meal planning

I am not the most talented cook. And quite frankly, standing over a stove stirring sauce, or hunching over a cutting board mincing garlic is not my favorite way to spend time.

However, I’m a mother to two children, and they gotta eat. And although they love PBJ, we can’t eat it for dinner every night. 😉

When my twins turned 6 months, I began scouring the internet for every single parenting site that would tell me how and what to feed my babies. I’d venture to say most parents want the best for their children, which is why there are endless resources for parents on how to get your kids to eat the healthiest possible food. I wanted my children to love vegetables, be excited to try new foods, and I didn’t want to feed them mac & cheese every night. (Funny, my children didn’t really like the box mac & cheese until they were about 19 months old. Probably because I waited so long to introduce it to them.)

The problem with the endless resources on the Internet and Instagram and Facebook is that they are ENDLESS. Everyone is an expert, and everyone claims to know the RIGHT way to feed babies and children. As a mother who wants only the best for her children (as do most parents), I bought all the courses, the cookbooks, the meal plans. And I was overwhelmed. I’m not a cook to begin with, so why would I want to learn how to make these obscure and complicated meals with grains or meat I’ve never even heard of? And why would my 6 month old want to eat this?!

So when my babies were still new to solids, and not exactly ready for full adult-style meals, I put together a simple list of breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas they could eat. I didn’t want to spend hours thumbing through several cookbooks. I just had a two page document I could look at to quickly whip up a delicious, healthy meal.

Easy Meals for 6 + Months

Dinner Variety

As I got more used to cooking and my babies grew to be toddlers, I realized I could and should start cooking a wider variety of dinners.

I decided that the best thing to do was take what I found useful from these cookbooks and meal plans, and implement them into my regular diet. Sure, I want my kids to explore new flavors and eat a variety of food. But I’m not going to cook 365 different meals a year and I’m not going to cook food that I don’t even like. It’s best to stick to what you know, and what is 1) healthy 2) practical 3) something you’ll want to eat and cook over and over.

So, I put together a 4 week meal plan to help me feel less overwhelmed. I look at the meal plan every Sunday when I order groceries, and that helps me buy enough food. No more, no less. No waste. Before I meal planned, I felt I was wasting food because I didn’t know when to cook it or when to eat it, and it would rot in my fridge. Now, with a meal plan, I have exactly what I need, and a few extra items just in case. And if something happens to derail our meals, we can easily order in or, yes, eat mac & cheese or PBJ. Pantry staples remain stocked for those reasons. (Of course I have more than just mac & cheese in my pantry!)

I decided to cook chicken twice a week, red meat once, fish once, and pasta once. And, of course, vegetables with every meal. I can’t help but repeat chicken and broccoli more than other meals; however, it is quite easy to cook and one of the healthiest meals on the plan.

I differentiate between spring/summer and fall/winter meals. A few meals are swapped down depending on the weather — so if we can’t grill beef kabobs, that day in the winter we’d eat lasagna instead.

Spring/Summer

These are living documents — ever changing as I continue to learn new recipes and sharpen my skills as a cook.

Fall/Winter

As I continue to cook, I’ll learn more recipes to add to my meal plan, and maybe we won’t eat as much chicken and broccoli as we do. For now, this works for our family and it keeps weekdays light and easy. I know what I’m going to be making for dinner in advance, I’ve already bought all the ingredients, and I know there won’t be much waste. Win/win/win!

Here’s to simple, healthy and delicious meal plans — organized by you!