Welcome back to our "Back 2 School Boot Camp for Moms" mini-series. Monday, we talked about how to create a "Study Station" for your kiddos. So, be sure to check it out!
Today, we're talking about food. More specifically, how to meal plan during the academic year. Because, let's face it, life can be pretty crazy when you're chauffeuring kids to school, tutoring sessions, sports practices, and other clubs/meetings. It's becomes so easy to simply rely on your local fast food chains to provide your family with a hot meal.
The problem with this lifestyle, though, is that it does not contain the nourishment that you family will need in order to properly function. Plus, it can be downright expensive to eat out every weekday. So, what's a busy mother to do? Why, meal plan, of course!
Keep It Simple
Look, I know that Pinterest is full of breakfast and lunch ideas that look more like works of art than something meant to be eaten. I mean, come on, how many of us actually have time to turn a sandwich into the Mona Lisa. I get that these ideas would probably make your kid smile and, sure, if you have some extra time, go ahead and get your Picasso on every once in a while when packing their lunch. But, please, don't ever feel like this is the standard that you should hold yourself to on a daily basis. Because, unless your supermom, it's not happening!
Plan Ahead
Everyone together now: "DUH!" Okay, I realize this one isn't a groundbreaking tip {not like the first one was either}, but it is one that is worth repeating. After all, as the saying goes, "if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail". Or something like that...
Point is, planning ahead will give you a head start when it comes to making sure breakfast is more than a sugary, store-bought granola bar every morning and that lunch consists of more than a compartmentalized, deconstructed sandwich {only with crackers instead of bread slices - *ahem*, Lunchables, *ahem*}. I'm not saying that I've never served my kid those super convenient "meals". Lord knows I have. I mean, honestly, my kid has eating nothing but Lunchables some weeks - though it's not a fact I'm proud of.
What I'm trying to say is, taking a few minutes out of your week {or weekend, if that's more convenient} to plan ALL of your meals {including breakfasts, lunches, and snacks} will go a long way to ensure that your family is getting the nutrition they need to fuel their bodies and their brains.
In case you're at a loss for how to plan ahead, here are some ideas:
Oh, yeah, as promised, here are some recipes and resources to get you on your way to become a meal-planning pro:
FEATURED RESOURCES
Look, I know that Pinterest is full of breakfast and lunch ideas that look more like works of art than something meant to be eaten. I mean, come on, how many of us actually have time to turn a sandwich into the Mona Lisa. I get that these ideas would probably make your kid smile and, sure, if you have some extra time, go ahead and get your Picasso on every once in a while when packing their lunch. But, please, don't ever feel like this is the standard that you should hold yourself to on a daily basis. Because, unless your supermom, it's not happening!
Plan Ahead
Everyone together now: "DUH!" Okay, I realize this one isn't a groundbreaking tip {not like the first one was either}, but it is one that is worth repeating. After all, as the saying goes, "if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail". Or something like that...
Point is, planning ahead will give you a head start when it comes to making sure breakfast is more than a sugary, store-bought granola bar every morning and that lunch consists of more than a compartmentalized, deconstructed sandwich {only with crackers instead of bread slices - *ahem*, Lunchables, *ahem*}. I'm not saying that I've never served my kid those super convenient "meals". Lord knows I have. I mean, honestly, my kid has eating nothing but Lunchables some weeks - though it's not a fact I'm proud of.
What I'm trying to say is, taking a few minutes out of your week {or weekend, if that's more convenient} to plan ALL of your meals {including breakfasts, lunches, and snacks} will go a long way to ensure that your family is getting the nutrition they need to fuel their bodies and their brains.
In case you're at a loss for how to plan ahead, here are some ideas:
- Keep a list of tried-and-true ideas for each meal for those days when your creative juice tank runs dry
- Make sure to chose recipes that take 30 minutes or fewer to make {from prep to dinner table}
- Or, better yet, do your meal prep {and even meal assembly} on the weekends
- To piggy back on the last tip, you could also do a once-a-month freezer cooking marathon {Once a Month Mom is a great resource for this!}
- You could also team up with several other families {who have a similar number of children and share your taste buds and food allergies - or lack thereof} and do a weekly or monthly meal swaps. Basically, every family is in charge of making one or two dishes and you get together and exchange. So, if you bring ten meals, you take ten meals some. {HERE is a great article to get your started.}
TAKE INVENTORY
I'm a firm believer that the right tools make a world of difference when it comes to efficiency and how well the job is done. This definitely applies to planning meals during the school year. I mean, how will you make super easy breakfast smoothies {which consists of dumping a bunch of ingredients into a blender and then pouring into cups} if your blender is broken or simply doesn't work properly? How will you be able to pack lunches ahead of time when you don't have enough containers to allow you to assemble more than a day's worth of meals at a time? Get my point?
You want to make sure you have everything you need to make all of your meals before you get started. This definitely applies to your equipment and tools, but it also applies to your ingredients. So, I would recommend keeping ingredients on hand for at least two or three of your go-to recipes for EACH meal. So, if you know your family likes homemade granola bars, pancakes, and bacon and eggs, then make sure you always have what you need to make these. That way, if nothing else, you'll be able to feed them something that you know they like, even if you haven't had a chance to get to the grocery store yet.
GET INSPIRED
Sometimes all it takes is a little inspiration to get our fannies in gear. Am I right? Well, if this is true {which, it definitely is for me}, then we all should be more than motivated after taking a look at these awesome meal-planning ideas:
{VIA}
Organizing your recipes is always a good idea. After all, meal planning becomes that much easier when you can get your hands on the recipe that you need. If you need to organize your recipe collection, please allow me to offer you a tip that will save your sanity: keep your family favorites separate from your "recipes to try"; even if you just keep those favorites in front of the new recipes within each section. I promise, you don't want to have to send out a search party to find the recipe for the only soup that junior will eat.
{VIA}
If you've been on Pinterest for any length of time, you've probably come across some version of this menu board. And for good reason. It seems like it would be pretty easy to whip up and it can be customized to fit your kitchen's color scheme {which is always a plus in my book}. Not to mention the fact that it seems like it would be pretty easy to maintain.
{VIA}
There are a ton of free meal planning printables out there to make your life a little easier. Like these from Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling. Here are some more options for you:
This One from Life in Yellow
A ton of options from Design Finch
These from The Project Girl
Or, maybe, any one of these from Tipnut
Oh, yeah, as promised, here are some recipes and resources to get you on your way to become a meal-planning pro:
- Real Simple's 9 Fast, Healthy Breakfast Ideas and 10 Easy Breakfast Recipes for Kids
- Baby Center's 10 Delicious and Healthy Breakfast Ideas for Kids
- Once A Month Mom's 31 Back to School Freezer Meals
- Recipes and Resources from 100 Days of Real Food
- Back to School Clean Eating Ideas from The Gracious Pantry
- Recipes from Super Healthy Kids
- Eat Well, Spend Less: Back-to-School Meal Planning from Food Your Way
- Savvy Back to School Meal Planning from Naturally Savvy
- Secrets to Successfully Getting Dinner on the Table from Modern Parents Messy Kids
- Developing a Menu Plan Routine from Simply My Kitchen
Yes, these are affiliate banners, so I will make a commission {a small percentage of your order} should you choose to make a purchase through these links. However, please know that I am very selective when it comes to the affiliate programs that I chose to participate in. I will never promote something just for the sake of promoting it!
LIST PLANIT is a great resource for those of us who like to keep a home management binder. They have tons of forms for you to print out and use. Better yet, is the price: $20 per year to print off as many forms as you want. $30 to be able to download the forms as well. Want more info? Click the above graphic to be taken to the List Planit site to learn more.
Remember earlier when I talked about cooking all of your meals on the weekend? What if I told you that it could be done in only 1 hour? It can with 5 Dinners in 1 Hour. This is a subscription-based service that does the hard work for you: providing you with 4 weeks worth of easy meals that can be assembled in just 60 minutes! Click the banner above for more information!
Keep checking the {SHOP} tab above for these resources, and many more!!
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Well, friends, I hope this post didn't overwhelm you. My prayer is that you feel a little more prepared to tackle meal planning during the academic year. And, if you are feeling overwhelmed, take it slow. Don't have time to click on all of the provided links today? Bookmark or pin this post and browse later. Does the idea of planning meals for an entire month make you break out in a nervous sweat? Focus only on the next 7 days. Got picky eaters? Start with what you know they like and branch out little by little.
Bottom line, moms, you CAN do this! In fact, you must do this for your family's health. Ditch the drive-thru for good! Remember, food doesn't have to be expensive, complicated, or time consuming to be delicious!
Did I forget anything?
How do you meal plan during the school year?
Is there a resource you'd like to add to our list?
{Because I'll totally go back and add it if you provide it!}
Blessings,
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