Meal Planning is Truly an Art

If you find meal planning challenging, you’re not alone. It’s especially hard if you need to plan for a whole family. It takes time and consideration, and many working people struggle to fit it in. However, it’s worth it and it can help you to eat healthy while saving money. Some simple practices can make the process a little less intimidating. Set aside an hour or two each week to decide what recipes you want to make and build a grocery shopping list from there. You can determine if you want to include some take-out meals and you can also plan to make extra for leftovers. Writing things out in a calendar format can be quite helpful. Setting aside a bit of time to coordinate your meals this way will take away the stress of daily meal planning. Less stress is awesome! After jotting it all down, choose your shopping day. You may even want to prepare some meals ahead for the coming week when you get home from the store. However, it’s okay to just shop once per week and cook daily. Whatever works for you is good for you.

If you’re unsure how to choose healthy meals that are also tasty or you aren’t super comfortable in the kitchen, consider meeting with a dietitian. Working with a dietitian can be life changing. Dietitians use professional nutrition software that can create personalized meal plans that clients actually love. I use a state-of-the-art program from That Clean Life® to build nutritious plans for those with limited cooking skills to those with more experience in the kitchen. Meal plans, recipe collections and grocery shopping guides with detailed nutrition data can be created in no time. Recipes can be adjusted to provide for family sized meals or to include extra servings for yourself. If you want to get organized and need some help, sign up! If you’re not ready to make an appointment consider one of my digital meal planning products or e-cookbooks available through Etsy.