Meal Planning 101 & Back-to-School Recipe
This is back-to-school week in the Miller household. With that comes a little bit of chaos. School, sports, and church schedules create busy evenings that can feel chaotic. One of the ways I can bring order to the chaos is by meal planning. Meal planning is so simple and eliminates the stress of wondering what you are going to eat at the last minute. There is nothing like seeing the clock hit 5 p.m. and realizing you have no idea what’s for dinner.
Meal planning is something you can easily incorporate into your weekly routine. Thinking ahead helps create meals around your schedule that are cost-effective, healthy, and intentional. Creating a meal plan doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive—in fact, the most effective way to meal plan is to keep it simple.
Start with your calendar. Every Monday morning (before I hit the grocery store for the week) I sit down with my planner. I look at the activities planned for the week. I decide how many meals we will be eating at home and how many will be out. I also take a look at how much time we have to eat depending on the night. From there I will do some research. I have a few bloggers that I pull recipes from as well as a saved page on Instagram with cooking ideas. For me the simpler the recipe, the better. I usually pull 5 to 6 dinner recipes for the week and then distribute them to their assigned day on my calendar. A busy night will require a crock pot meal, whereas a quiet night can allow for a sit-down dinner. Our family loves Mexican food—so we always incorporate a taco night in the week somewhere.
Next, I make my grocery list for the meals I have pulled. I stick to the list.
Then it’s time to incorporate breakfast and lunches. I choose three breakfast choices for the week. Sometimes it will be ingredients for smoothies or protein bites, others overnight oats or bagels. The point is even for breakfast and lunch I try to be intentional. Lunch will include items for school and or things the kids can make as an after-school snack. Keeping these meals narrowed down to a few choices eliminates waste and the pain of deciding what you feel like eating ( you know your options).
You can’t forget dessert. I get in trouble for keeping too many sweets around the house so I have settled on making one dessert per week. I will plan this out as well to save trips back and forth to the grocery store.
Once the food decisions have been made I will compile my shopping list (along with all of the normal shopping items such as milk, butter, and eggs) and head to the store.
Voila—that’s it. It’s so simple it almost feels silly making this a blog yet it took me years to implement. This little element added to your routine truly does make life less costly, less wasteful, and much easier!
Here’s an easy back-to-school recipe from the Parmesan Princess, Terri Dowd.
Enjoy!
Mediterranean Flatbread
Ingredients:
1 prepared wood-grilled pizza shell, thin flatbread shell
3 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt/pepper
2 tbsp. chopped basil + some to sprinkle after cooked
2 tbsp. rosemary
2 tbsp. thyme
1 small orange bell pepper, chopped
1 small yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 small red onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup garlic spiced Italian olives, or your favorite olives, sliced
Freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese
chopped parsley for garnish
Directions:
Mix olive oil and garlic in a small bowl.
Brush shell with olive oil, garlic mixture.
Sprinkle with basil, rosemary, and thyme.
Top with pepper, red onion, and olives.
Bake 425 degrees on a preheated pizza stone 8-12 minutes until crust is golden and cheese melts.