Meal Planning For Busy Families:
This meal planning idea was suggested by a dear friend. She was saying how much it helped her eat healthier meals. Planning meal ahead of time makes eating healthy simple because all you need to do is take it out of the fridge or freezer to reheat.
And she was so right.
No asking yourself “what should we eat” anymore. No matter what types of food you are eating, there is a way to make your life a lot simpler when it comes to meals.
5 Ways to simplify mealtime :
1.) Try a local grocery delivery service
If you walk through the grocery store and are tempted by all of the sweet things, there is another way. Green Bean delivery is a service that delivers fresh and organic groceries right to your doorstep every week.
If you do not live in St. Louis your state will most likely have the same type of service but with a different name.
You set up your account, pick out your package of groceries, and weekly deliveries are free when the order is over $45.
This really helps me stick to my budget because I am not even tempted with bad eating choices. And I love things being delivered to me at no extra charge. And in a way, you would be supporting your local farmers.
You can often find Groupon deals for these kinds of services too to start you out.
2.) Save money on your USDA organic goods and home products by shopping at Brandless…everything is $3.
- BRANDLESS is an awesome and certified organic source for groceries and other goods. EVERY ITEM IS $3 !! Higher quality at a lower cost. The ultimate bonus through Brandless is that for every purchase they donate a meal to those fighting hunger.
You can be shopping guilt-free for healthy goods for your home while simultaneously helping others across the U.S. Read more about Brandless here…
3.) Actually planning (and preparing) meals ahead of time.
This process will take the guessing out of what to make, plus this saves time and money buying groceries. Make a list and stick to it.
***BONUS***
Below is a meal planning sheet to help get you started brainstorming for the week:
***To Find Your Own Recipes:
Now for new ideas and recipes there are plenty of free ones out there…
4.) Sign up for a paid meal planning service
If you would rather have someone else do all the planning, recipe discovery, and create your grocery list for you, here is my favorite meal planning service:
Not only do you receive weekly recipes sent directly to your inbox, you will also have access to the library of weekly recipes so you will always be able to find something you like.
Erin offers
- weekly recipes to print out
- meal creating challenges
- freezer meal plans
- slow cooker recipes
- recipes to fit any type of diet
This is a great way to help you transition into planning your meals each week. Helps get the ideas flowing and the habits into play.
5.) Start juicing for some of your meals
I notice that I feel the best when I juice at least once a day. I have been doing this for years now, and would recommend this to anyone looking for better health, a way to simplify at least one meal during your busy day, and budget friendly ways to get the most vitamins possible.
You can make your juices ahead of time and store them in the fridge for a few days, or store them in your freezer for longer. This makes it incredibly simple for busy families to have fully nutritional meals on the go.
Here are my go-to juicing recipe books:
Here are some awesome juicing recipe websites to use:
Don't have a juicer? You can find one for a fair price, but I would go good quality or else you won't get the highest yield of nutrients per juice. The drier your pulp that comes out, the better quality your machine is. Here is the one I have and have had it for about 7 years now with no problems…pretty amazing: The OMEGA J8008C.
Using one or more of the methods above to help plan your meals and simplify your shopping will help you stick to your budget and feel your best. If you have any great ideas that I missed, please comment below!
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