Meal Planning for Busy People
Over the last 10 years, meal planning has become something pretty automatic and easy for me. It didn’t start out that way - I remember doing a Whole30 in 2014 and feeling overwhelmed by cooking every single meal. I spent A LOT of time planning, shopping, and cooking.
If you’re reading this - you’re probably pretty busy, and feel similarly overwhelmed by the daunting task of meal planning. It’s also probably on your list of things you “should be doing” to be healthier, save money, and be an overall better human being. I’m generally pretty gentle with people (especially moms) when it comes to taking new things on. And I’m going to deliver some tough love here and intentionally “should” on you: YES. You should be meal planning and cooking at home as much as possible. If you’re going to prioritize something, prioritize this. There is nothing that will have a bigger impact for your health, stress levels, and mood than having consistent meals that are home cooked. And it’s not just for you - it’s for your children too. Why does this matter so much? When you cook at home, you control the ingredients that go into your food - which will impact how your body handles stress, your overall health markers, and the health of your family and children. Anxiety, mood disorders, attention disorders, energy levels, the ability to connect with others… all these things are impacted by what you put in your body. If you want to understand the guidelines to healthy eating, you can read more about that in my article here.
Never has my commitment to eating at home been stronger than now - after coming back from 10 days in Europe. I felt so much better in Europe, even though we were eating out every meal. When I came home, we got Thai food for dinner, and I immediately felt awful. Unfortunately, the United States doesn’t have a lot of regulations on food, and the people who DO regulate it are also responsible for drugs. It is a conflict of interest - our food is making us sick, and we take drugs to get better. The system is messed up, and it takes a lot of effort and energy to be well in that system. That’s why it is so important for you to meal plan as a form of rebellion against the system. :)
Think you don’t have time? It is that false belief that is stopping you. MAKE the time. You are the only one who has the power and say on how you spend your time. Do not give your power away to other circumstances or people. No more excuses. Okay - now that we got that tough love out of the way, here are the principles I follow for meal planning so it is doable when you’re busy, as well as examples of what I do.
Understand A Healthy Plate
Here is a simple breakdown of a healthy plate:
Protein. You probably aren’t eating enough. Get 30-40g of high quality protein with every meal. This means pasture-raised meat, wild-caught seafood, pasture-raised eggs. I’m not a fan of vegetarianism or veganism for women’s health, so if that’s your jam - you’ll need another resource for yourself. What this looks like on a plate: palm-size piece of protein.
Fat. Get in your healthy fats and make sure they come from a good source like avocados, olive oil, avocado oil, coconut, olives, or nuts. What this looks like on a plate: A thumb’s size of oils or closed-palmful of avocado / nuts / olives.
Carbohydrates. For your carbs, focus on non-starchy vegetables as much as possible. Fill half your plate with vegetables like broccoli, bell peppers, artichokes, onions, asparagus, etc. Starchy vegetables are things like potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc, and should be limited in consumption. You can also include some grains here, but make sure they are whole grains, and prepared properly. (Soaking / sprouting).
Other considerations to add to your plate:
Fiber - focus on high-fiber veggies and fruits like broccoli, artichokes, pears, etc.
Add a spoonful of fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi to every meal to help with digestion and your microbiome.
Greens - Eat a handful or two of greens whenever possible! Great micronutrients and cholorphyll.
Design a Menu
I have created a menu for my kitchen so that I understand what ingredients we need on a regular basis. While templates stay the same, I remix them with new ingredients to keep things fresh.
Here is my basic menu. I don’t make all of this every week, but I stick to these options and rotate them. I try to include greens, vegetables, fermented foods, and fiber. We like to have a lot of plants to support a healthy microbiome, and we try to rotate veggies seasonally. Some of the items we rotate regularly can be bfast, lunch or dinner.
Breakfast Options: (Pre-made options or things you can throw together with ingredients I always have)
Grain-free granola with plant-based yogurt
Chia-seed oatmeal
Grain-free pancakes
Vegetable hash with eggs
Deconstructed kimchi & bacon fried rice
Green smoothies
Lunch Options: (Easy to throw together salads, leftovers)
Mediterranean salad
Apple walnut salad
Tuna salad with grain-free crackers
Mediterranean sardine cakes
Breakfast hash
Asian stir-fry
Dinner Options: (Soups, stews, casseroles, & bulk meals)
Pulled pork tacos
Asian stir-fry
Thai yellow curry
Chicken soup (mix up the type)
Beef stew
Slow cooked beef w/ veggies and rice
Create a Reusable Shopping List:
I’ve created a shopping list in Google Docs that is a template I can use whenever I’m planning. This has all the ingredients we need for the house, and I go through and take out anything we don’t need that week, or add any special ingredients for recipes.
This took me a little bit of time at the beginning, but it has saved a lot of time week over week, and it also has helped give my husband something to use when he doesn’t know what to buy.
I’ve organized the categories of the list by the order of sections in the grocery store. We go the same route every time. This reduces mental and physical friction.
There are certain things I ALWAYS have in my kitchen for in-a-pinch meals:
Frozen Items
Salmon (wild caught)
Ground beef (grass fed and finished / pasture-raised)
Beef chuck roast (grass fed and finished / pasture-raised)
Pork shoulder (pasture-raised)
Breakfast sausage (pasture-raised)
Pork bacon (pasture-raised)
Turkey bacon (pasture-raised)
Berry medley (I like Wyman’s because it contains wild blueberries).
Vegetable medley
Ground ginger
Homemade pesto (I make a batch and freeze it in ice cubes, then throw them in a bag)
Chipotles in adobo (I buy a few cans and then put one chipotle per ice cube with some adobo and freeze it)
Pantry
High quality protein powder (I like this one)
Oats
Canned tuna
Canned sardines
Rice
Jarred artichokes
Kalamata olives
Sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
Olive oil, avocado oil, ghee and coconut oil
Balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar
Coconut aminos and/or tamari (GF soy sauce)
Walnuts
Cashews
Pecans
Pumpkin seeds
Sesame seeds
Chia seeds
Fridge
Sriracha
Mexican hot sauce
Fermented kimchi
Fermented sauerkraut
Fermented pickles
Sugar-free ketchup
Maple syrup
Avocado oil mayonnaise
Plan the Week:
On Saturdays, I will take 10-20 minutes to sit down and plan the week with my husband’s input. I’ll write down on a piece of paper this basic plan:
Breakfasts:
Lunches:
Dinner 1:
Dinner 2:
Dinner 3:
Eating out options:
With this template, I’m able to cover all my bases. Usually I only need to cook 2-3 dinners and can use leftovers or ingredients to remix breakfast. I have a back-up of eating out options, so we have healthy alternatives if there’s a night we aren’t able to cook.
If I need inspiration, I’ll flip through some cookbooks and try some new recipes. I’ll slot those into the Dinner spots, and sometimes double or triple the recipe so we have leftovers.
Then I write down on a white board in the kitchen the cooking plan, aiming to spread things out and front load the beginning of the week.
Sunday To Do:
Monday To Do:
Tuesday To Do:
Wednesday To Do:
I write down what needs to happen on each day, and who is doing what. This helps share responsibility with my husband, and he’s crystal clear on what he needs to do and. when.
Here’s what our plan looked like last week:
Breakfasts:
Granola parfaits (paleo granola, coconut yogurt, berries)
Breakfast hash
Lunches:
Stir-fry
Leftovers
Dinners:
Thai basil chicken
Chicken turmeric soup
Veggie bowls with ground beef, rotisserie chicken, or pulled pork (option to make it asian or Mexican)
Sunday To Do:
Pull rotisserie chicken and put in tupperware (Cara)
Put bone broth on (Cara)
Make Thai basil chicken (Cara)
Make rice (Brendan)
Monday To Do:
Chop & cook veggies for stir-fry / hash (Brendan)
Chop & roast potatoes for hash (Brendan)
Take bone broth off (Cara)
Tuesday To Do:
Make chicken turmeric soup (Cara)
Put pork shoulder in slow cooker (Cara)
Take ground beef out of freezer (Cara)
Wednesday To Do:
Cook ground beef (Brendan)
Make more rice (Brendan)
Other Helpful Tips
There are many little tricks I’ve picked up over the years, so here are some of the things that help me save time or throw together a meal in a pinch:
Cook a bunch of separate proteins and then mix and match with carbs or greens. We usually have pulled chicken, ground beef, and breakfast sausage cooked. We can throw this in with rice and veggies for a stir-fry, or we can put them with veggies, potatoes, and eggs for a bfast hash. You can mix and match with greens as well, and use sauces below to keep them fresh.
Remix ingredients with sauces. Here are some of the sauces I like to create or buy:
Chipotle mayo (I use those frozen chipotles I mentioned earlier and mash them into mayonnaise. You can top anything with this and it’s DELISH for a Mexican twist).
Sriracha mayo - just mix sriracha and mayo together
Primal Kitchen has great sauces that use clean ingredients and there is a wide variety. We always stock up on the Ranch, Korean BBQ, and No-Soy Teriyaki.
Pesto - you can get store-bought pesto to save time, or make a big batch and freeze it. Mix with mayo!
Balsamic vinaigrette - my favorite salad dressing is olive oil, balsamic reduction, salt, and pepper. If I feel fancy I might also add Italian Seasoning.
Healthy Ways to Eat Out
I like to include eating out in my meal planning - it’s like budgeting. You give yourself permission to eat out vs. feeling like it is a last minute resort. It’s also okay if it’s a last minute resort.
You can eat healthy anywhere - go to an Applebee’s and you can order a chicken breast with steamed broccoli and a potato, or you can get a salad and request olive oil and balsamic on the side for a dressing.
Focus on meals with: protein, veggies, greens. Limit grains and dairy.
Here are some of our favorite chains to eat out:
Chipotle
Cava
Sweetgreen
Modern Market
A Note on Kids
I’ve done a lot of reading on developing the palate of children, here’s what I’ve learned:
The best way to get your children to eat more types of foods is to sit down and have dinner with them every night, distraction free. Everyone gets served the same foods, and kids get to choose what they eat.
Don’t use dessert as a reward for eating other foods. This creates a food hierarchy in their minds - serve any treats along with other foods and let them choose the order.
If you’re serving them packaged foods, remove it from packaging before giving it to them.
Don’t serve naked carbs - always serve with protein and fat. For example: don’t give them an apple alone. Give them an apple with almond butter and include protein and fat.
Kids will be more likely to eat foods after a certain number of “exposures.” An exposure can be “would you like some saurkraut on your plate?” “No!” - that counts as an exposure! Don’t fight them or force them. Over time, after enough exposures and watching you eat it, they will want to try it.
Kids Eat in Color is a great account to follow for content on healthy ways to speak with and introduce your children to food.
Make it Your Own
Just start. It doesn’t have to be perfect - start making some home-cooked meals that are easy and learn as you go. Everyone’s situation is different - people have different preferences about how much you want to cook and how much variety you need. Use the suggestions provided above, and customize it to design your own meal planning guidelines based on what works for you and your family.
If you have any questions about meal planning specific to your situation, feel free to reach out to me via email. I’ve got your back - you can do this!!!
Good luck! I love you!
Cara
