Help with planning your week of eating in under 10 minutes (with a free printable to help you!).
Monday March 18 2024
Yesterday was my day to prep for the week ahead. I usually take Sundays to take inventory of the foods we have & make meal menus (breakfast, lunch, dinner, & snacks). From these recipes and meal ideas I then develop my store list. It’s a process that I am constantly tweaking as new allergies and intolerances continue to creep into our lives.
Here is a list of the foods and food groups that I need to navigate around in planning our meals.
- Gluten (I have celiac)
- Tree nuts (I am severely allergic)
- Corn (I am allergic to this too)
- Carrots (yep. allergic to them too)
- Artificial food dyes (may intensify Dyslexia, Autism & ADHD)
- Cow’s Milk: Goat & Sheep okay (Fia’s intolerant)
- Light beans (working up tolerance with Tom)
- Light eggs (working up tolerance with Mitch)
- Higher protein/ Lower simple carbs (Mitch is ‘bulking’ and Tom, Fia and me are trying to lose a few pounds)
To throw into this list we also try to eat a more clean diet and include more Paleo recipes. I have also been doing some serious research in how a lower to moderate carbohydrate diet can help with a host of metabolic disorders (i.e. obesity/ being overweight, adrenal fatigue, chronic inflammation, etc.); so I plan to incorporate these ideas into our weekly meal plan.
I start first by taking inventory of what we have. In doing this I try my best to keep the stuff that we need to use (expiration date, ripe/ over ripe, etc.) either at the top or with an asterisks *. This way, when I am making our menu, I can go shopping in our kitchen first and also be certain to use up all the food. This is also a great time to look up how to repurpose a dish (taco meat becomes enchilada soup pretty easily with a little creativity).
Next I check the weather (BBQ in the rain is less fun than in the sun and a cooler day always warrants a cozier meal). Then I make our weekly menu using our weekly theme, commitments & of course dietary preferences in mind. This is also a place to get pretty creative and I absolutely encourage it. After all, if ya got to do it, why not make it fun?!
Last but not least comes the store list. I really try to only make our big orders every other week with the exception of all the fresh foods we can eat. Unfortunately,. lots of fresh foods have just a little time to get used before they go bad when we get them at the store, so I prioritize those foods that we already have to be eaten first, then work a store trip in, and then plan for the fresh foods after the trip if needed. In reality we go to the store more than once every fourteen days… however I really try to limit our shopping because the more I am there, the more I will spend and having less not only makes things easier to keep track of, but it also keeps things interesting.
After I take inventory, make the menu then make the grocery list I add it all into the online cart sometimes WalMart and Sams other times our local grocery store depending on what we need and where we will be with our errands that particular day. I look at the dry erase board that has been hanging on the side of our fridge since I had little helpers in the kitchen unapologetically using all the ingredients and not telling me until I reached for them and shook the empty box/ bag. But seriously, it is a GREAT way to keep track of all things kitchen (and even health and body – all consumables) because there are pure cabinets that I don’t touch (gluten foods, trail mix, etc.) and I wouldn’t know we were low or out if it doesnt make the list. So I add these items, schedule a pick up and ta da meals are planned!
If you would like to get started and use these tips step by step, I made a download for you, for free. This is the identical document I print off every week. Download it here (remember, it’s completely free). But don’t stop there… remember to use it!!! Oh, and one last thing: Start now. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Start half way through the week, after you already made a shopping trip on impulse and sales, for tonights dinner until the next time you can sit down and take steps like the ones mentioned above.
One small step at a time will get you where you want to be and create good, life giving, spirit lifting, joy in the soul kind of habits. Before you know it, seeing 4:00 on the clock will be a call to start the dinner you already planned – not get on Pinterest and hope you can find one with what you have in the house.
Remember, we are stronger together… and you can do this!
Deep breath, Momma and….. GO!