No, really. I totally am. I cannot tell you how many times I've found myself in front of a refrigerator on a Tuesday afternoon at 4 wondering what I'm going to make for dinner.
I haven't always been like this, y'all.
I actually LOVE to cook - so much so that my maiden name was Cook! (It's as if I was born for the job, right?) But as much as I love cooking, I hate the battle of dinnertime. I hate saying "you have to eat three bites"and "stop making that face, just try it" and "if you whine one more time you'll go to bed without anything else to eat." #canigetanamen
So when I sit down to think about what I'm making for the week ahead, I either end up making the same things over and over again (hello meatball bowls & turkey chili) or I don't plan anything at all and we end up with breakfast for dinner or Jeff bringing home something from a local restaurant.
But this isn't healthy for the kids or for me. One of my greatest desires is to cultivate the same love of being in the kitchen for Charlotte that I have. I want her to experience the same joy of feeding souls that I experience. And even more than that, I want to experience that joy again.
So I've decided to change my approach this year.
This year I've enlisted the help of my google calendar to plan my meals. (I remember seeing this years ago on pinterest, but have never tried to really implement it).
Basically, I created a calendar called "Meal Planning" within my google account. I then go in and copy | paste recipes I'm going to use for the main part of dinner into each night. If there is more than one thing I need a recipe for, I'll add it in, but generally our sides don't get much fancier than salad and sweet potato fries.
So when it comes time to get ready for dinner, I don't have to mess with looking up the recipe again or finding it on pinterest. It's just right here in my calendar!
Using the calendar method of meal planning makes it incredibly simple to repeat meals throughout the month. Say that the meatball bowls are a staple in your meal plans. Just fill out the recipe ONE time and set it to repeat every other week for the rest of time! Easy as that!
Next week I am making Nashville Unfried Hot Chicken and Tikka Masala Meatballs from the Defined Dish, Ribeye with Horseradish Sauce from a magazine and planning on at least one night of leftovers!
I would love to hear your best meal planning tips AND your favorite recipes, y'all! Because who doesn't LOVE to try new things! I hope this idea helps some of y'all in your meal planning endeavors for the week ahead!