Getting Organized: Meal-Planning

Do you have “what’s for dinner” blues at 5:00 nearly every afternoon? Menu-planning is a challenge for many people, particularly those who have busy days chock-full of work, ferrying kids to school and extracurricular activities and perhaps even classes of their own. Many families resort to high-priced (and high-calorie) convenience food or fast food on a regular basis simply because they don’t have time to cook full meals each evening. If one of your new year’s resolutions is to finally get organized, getting your meal-planning routine under control might be a good way to start. Here are a few ways that you might consider when it comes to getting organized in the kitchen:

You may have heard of Once a Month Cooking, often referred to as OAMC. The idea of cooking for an entire month in one day or one weekend sounds overwhelming to many, but you can always start small. The basic premise is that you cook food when you have the time, then store it in the freezer for those nights when you really don’t have time to prep and cook a meal. If you don’t want to jump right into cooking for an entire month, you could cook up several meals and only use them on the craziest of weeknights. Another option is to cook a week’s worth of meals on Saturdays, designating one for each day of the week. Finally, you could simply make double batches of whatever it is that you do cook, saving half in the freezer for a busier night. If you did want to try your hand at true OAMC, there are many websites that will give you recipes. You could even invite some friends over and make it an afternoon of fun in the kitchen.

Each week, before or after you do your grocery shopping, make a simple menu plan. Take into consideration what nights you have activities going on and which evenings everyone will be home. Also, get a slow cooker if you don’t already have one; these can be sanity-savers on busy evenings! Sit down for an hour and figure out which nights you can devote time to cooking, and which nights you can’t. Make a list of family favorites, and plug the meals into your menu plan. Don’t feel like you have to chisel these into stone: If you prefer a more spontaneous approach, designate one night to having takeout and another to having leftovers or choosing on a whim. The point is not to make you a slave to your menu plan, but to make it easier for you to answer the “what’s for dinner?” inquiries with a real answer.

While dinner seems to be the most difficult meal to plan, some families get tripped up with breakfasts and lunches as well. If your kids have a hard time deciding what they want to eat in the morning, make a list of a few options for them to choose from. Busy mornings might make things like pancakes and French toast seem out of the question, but if you make them ahead of time and store in freezer-safe bags, you can simply pop them in the toaster in the morning, allowing everyone a hot breakfast if so desired. Other easy options are oatmeal, scrambled eggs and whole grain toast with peanut butter. If your kids sometimes buy lunch at school, go through the menu a week ahead of time so that you can plan which days will require you (or them) to pack a bagged lunch. Write down who is buying lunch on which days to avoid morning arguments.