Everyday Meal Planning For Busy Moms — 16 Practical Tips
The daily grind of being a busy mom or working mom can often leave you feeling frazzled and with little time for meal planning and preparation. Your daily to-do list is never-ending — work, dropping off and picking up your kids from school or sports, household chores, errands, and the looming question of what’s for dinner. The struggle is as real as it gets.
Mothers everywhere hold a house together, and that’s never been up for debate. Think about all the times you got ill or were out of town. It must have been utter chaos — from meal-prepping to every other small chore, none of them would have been done with quite the same efficiency. Having said that, it’s unfair to expect the mom to be the de-facto chef of the house. A kitchen is a place where everyone regardless of gender must learn the most important life skill of all i.e. cooking.
Whether you’re a cooking pro or not (or even a mom or not), you must learn a thing or two about preparing quick, easy, and nutritious meals daily (without losing your entire mind in the process).
16 Meal Planning Tips for Busy Moms
1. Shop before you meal plan
Before you start preparing your meals, shop for groceries. While buying ingredients in bulk is arduous, you can easily do it by shopping smartly. Create a shopping list, visit multiple stores, and get the best deals. Don’t forget to compare prices per unit of bulk and regular items to choose right.
2. Know what to shop
Having the right items on your shopping list is key to successful meal planning. Begin by selecting your family’s favorite recipes. Make a list of all the ingredients you’ll need for those meals. By doing this, you’ll have a comprehensive list that covers all your mealtime needs, making shopping and meal preparation more manageable and stress-free.
3. Sundays are for meal planning
Weekday meal planning can be a hassle amidst work, household chores, and kids’ activities. Make Sundays the day for meal prep. Choose recipes, create a grocery list, and shop for ingredients. Turn meal prep into a fun family bonding experience by involving everyone in the process. By planning ahead, you’ll save time and reduce stress during busy weekdays.
4. Create your meal plan notebook
Creating a meal plan is daunting so it is best to write it down or use a whiteboard.
- Note down your meal ideas and assign a day to each one. Try to make it varied and balanced.
- Budget for each meal and accordingly decide the right quantities of ingredients.
- Create a shopping list.
- Update the plan each week depending on your budget and time availability.
- Don’t forget to track your progress.
5. Build your recipe binder
Organizing your favorite recipes into a binder is not only fun but also a great way to preserve them for years to come. So, gather recipes from friends, family, and websites. Also, add personal notes, pretty pictures, and other creative elements to adorn the binder.
6. Prep your ingredients efficiently
Since ingredient preparation is one of the dullest steps of meal prep, you must organize it well. Start by finding a system of storage; you can get glass containers, and label shelves and ingredients to know where everything goes. Besides, invest in good food processors and choppers; they go a long way in speeding the drudge. Now, start doubling or tripling the quantity of all ingredients.
7. Try a grocery service
Grocery delivery services bring groceries straight to your front door. Some of these providers, such as Instacart, Amazon Fresh, and Walmart Grocery, offer additional benefits, such as meal planning tools, pre-portioned ingredients, and personalized recipe recommendations based on what you order.
Now, let’s delve into meal-time-specific suggestions.
8. Dinners
Rather than making 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 7 dinners each week, prep 5–6 dinners. As for lunch…
9. Lunch
You can utilize dinner leftovers as lunches. This is easy when you bulk buy and cook more servings than required.
10. Breakfast
Breakfast is the most skipped meal of the day. So, the best approach is to keep some staples ready for the hustling mornings. These are -
- Whole grain cereals
- Nuts and seeds
- Fresh and frozen fruits; and
- Healthy fats like olive, avocado, or coconut oil
11. Make freezer-friendly meals
To make meal preparation for the week easier, select freezer-friendly recipes that can withstand storage below 0°F. Also, label and date all containers to keep track of when each meal should be consumed. You can also freeze individual portions of meals and ingredients to simplify weekdays further.
12. Limit cooking time
Cooking shouldn’t be an all-day affair. So, choose quick, preferably one-pot recipes to cut down on prep and cleaning. You can also use pre-made ingredients like chopped vegetables and bottled sauces to speed things up.
13. Use smart kitchen appliances
Smart kitchen gadgets like smart cookers and sous vide machines are your secret weapon for effortless meal prep. Devices like Instant Pot and Rotimatic streamline meal planning making your life easier. You can also go a step further and get Nymble, an all-in-one cooking robot that takes care of the entire meal for you. With a library of chef-crafted recipes, diverse cuisines, and dietary options, Nymble eases your mealtime using AI and machine learning technologies.
14. Involve kids in the cooking process
This turns cooking from a chore to a fun family activity. Teach kids kitchen safety and hygiene first; then, let them try simple recipes and tasks. Encourage and praise their efforts, and don’t hesitate to celebrate small accomplishments.
15. You may consider Batch Cooking
Batch cooking streamlines meal preparation and simplifies weekdays, saving time and money with delicious, nutritious meals. However, it may not always be the healthiest or most sustainable option as food can lose nutritional value and taste over time, leading to waste. So, consider comparing batch cooking with other ideas like meal prep.
16. Keep it simple for weekdays
Keep it simple during weekdays. Avoid the hassle of trying out new recipes and wasting time and energy. Instead, mix and match ingredients to create easy meals, like breakfast for dinner or a snack-style dinner platter. This way, you can keep everyone fed without spending hours in the kitchen.
And if all else fails, there’s Nymble to take the entire weight off your shoulders
While the above tricks are sure to make mealtime a breeze, you can further streamline your life with the help of Nymble. It automates the entire cooking process so all you have to do is load the prepped ingredients and let Nymble prepare you a meal while you go about your day as usual. So, once your meal prep routine is set, you just have to load ingredients into your cooking robot and in no more than 40 minutes, your meal will be hot and ready!
Moreover, Nymble aids meal planning by giving you access to 500+ ready-to-eat recipes, spanning every cuisine and diet. It lets you filter recipes based on preferences, diet, calories, and ingredients of choice, or even study detailed nutritional information for every recipe you cook. This gives you the gift of time which you can use to focus on more pressing responsibilities.
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