the brainstorming of meal ideas. Now, the second part of meal planning is deciding which meals to make, and that part varies depending on what you have on hand, your budget, what you feel like eating that week, and any other various factor that you use when picking your meals. But let’s focus on the first part, the brainstorming-of-meal-ideas part.
Step 1
Brain dump all of the meal cooking methods you frequently use. Example: crock pot, stovetop, casserole-dish-in-the-oven, etc. The goal here is to make a list of meals you often make because they work for you.
Step 2
Once you have a list of your meal cooking methods that you prefer, now is the time for you to plug in those meals that you enjoy making (and eating!) in each of those categories. Example: Stovetop Meals > grilled cheese and tomato soup, pork fried rice, chicken quesadillas.
Step 3
Make this meal list your own by adding additional color coding, if that’s your jam. For example, you can color those meals that your spouse can prepare in green, to further organize your meal list. Because we all have been there, where we need to plan our meals based on how busy that day is (AKA what meals you can make with as little time or help as possible!) so maybe adding an additional step of color coding your meals will be helpful. Also, you can color code meals with mostly shelf-stable ingredients in orange, so that when you’re in a pinch, you can quickly identify from your meal list what meals you likely have all ingredients already on hand! Time saver!
Lastly, type it all up in a Word document so that you can make it more polished. You can print it and even laminate it and stick it on the fridge! Then, if anyone in your family wants to help pick out meals for the week, they can look at the meal list, or your home’s “menu”, to request certain meals for the upcoming days/week/month!
Download and print my free guide to make your own Meal List!
Happy planning!
xoxo,
Dorothy
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