Project Routine Optimization #3: Meal Planning!

Meal planning has long not been a strength of mine. I recently mentioned, when I was on SHU’s podcast Best Laid Plans (just realized I NEVER SHARED ABOUT THIS! Whoops! Sarah and I recorded a mid-year goals check-in episode when I visited her in July; link here), that I wanted to streamline our meal planning.

For me it’s not really been about not having enough meal ideas. It’s more that I just….seemed to overcomplicate it? I felt disorganized. It always took way too long. When I sat down to choose meals, I’d get overwhelmed with the choices — I had recipe ideas on Pinterest, saved on Facebook, in cookbooks, various meal idea lists in Google Keep, recipes copied into Google Docs, etc. Every week I felt like I had this big sea of choices to wade through, yet I’d simultaneously feel like I couldn’t think of anything to make!

SO, I’ve been trying something new that has been working spectacularly.

It’s basically a 3-part system:

#1. Master Meal Idea Lists

I already had a “Meals” folder in Google Keep with separate lists for meal ideas organized by type- chicken, beef, seafood, etc. Not full recipes, just ideas of things we make and like, e.g. “chicken tinga tostadas”. If there is a recipe, I might just add the source.

The problem was that I wasn’t fully committed to using these lists. Or, some lists were not really robust or complete enough.

So I decided to lean all-in and declare these Google Keep lists to be my “master meal idea lists”, full stop. (And put a little effort into cultivating these lists a bit more, too.)

If I make a new recipe that we all like, or realize I’d never added an old favorite idea, I’ll add it to the appropriate master list. I also started categorizing things here a bit, like adding a ❤️ for favorites, a ⭐ for really good, or a 🕒for extra-quick meals.

The keys here: I am NOT looking through all these lists every week- it’s an ‘idea repository’- and only things that I have already made and know at least some of us like can go on the master lists.

#2. Upcoming/ In the Mood For

About once per month, I’ll spend some time looking through all my different sources – the master lists, Pinterest saves, cookbooks, etc.- and pull out about 15-20 meal ideas that “sound good right now” into an “Upcoming/ In the Mood For” list.

This is the part that, when I was trying to do it weekly, took me too long! Trying to find meals or recipes from the giant pool that would work this week, with what we had going on right now, just felt overwhelming and hard.

But now, I’m not committing to actually making any of these this week or on specific days yet. I can feel free to browse my sources and just jot down whatever sounds good or speaks to me.

I’m separating the “browsing” from the “decision making”.

#3. This Week

THEN, once I have my Upcoming/ In the Mood For short list, that is what I choose from each week. And only that! (I mean, within reason- there is no Meal Planning police over here to arrest me if I suddenly feel like making quesadillas instead of the planned sloppy joes, lol.)

When I sit down to do my weekly meal planning and grocery list, I pull up that short list and pick a few things from that list that work for this particular week and what we have.

The big change is that I’m no longer choosing from my entire universe of meal ideas! I’m only choosing from my 15-20 item Upcoming list. Which makes it SO MUCH FASTER.

I don’t even let myself think about other options. It removes a ton of the decision fatigue I was facing before, while still having plenty of opportunity for variety or new recipes. (When I make my Upcoming list, I make a point to add 4 or 5 new recipes that I want to try.)

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So, the whole system goes:

Master Ideas Lists + Other Recipe Saves -> Upcoming/ In the Mood For List -> This Week

This is probably not revolutionary, but for me, this simple system change has made meal planning feel SO MUCH EASIER!!

I’m looking forward to making the Upcoming List lean into the different seasons, too.

On Saturday I planned our week’s meals in <10 minutes and feel good about it. I also made a new-to-us yummy cauliflower chowder on Sunday, as a result (and it’s now been added to my master “Soups” list as a future option because everyone liked it. 😉)

I will report back after a few months on how it’s going, but I feel really optimistic! 🙂

What’s your meal planning strategy??

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for veterinary care! Poor Charlie seems to have developed allergies all of a sudden. He started licking his paws like crazy over the weekend to the point that he bit all the fur off his right front paw! 😦 I took him in yesterday and now he has an ointment, a cone (😩), some Prednisone and an antibiotic. Ugh.