I’m going to do my best not to take a simple topic, meal planning, and weave it into a life philosophy. It’s Monday after all, an early Monday morning at that. No one wants to be reading deep thoughts on meal planning at a time like this, yet still when I sat down to write out our meals for the week, I felt unmotivated and decided to talk about it.
Usually I thoroughly enjoy the task of planning food for the week, but not always. Sometimes mentally plowing through the week’s schedule and determining appropriate meals is daunting.
Sometimes I need to listen to the theme song from Rocky before heading into two different grocery stores with a toddler (who loves to help and charms other shoppers, but is still a busybody to keep up with).
Occasionally I need a fresh baked cookie to jazz me up about unloading the car and putting away the weekly haul.
And more often than not, a hot cup of tea and a mental pep talk is required to get the wheels of weekly food prep in motion at almost 7 months pregnant.
But at the end of the (Sun)day, I do it. Not so I have something to blog about (though that’s a perk!), but because eating and serving healthy food to my family is important to me and nothing worth having ever came without some work.
Think about your ability to run a long distance, your kick-@$$ job, your meaningful relationship, the baby in your arms, the degree you hold, the number of burpees you can do, the recipe you’ve mastered… did those things just fall into your lap? Probably not.
Sure, there are tips and tricks to making meal planning more efficient, short-cuts to making planning for a week less daunting and, like anything, the more you do it, the easier it gets. In fact, some parts of it are downright enjoyable. Perusing the winter farmers market? Yes, please!
But at the end of the day, I’m not always skipping around with meal planning joy. I do it because it’s important to me and I believe if something is a priority, you make time for it. Please remind me of this when it comes to me trying to be a runner after baby arrives.
So, there it is. After telling you I wasn’t going to get philosophical, I just wrote an entire post likening meal planning to running a marathon or having a child. Pretty silly stuff, but I often get comments or emails from people saying the idea of meal planning is intimidating and seems so challenging.
But if you’re new to meal planning and think it’s too hard, have faith. It gets easier. You are right, it does take work in the form of mental energy and time to prep, but putting in those couple hours up front results in a full week of never wondering what’s for breakfast, lunch or dinner and having healthy, nourishing foods at the ready. In my book, it makes it worth it!
So start simply and reap the rewards… which includes knowing the answer to “what’s for dinner?” without having to think about it for an entire week straight! 
What’s something you put time and effort into because it’s important to you?
Sarah says
I always meal plan, so I know what to buy, but I decided this week, as we have builders starting on Tue, and also because being back in work (after 3 months or redundancy) I’m tired at the end of the day, I would do Sunday prep too.
I have made the pasta sauce for tonight, which Im hoping to get a batch to freeze out of too, Ive set a Spag bol up in the slow cooker, which ill put on tomorrow morning, and Ive even cut chicken and peppers for another meal, and bagged my broccoli florets ready to be garlic’d and roasted. oh, and I made two batches of soup for work lunches, roasted tom and red onion, and paprika parsnip.
Im looking forward to a pretty easy week with regards to cooking when I get in. We’ll see if it works.
Brittany Dixon says
Oh my goodness, good for you! That’s some serious prep. I originally had high aspirations for making marinara, then folded like a sucker when I saw a fancy brand on sale 😉 Next week… I’m making it! Thanks for the inspiration!
Sarah says
Tonight was amazing, came home from work and was a little lost if Im honest. Al ‘Amatriciana was all ready in a pan in the frige so just had to heat up and boil some pasta and grate some cheese. Tomorrow night is going to need a little prep, but nothing much. I am a convert to Sunday prep!
John J. says
Life is about priority choices. Show me your calendar and I will tell you what your priorities are. Good for you for putting in the time to serve up healthy food for you and your family – a significant priority. More “philosophying” in the future!
Alex Shaw says
LOVE your blog. Love your positive attitude and your honesty. I want to see more baby/Hailey posts and more “day in the life.” I miss those!
Brittany Dixon says
Oh thanks so much for the kind words and suggestions! I’m going to write about H’s transition to her big girl room soon (sniffle!) and I’m sure there will be a lot more baby posts to come as I get closer to due date- YIKES! 😉 Have a great day!
Kaitlyn says
Even for me, meal planning is tough and I only have to worry about myself, so I totally understand where you’re coming from. However, meal planning is also something I put time into because at the end of the day, eating healthy is very important to me!
Jen says
We’ve been meal planning and I love that it saves time and money. However, I fear I’ll go back to my slacker habits once baby #2 comes!
Brittany Dixon says
I can’t even picture what life will look like with two… I’m planning a freezer meal extravaganza, then crossing my fingers and hope we survive! 😉
Heather @fitncookies says
I am totally with you. Sometimes it is a lot of work to come up with meals, especially when you are just not in the mood. Then going grocery shopping and putting it away (my least favorite part!). I love having the plan, though, so we are eating healthy, so I don’t mind doing it honestly. It can be time consuming, but at least I know the rest of the week is set, and saves us from wasting food!
char eats greens says
Love this!! Since I’ve just started getting back into meal planning (of simply planning out the meals we want for the week), I want to take it that step further and actually prep foods like you do! Except our grocery shop day is on Monday’s (unless I want to change it back to Sunday). Food is very important to me, so I totally get this post! Dorky food lover over here for sure!
Ali says
Love this too! Meal planning isn’t all fun and games for sure. I have to give myself a pep talk too. It usually goes something like this, “if you just take the time to do it now, it won’t make for such a hard week in the meal department.”
Erica says
People always moan when I tell them I spend 2-3 hours on the weekend cooking for the week, but my philosophy is that it’s better to do it all in one chunk like that then spending 30-45 min a day cooking! If eating healthy is important to you then you’ll make the time, or the appropriate excuses 🙂
Vanessa says
Great post!! Shopping, cooking, etc. can feel like a huge chore sometimes, but I always get satisfaction from cooking something good for my family. And I also get satisfaction from a large glass of wine and pizza on Friday or Saturday when I take a break from the kitchen : )
Brittany Dixon says
High five Vanessa! I get some serious satisfaction from Friday pizza and well, water for now, too. I can’t wait for wine to come back to my life! 😉
Danica @ It's Progression says
I agree that things worth having are worth working for (and rarely come easily). For me right now, what I’m striving for calls for doing less, I believe – less stress, less high impact workouts, less worry about the food I consume, etc. And I’m finding the “less” is more difficult that what I was doing before, but I just keep reminding myself of my priorities and that it’ll be worth it!
Emily says
I have really come to enjoy meal planning, too. I love working through my pinterest board, and also making use of the dogeared recipes from cooking magazines. Here’s what is on docket for this week:
Chicken Apple Sausage, Roasted Squash and Red Onion skillet
Turkey Meatball “subs” topped with marinara and cheese on hot dog buns + baked fries
Pineapple-Orange Chicken Stir Fry and Rice
Barber Foods chicken cordon bleus (freezer section; quick meal) + freaky greek pasta (broccoli, feta, lemon, WW pasta, EVOO)
Turkey Meatloaves + Confetti corn
Laura @ Mommy Run Fast says
Yes, I love not having to think about it all week! I’m not doing so great at all the weekend food prep… I usually have enough time to throw meals together on week nights, but I love it when I do have food prepped in advance. I need to get back to that!
Brittany @ Delights and Delectables says
Meal planning helps me to save money and helps my sanity! It is so worth the trouble and work!
ps… I’ll be over for dinner tonight! YUM!
Brittany Dixon says
I’ll set an extra place setting if you promise to bring Baby Delight! Deal?
Brittany @ Delights and Delectables says
DONE! Better get on our way! 😉
Ashley says
I LOVE this and your blog of course! You are VERY inspiring. I am definitely a meal planner and try to prep b/c it makes me have such a healhtier/happier week. I love when you post your plans & prepping. Thank you. I really appreciate it!
Are the jars your soup in large mason jars?
Isn’t your mom coming??? Have FUN!!! I didn’t meal plan b/c it was my family shower yesterday at my own house so I left the fridge empty for the hostesses (so special & blessed)! However my own mom is cooking me dinner so I will have healthy leftovers for lunches. I am spoiled. 34 weeks pregnant & did my 6am boot camp today before work! Woot woot!
Have a great day! You are AWESOME!!
Brittany Dixon says
YOU are awesome! That is the cheeriest comment I’ve ever read, thank you! 🙂
My mom will be here tomorrow (WHEE!) and I’m so glad you got to be spoiled at a shower- well deserved, I have no doubt! And a boot camp at 34 weeks pregnant? YOU are MY inspiration!
Have a wonderful day! (And yes, I store my soup in jars because I think it’s pretty ;))
Whitney says
What brand quinoa pasta do you use? I’ve been looking into switching over!
Brittany Dixon says
Ancient Harvest (http://www.quinoa.net/145/163.html) – I love the texture because it feels more like regular spaghetti than whole wheat options. David likes it too!
Stephanie says
I’ve meal planned for years and you’re right, some weeks are easier than others. Some weeks I’m annoyed by meal planning, others I already have a whole list of meals in mind when I sit down to actually plan and it’s super simple to put together. Regardless of how much it sometimes frustrates me I really don’t know what we would do without a plan!
I don’t remember a lot about what life was like before meal planning, but it was years ago when my husband and I were both working full time jobs and we didn’t have any kids. We would keep a few staples on hand (a lot of it ended up going bad) and more often than not we just went out to eat because hey! It would be 7pm after long work days and we had no idea what to make for dinner!
I really don’t know how I would feed my family without a big weekly shopping trip and planning out our meals. I suspect we’d end up doing a lot of take out and I would be constantly stressed about what to eat! Even though it’s not my favorite chore it is well worth the time and effort and pays me back with less stress when mealtime rolls around, saved time and money, and healthy home cooked meals in my family’s tummies.
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) says
Girl, I am totally like you. I meal plan every Sunday morning and then tackle the store as early as possible. I do it every week because it’s important to me to have the meals planned out and ingredients available. If I didn’t do it, I’d spend wayyy too much money on eating out, waste time, and probably be a lot less healthy! You just have to make time for what’s important to you. 🙂
Esme says
I need to do this soon, I struggled so much with what to make for lunch and dinner! Do you use any apps for your meal planning? Or can you recommended any?
Brittany Dixon says
I don’t use any apps- just old fashioned pin and paper! I use pinterest to store recipe ideas, but usually I just jot everything down in a notebook! If I hear of any great apps, I’ll pass them along 🙂
Stephanie says
I’ve been reading your blog for a few weeks now and you’ve inspired us to try meal planning this week! I have so many questions but I’ll just ask a couple. Your lentil soup you’ll have for lunch this week, do you make it on Sunday and freeze it in portions for the week? Did you make quinoa for the week on Sunday, and how long will that last in the fridge? Ok I’ll stop! Thank you so much for your beautiful blog! I can’t wait to see how this week goes for us!
Brittany Dixon says
Hi Stephanie!
To answer your questions- I make the soup on Sunday then store it in mason jars in the fridge. The soup is usually gone by Friday and has no trouble lasting until then.
I make quinoa Sunday, too, and usually we eat it by Thursday. It’s been fine lasting that long in the fridge for me!
Ask as many questions as you’d like- I’m happy to chat meal planning anytime 🙂
Stephanie says
Thank you!
Matt @ Runner Savvy says
I put effort into running 🙂
Lauren says
Which teas do you enjoy the most? I am trying to become more of a tea drinker:)
Brittany Dixon says
Right now I’m only drinking decaf and enjoy Yogi’s decaf green because it has great little sayings on the tag haha ;)Plus I like the way it tastes.
When my throat is sore, Throat Coat is a hands down favorite!
Elsa H says
I’m so glad someone finally came out and said it! On Sunday morning I seriously stared at a blank piece of paper for half an hour trying to work out some meals for the week (while my husband had a nice sleep in & I got up at 5:30 with the toddler).
And I missed out on getting my food prep done (about to go do some now finally on Tuesday afternoon!) because we were at my parents. And I have been paying for it! Lesson learned, ass kicked into gear.
Yuliya says
Your meal plan is so tasty! Yum! I’ve been looking for Quinoa here in Holland for months and can’t find any. Brown rice seems to have disappeared, too. Anyway, you are really a great inspiration for feeding your family such healthy, but tasty meals! Thank you for posting this.
jodie says
I meal plan and always have a grocery list. I’m like you- pen and paper.
Alex @ Get Big, Go To Work says
Hi Brittany! You posted a recipe a while ago for Vegetable Lentil Soup that I absolutely love and literally make at least 3x a month. I can’t find the link for the recipe on your site anymore and was wondering if it was still posted? Thanks!!
Brittany Dixon says
Hi Alex! Here is the link to it –> http://www.ahealthysliceoflife.com/recipes/?recipe_id=6039636
I’m still working on remaking (to taste again) and reorganizing my recipes so some are a bit lost right now- I’mm get to work on it! 😉
Alex @ Get Big, Go To Work says
Thank you SO much! This is going to be dinner tonight!
I also linked it on my page so others can discover ALL of your delicious recipes. Thanks again 🙂