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Hard truth: meal planning requires a bit more intentionality than picking some recipes at random and putting them on a calendar. If that’s how you meal plan, there’s a good chance most of the food you buy for those meals will go to waste. Because when your life is a hot mess on Wednesday evening, and you planned a dinner that takes an hour of your time, you’re gonna order pizza instead.
If you have a lot of flexibility in your week, you might be able to get by with planning recipes at random and calling it a solid meal plan. But if you have a busy or stressful schedule, your meal plan needs to reflect that reality. If you plan meals that are too time-consuming, you’ll end up double-buying dinner because you planned and shopped and then ended up getting takeout instead. Now you have a fridge full of food that will go to waste, and you spent more money than you planned. Double bummer!
The good news is that your meal plan doesn’t need to be complicated to fit your schedule. You simply need to review your week as you’re creating your meal plan. Make note of which nights will be busy and when you’ll be low on energy, or which mornings everyone will need a grab-and-go breakfast. Your activities dictate the recipes you add to your plan.
Tips for planning around your schedule
Busy nights might call for a 15-min air fryer meal, crock pot recipe, or leftovers from the night before so you’re not devoting all your time and energy to getting dinner ready. Days with more flexibility can handle new recipes or recipes you know require additional time and effort. Early mornings mean you need to prep some breakfast burritos or buy frozen waffles, so everyone can get fed before work and school. And when life happens, don’t hesitate to swap Tuesday’s recipe to Thursday to make things easier.
Another thing to consider is which days you will have help in the kitchen. If your spouse gets off work early on Thursdays, maybe they can get dinner started before you get home. Or maybe your teenage kids can take over dinner responsibilities one night of the week when you work late. Every household functions differently, but if you’re able to share the load of cooking, it can feel less daunting.
Checking in with your schedule means you build a meal plan that works for your needs, which will save you time and money each week. And Plan to Eat is a tool that helps make this possible! You can plan recipes on a calendar while you look at your schedule, so the plan reflects your week from the start instead of getting tossed out by Wednesday.
Meal planning works when you match the right recipe to the right night. Nothing sneaks up on you, and everyone gets fed without you spending money twice on a single meal. Next time you sit down to plan, pull up your calendar first.
