meal planning

Midweek Mealtime - Meal Planning (and yes, I'm back...)

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

It's been a beat, hasn't it?  My last post was August, and that kind of blows my mind.  8 months since I last updated this blog.  8 MONTHS!!  And why is that?  I could give you a great rundown of all the things, but I'm just going to sum it up with this:

Life is HARD, y'all.

Life is life, and life is hard.  It's HARD being a wife.  It's HARD being a dog-mom.  It's HARD to keep up.  And yeah, I didn't.  I started writing again last month (you should SEE how many drafts I have in my dashboard...), but I was honestly intimidated with how long it's been.  I kept planning to start on a Monday or on the 1st of the month or this day or that day, but I didn't.  Instead, I kept watching that gap grow larger and longer each passing week.

Guess what?  I always give the ladies I work with a piece of pretty good advice:

Start where you are, but start now.

I decided to take my own advice.  So, here we are!  And what better way to restart than to go back to the most important part of a healthy lifestyle?  (nutrition, if you were wondering)

One thing that I always get whenever I post meal plans on Facebook or Instagram (you do follow me, right?  If not, you really should start!) is either the question of *how* do I stay so organized or the comment that he/she could never do *that*.  Listen, I'm busy (as evidenced by my above-mentioned failure to keep up), so I get it!  But meal planning is truly the entire battle.  I thought I'd share my process in case it could help you out in your own planning.  Ready?  Let's get started!

  1. First and foremost, shop your pantry.  And your freezer.  And your refrigerator.  It saves money and cuts down on waste.  Also, makes things a little easier when you don't have to go to the store for "one more thing."  You can shop your pantry one of two ways:  physically doing so or via an app/spreadsheet.  I'm a nerd, so I like the idea of an app.  That being said, I still have yet to find the "perfect" one that meets my needs, so I do not have a recommendation for you.  Do YOU have one for me?  PLEASE share!
  2. Next thing I do?  I check out the recipes in the Fixate and Fixate 2 cookbooks as well as the Fixate Cooking Show on BOD.  Simple, easy, and the container counts are right there for easy calculation.  If I can make my entire meal plan from Fixate, I count it a good day.  However, I *do* have another member in my household - a husband who tends to be a bit pickier than me - so I usually have to move on to my next source of meal ideas.
     
  3. Speaking of, that other source?  9/10 times I get the remainder of my meals from emeals.  There's an app and an endless array of meal plans to choose from.  Best part of the app?  It allows me to save favorites so that I can go back at any time to an old meal recipe.  Emeals sends me a week's worth of meals each Wednesday, allows me to pick meals to add to that week's plan, AND creates a shopping list that I can automatically send to Walmart for grocery pick-up.  Want to talk about saving time?  Emeals is my #1 tip for meal planning.  Want to try it for yourself?  Click the link, and get two weeks FREE!
  4. Finally, after choosing meals, it's time to put them all together.  Honestly, this is the easiest part.  All I have to do is fill in my fruits and veggies for each day to hit my Fix goals, and I'm done!  Anything that I didn't get from emeals I add to my Walmart list for pickup.  Oh, and by the way?  I've been using Walmart Grocery Pick Up for a year as of today.  I use it every week, and I will continue to do so.  Never tried it yourself?  Use this link for $10 off your first order!
That's it.  That's the hardest part of the week.  All that's left to do is FOLLOW the plan I've made.

OK, now I have a request for you.  Was this helpful?  Do you have any other questions?  Leave me a comment below or send me a message

You Might Also Like

0 comments

SUBSCRIBE





Like Me on Facebook