Oh you guys, I am a walking cliche of the holiday season. The culinary indulgences, the lack of purposeful physical activity, the stress of longer to do lists, the later bedtime… no wonder we (I?) needed that extra cup of coffee on Christmas morning. I love this time of year but, wow, the chaos of the season is reflected in the chaos in my kitchen over the past several weeks. It’s not that our healthy eating ways have completely flown off the rails, but the planning and prep aspect has definitely suffered. It’s to be expected, but as a person who SO enjoys knowing the answer to that constant what’s for dinner mom question, scrounging around at the last minute to put food on the table has been driving me crazy.
Still, I adore the whole holiday season, and to me that also includes the transition into the new year, with all it’s new goals, habits, and routines just begging to be put into action. David and I are still throwing around ideas for our family goal for 2018, but on a personal level, I have one intention that I am ready to jump right into- a renewed focus on meal planning!
If you’ve read here for more than a minute, you know my deep affection for meal planning. The organization, the delicious food, the healthy focus, and the budgeting side of it all excite me. We all have our things, right? I’m jazzed and even more so because I want you to join me and become a meal planning nut too!
For added support and to try and learn some new tips, I signed up to join a meal planning challenge and I’d love for you to join me! It’s a 10-Day Meal Planning Bootcamp, led by Ultimate Bundles, and it kicks off on December 30th (this Saturday!). I have an affiliate link that you can sign up through: https://www.ahealthysliceoflife.com/mealplanningchallenge. The Bootcamp is totally free, and you’ll get daily tips, prompts and challenges to follow so that you master the art of meal planning in 2018.
I’m not one for extremes, so the idea of elimination or restrictions doesn’t sit well with me, but menu organization? A renewed focus on budget? Sunday food prep? Yes, yes, yes.
Signups end on December 28th, so if you’re interested, make sure you go to https://www.ahealthysliceoflife.com/mealplanningchallenge for all of the details and to join. And if you try any of the tips, or just want to experiment with meal planning over the next few weeks, tag me so I can see and celebrate with you!
Use the hashtag #AHSinthekitchen on social media and tag me- @ahealthyslice
I hope you’ll join me ! I can’t wait to share my meal planning journey with you and catch up from Christmas too… as soon as I get my house back in some semblance of order- but that just a sign of a freaking fabulous Christmas, which it really was! I hope yours was too <3
Archana Sharma says
Will this work for a vegetarian meal plan, Brittany? Merry Christmas!
Brittany Dixon says
I think it will! I’m not running the bootcamp (just joining in on it myself) but my understanding is that it is overall tips, not necessarily recipes. I am focusing on a lot of plant-based meals (aiming for 3-5 dinners being vegetarian a week), so I’m right there with you!
Erica says
Excellent! Just what I need to start off the new year right! I was right there with you on the coffee ๐
Paolo Ubiadas says
I don’t do the cooking at home, but if yo want my opinion. It would be a classic spaghetti to celebrate the New Year for long life.
Jennifer says
I signed up for the bootcamp! We just had our third baby the week before Thanksgiving and our routine has taken a nose dive with a new addition and holidays. Plus I will be going back to work in another month which will put another spin on things! I need some serious order back in my house!
Brittany Dixon says
Congratulations on baby #3! That’s so wonderful <3 And I am so glad other people are excited about jumping in on the meal plan bootcamp too!
Stacy K says
I love it! I just signed up to join in. I typically meal plan weekly, but one of my goals is to be more present with my children on the weekends and I think by planning our meals out for the month that will help give me a bit more time on the weekends. As a working mom those two days tend to fly by between cleaning house, meal planning, grocery shopping and prepping.
Brittany Dixon says
What a great plan! I’ve thought about planning for a month but haven’t committed yet. My friend Molly (Stilettos and Diapers) meal plans for a month at a time usually! She has shared her menu a few times if you need ideas ๐
Brianne says
Hi Brittany,
I’d love to know more information about how you structure your family planning meetings with David every year! Not your personal or family details, but I sort of geek out over planning/agendas/itineraries etc., and I’d love to know if you have any advice on how to start those types of productive conversations with a spouse. Do you follow the same cadence every year? Or, does it differ from year to year? Is it only surrounding financial aspects, or are there other goals and milestones for the year that you discuss (vacations, anniversaries, etc.)?
Any thoughts (or a full post!) would be incredibly helpful and interesting. Thanks, and hope the rest of your holiday season goes well! ๐
Brittany Dixon says
Hey Brianne! So I’ve passed the interest of this meeting (I’ve had multiple people ask for more details about it) on to David. He is the one that usually combs back through the year, turns everything into Excel charts (LOL), and puts together the power point. From there, we comb through it together. It touches on finances mostly, but also on our 2/5/10/15 year plans since they all fit together. We also go over travel that is on the books for the year and anything else we’d like to add in. We touch on goals and budgets, too. I’m going to try and put together a blog post on it, but I’ll need David to jump in on it so we’ll see if I can corner him ๐
Laura says
Iโm not into meal planning at allโyou saw my nope! Comment on your IG!โbut I need to get our grocery budget under control, so Iโm signing up anyway. Weโll see what happens!
Brittany Dixon says
Sending you some of my meal planning vibes because I am FEELING them today! ๐
Audra says
Hi Brittany! Reader for a few years, really love your IG. Not sure where to ask this but figured you’d see it. Your food post are very inspiring…I’m revamping my most used recipes (yes I love meal planning, too!) to be healthier versions. Can you pepper in advice and tips of where to cut fats, substitutions for common ingredients like cream of chicken, or mayo and sour cream, etc? I feel like every week healthy oils or foods are now unhealthy and it’s confusing (now full fat dairy and yogurt is good, olive oil isn’t as healthy as coconut but now coconut oil is bad..). I love trying new recipes all the time, but the old standbys need some tweaking. Maybe let readers submit their favorite recipes and you tweak it? (Mine would be tuna casserole, salmon burgers, baked ziti, grilled cheese sandwiches…).
Just an idea๐ and I’m only suggesting it because on IG you ask for what type of content we’d like.
Happy New Year and God Bless
Brittany Dixon says
Hi Audra! Thanks for your comment. I always read all my comments here, on insta, and facebook so any of those are great ways to connect! I love your ideas and share your frustration with nutritional advice out there. To keep up with the ever-changing guidelines is challenging at best. I always seem to go back to Michael Pollan’s advice- eat (real) food, not too much, mostly plants. It’s simple and straight forward!
I’ll definitely look at adding in healthy swaps when I can but for the most part I eat it all and live by the moderation mindset. I will certainly keep this in mind moving forward and I value your feedback- thank you and happy 2018 to you!