By Sue Becker | Bugle Staff
Although I don’t love to cook, I do love to eat, so I’ve done all I can to make meal planning as painless as possible. Whether you’re the cook in your home or are lucky enough to be the beneficiary of someone else’s cooking, enjoy these lessons I’ve learned to make mealtimes less stressful.
Plan meals for the week
Rather than frantically staring at the open refrigerator and freezer each evening trying to figure out what to make for dinner. I plan dinners for the upcoming week every Sunday. I write them on an erasable whiteboard attached with magnetic clips to my refrigerator. It’s amazing how much less stressful my day is just knowing I can answer the question “What’s for dinner?”’’
Create a rotating menu routine
I have 21 index cards, each of which contains one dinner suggestion, as well as any special ingredients that I’m not likely to have on hand. Rather than having to put a lot of thought into what to make for dinner, I just grab the seven index cards in the front of the stack and use them as my starting point.
I check my calendar to determine which nights might require a quick meal or an early or late dinner based on my husband’s and my schedules. I reorder the seven index cards to correspond to each evening, and write those meals in order on my whiteboard. I write the special ingredients from the index cards onto my grocery list and check my freezer and cupboards to make sure all of the non-special ingredients are on hand. I put that group of index cards in the back of the stack and I’m ready for next week’s meal planning.
Create a themed menu routine
Another option to make meal planning easy is to have a theme for each day of the week. Themes help narrow down your options, which for me is the biggest challenge of meal planning.
For example, Monday is breakfast for dinner; Tuesday is Mexican; Wednesday is pasta; Thursday is soup; Friday is fish; Saturday is pizza – you get the idea. You could also include a night where family members take turns planning (and maybe even cooking!) dinner.
Shop once a week
When your meals are planned ahead of time and your grocery list is planned accordingly, you may only have to hit the grocery store once a week. Think of how much time you’ll save!
Double up
If your freezer space allows it, make double batches of everything so you can cook once and reap the benefits twice. I keep a list of those frozen meals on my meal planning whiteboard so I don’t forget them. If I know I’ll have a busy week, I incorporate a frozen meal into my meal planning.
Prepare ahead
I review my meal planning whiteboard each evening so I know what’s planned for dinner the next day. I prepare as much as possible by chopping vegetables, measuring out spices, thawing meat and doing whatever else I can to make the next day’s meal preparation quick and easy.
I’d love to hear what helps you manage mealtime mayhem in your home.
Sue Becker is a Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization who helps individuals and businesses discover the simplicity, harmony, and freedom of being organized and productive. She also speaks to companies and organizations about how to get organized and make the most of their time. Sue can be reached at www.PilesToSmiles.com or 630-373-7400.