My Real-Life Meal Planning System for a Family with Totally Different Diets (Carnivore, Weight Loss, Teen Bulking + Toddler!)
I think the absolute worst part about being an adult/mom/wife is that I’m always the one—who, at least in my house—plans all the meals. And lately? It’s gotten even harder. I’ve got a 14-year-old son who’s dead-set on building muscle and bulking up for football, a toddler who eats the tiniest portions known to mankind, I’m trying to lose weight, and my husband just decided to go full-on carnivore. Send help (or steak).
Why is it important to have a plan in place?
As busy women we need a solid plan going into each week to not only save time, but save money.
Having our meals picked out and our grocery list structured in a manner so we know what Aisle we are going down and avoiding Aisles that we don’t need anything on we are keeping ourselves from buying things we don’t really need and impulse buying food and snacks we don’t really need, especially with how expensive groceries are right now.
That said, once I actually decide what we’re eating for the week, I’ve got a system that works like a charm.
First, I have a Google Sheet with all our family-favorite meals, broken down into super-helpful categories—especially the prep + cook time, because that lets me match dinners to whatever chaos we’ve got coming up that week. I used to scroll Pinterest aimlessly trying to figure what I wanted make and then food would to waste because I miss planned.
In addition to the sheet, I keep a running Google Doc for my grocery list. I list out every dinner for the week, then break down what I’m prepping for my lunch and my husband’s (well… before the carnivore era hit). I also plan my son’s lunches now that his school finally has microwaves—game changer. Once the meals are locked in, I organize the grocery list by store aisles: dairy, produce, meats, and then a separate Sam’s Club section. After that, I slap the aisle number next to each item and reorder everything to match the exact path I walk through the store. It has made shopping so much faster and less painful, honestly. This is also beneficial because I can update the grocery list from my phone or my computer, really anywhere I have access to my Google Drive.
I just got these meal prep containers for Christmas and as much as I’d like to let my son take some nice glass ones to school… I don’t trust him to not break them, so he will continue to use these and I’ll hope he doesn’t keep breaking one or two of them a week. Now, I know those are made to be thrown away, but I wash them over and over until they are broken because there is no sense in wasting perfectly good containers.
Lately, though, I haven’t been leaning on my spreadsheet quite as much. I signed up for emails from a few food bloggers who send weekly menus complete with grocery lists, and it’s been a lifesaver. My absolute favorite is Fed + Fit. I also love the ones from Oh Sweet Basil, Primavera Kitchen, and a newer find—What Molly Made. There are tons more out there, but these are the ones I actually open every week.
On Instagram, I’m constantly pulling ideas from a handful of accounts I’m obsessed with. Leslie Stokes is hands-down my top one—I’ve basically cooked exclusively from her website for the past month. Brittany Voges is another favorite; her stuff is always so good. I probably save way more recipes than I’ll ever make, but it’s nice knowing they’re there when I need a quick fallback. Oh, and I recently discovered Meg FOOD + FITNESS—she’s been on repeat for my lunches, especially her unstuffed bell peppers. So good.
Anyway, I hope this gives you a little inspiration (or at least solidarity) the next time you’re staring at a blank grocery list!
