31 Days to Becoming Less Stressed, More Refreshed. Day 27: Plan Meals

It’s 3:00 p.m—What are you making for dinner?

It’s grocery shopping day—Do you know what food you will be serving for the next week?

It’s a full and busy day today—What are you feeding your family?

For me, unplanned meals = STRESS.

I can not adequately plan for the needs of my household without thinking, in advance, about the food I will prepare for my family.

Planning meals helps us avoid unnecessary stress as we are able to buy the food we need and keep better focus during the day without feeling the last-minute stress of, “What am I going to feed my family?”

If you feel stressed when you go grocery shopping and stressed as you try to provide meals for your family, I would highly suggest you try planning your meals. I believe you will see it is of great value!

I always plan a week’s meals before I go grocery shopping. I look at what I have on hand already, browse the sales flyer at the store, and also consider what the family is interested in eating. Planning the week’s meals helps me make sure I have everything on hand when I am ready to cook and try to avoid extra shopping trips throughout the week.

I also try to plan the day’s meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) either the night before or in the morning and write them on our whiteboard. This way the family knows what I will be serving for the day and prevents the kids from adding extra stress by asking me (several times a day!), “Mom, what’s for dinner?”

I really don’t think you can go wrong by planning meals. It provides a little more
order to our very full lives!

Take Action: Before you go grocery shopping this week, try to plan your meals in advance. If you aren’t used to planning a day’s meals in advance, try it, and try to post it somewhere where everyone can see!