This last instalment in our series will hopefully answer some of your meal planning FAQs. If you want to know some great reasons to meal plan, click here. Otherwise, read on for the answers to some other frequently asked questions.
Do I have to stick to my meal plan exactly?
Of course not! Maybe it’s hot today and you don’t feel like making pasta bake like you had planned but tomorrow’s Thai chicken salad sounds like a good option. Remember the motto – more organization for less stress. Meal planning is about making it work for you.
What if something happens and I can’t make what I had planned?
You forgot to take out the meat. You had to go out unexpectedly and now it is dinner time already. A child vomited through the car and you had to spend your dinner prep time washing seat covers, cleaning up vomit and deodorising the carpets (fun fact – it has happened to me). I always suggest a back up meal – something fast that requires little prep time. For us, it is frozen wedges baked in the oven, steamed frozen vegetables and a protein, which is usually fish, schnitzels or sausages since they can all be cooked from frozen. Lunch will probably be a cheese sandwich. Is it the healthiest thing I can have for lunch? Probably not, but it happens on the very odd occasion and I’m ok with that. Maybe you make scrambled eggs and have hard boiled eggs sandwiches for lunch the next day. Just something quick you can make in a pinch. Or for that night, grab a convenience meal, whether that be UberEats, pizza pick up or Hungry Jacks drive through. It’s ok – everyone will be fed and we can go back to the plan tomorrow.
Do I have to plan breakfast?
It is up to you and what kind of breakfasts your family likes or needs to eat. Plan to have cereal every day? You probably don’t need to do much planning for that beyond making sure you have the cereal and milk. Starting a new diet plan with hot cooked breakfast every day? You will probably need to plan a little more, if only to ensure you add the necessary ingredients to your shopping list.
What do I do about lunch?
I find the simplest thing is to make a double batch of dinner and eat the rest for lunch the next day. However, you may not be able to do that. Perhaps your husband cannot reheat anything or your kids go to school. In that case, you will need to plan lunches for each day, plan lunch ingredients that you can throw together in the morning or pick something that you can take from a meal and add a few things for a complete lunch. For example, you make pizza for dinner one night. No one in your house likes cold pizza but they will happily have the ham and cheese on a wrap instead with some baby tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots and a container of yogurt.
What if I normally eat leftovers for lunch but I’m going out for dinner?
Just make a bit extra for dinner the previous night (ie, you are going out on Friday night so make a bit extra on Thursday) to cover two lots of lunch. Or plan to have a sandwich or wrap for lunch that day.
How do I find the time to meal plan?
Meal planning doesn’t have to be sitting at the table for an hour, trying to decide what to cook that week. Feeding baby? Most of us have our phones handy, so think of one meal and note it down on your phone. After a couple of days, you’ll have dinner covered for the next week. Taking the kids to sport or work? Before jumping on Facebook, commit to jotting down your dinners for the week first. Spot a tasty meal or eaten something you really enjoyed while out this week? Put it down as a meal or the inspiration for one. Grab 5 minutes while waiting for your coffee machine to work its magic to look at what you have in the fridge or pantry. It might take a little practice but eventually you’ll automatically notice 5 minutes here or 10 minutes there across your week to write down your meal ideas for the next week. If you need to review my four simple steps to set up a meal plan, click here.
I hope you have found these meal planning FAQs helpful. Do you have some more questions I haven’t covered? Please send me an email and I’ll do my best to answer!
