Minimal Meal Planning

One of my least favorite phrases in our house is, “I’m hungry!” And second to that is probably “what’s for dinner?!”

With four kids and a baby, there are a lot of mouths to feed, and I can sometimes feel like we are perpetually preparing meals and snacks throughout the day. The cycle of constant decision-making can be exhausting and overwhelming.

Like most things, I've been determined to find a simple, sustainable solution to my overwhelm in the meal department, and for us, that has been minimal meal planning.

As a family who enjoys cooking and the freedom and flexibility to create in the kitchen a formal meal plan felt rigid and restrictive.  It also neglected my need for flexibility and changing things up sometimes, whether in the weather or just on an off day, that we craved something other than what was on the meal plan. Even that could lead to overwhelm and fatigue in deciding what we should actually eat. 

This minimal meal plan allows for freedom, flexibility, and simplicity while bringing joy and ease to mealtime. 

My Minimal Meal Plan Guidelines

The meal plan is simple without being boring. 

I worried that implementing a meal plan would be boring and repetitive. Because we love to cook and explore food that we wouldn’t be bored of. A simple meal plan takes the stress out of our everyday meal prepping and shopping with the same meal ideas, making grocery shopping easy weekly.

The meal plan creates joy and ease.

Meal time is a time for connection and sharing in the events of the day but also a time for nourishment. I want it to be a time when people are happy with the meals being served and I’m not encouraging kids to try it or to have them flat-out refusing to eat. 

Happy kids eating meals they love makes mealtime an easy and enjoyable time for everyone in the family. When coming up with meal ideas, encourage your kids to participate in the planning. Hear their ideas and suggestions, and I can guarantee they will be much more willing to eat when dinner is served and meal time will be a much happier time for everyone.

For special foods that our kids don’t enjoy, we save those meals for date nights or late-night snacks.

The meal plan is adaptable and flexible. 

What I love about this meal plan is that knowing the bones of each meal allows us to have the flexibility to adapt it as we feel the day of. My husband does most of the cooking, and so having a basic idea of the meal, he is able to tweak it as he sees fit with or based on what we have on hand or fresh to add in. 

So here it is, our current fall minimal meal plan

Soup and Sandwich Monday. 

I love making a big pot of soup. The best thing about soup on Mondays is that it’s quick and easy and can be made ahead of time if you work outside the home. It’s also a meal that can be thrown in the crockpot early in the morning. Who doesn’t love coming home to a fresh hot bowl of soup. The other thing I love about having soup and sandwiches on Mondays is it’s a busy evening for us with activities, and cleaning up is fast and it gets us out the door quickly. It also allows for leftovers for the rest of the week which make a great lunch. As we transition into spring and summer we will move to grilled sandwich options like burgers, grilled vegetables, chicken and slowly ditch the pot of soup.

Taco Tuesdays

We are switching up our heavier meat and meal fall and winter meal, for tacos! It was requested by everyone, simple wraps with a variety of fillings. The kids love a meal that they can make their own. When they create something and have choices they are much more likely to eat it!

Pasta Night Wednesdays

Wednesdays are busy activity nights at our house. So we do pasta, it's quick and easy to get on the table and to fill up our kids before they head out the door. Pasta is the perfect vehicle for flexibility. Our kids love spaghetti and meatballs. But we mix up the options with different style noodles and sauces to keep everyone happy. Pasta bakes can also be a great option to have ready to throw in the oven when you are looking for something extra simple. For spring we will be switching it up to a simple spaghetti carbonara with bacon and peas.

Rice Bowl Thursdays

If you’re like me, my capacity is limited by Thursday, and I need a simple, easy meal. Thursday meals involve putting on a pot of rice and adding whatever mix-ins we have on hand. Sometimes its leftover chicken or venison from Tuesday or vegetarian bowls roasting veggies that we have on hand. Grocery day is Friday so its also a great night to use up what’s left in the fridge.

A simple coconut vegetable curry with rice.

Pizza Friday

If you’ve been around for a while you know that Fridays are for pizza in our house. This has been a family tradition for a long time and it really sets the tone to step into the weekend. In our house we make pizza from scratch, but we also have frozen pizzas on hand for those Fridays when we just need to keep it extra simple.

Pepperoni pizza.

Free Saturdays

Like I said before our family loves to cook! Saturdays are open days depending on our schedule whether we are entertaining, running from activities, or having a quiet day at home, we can choose to spend the day trying a new recipe cooking as a family or grabbing something quick and easy from the freezer.

Saturday Family pierogy pinching.

Sunday Dinner

Sunday’s are often the one meal we actually eat at our dining room table. We love to sit down to a nice dinner together, chat about plans for the upcoming and celebrate our small wins from the past week . Some of our favorite Sunday dinner requests are roast with Yorkshire pudding or roast chicken and mashed potatoes.

For breakfast and lunch, we follow the same simple plan. We serve the same things Monday to Friday for breakfast: eggs and toast, muffins and smoothies, and oatmeal. Lunches are either sandwiches or leftovers and the older kids help prepare them. We will keep this meal plan for 3 to 4 months and then change it with the seasons. I like to post the weekly plan for everyone to see. I also have my Minimal Meal Planner Grocery List on hand  to add things throughout the week as needed to avoid the dreaded, “what do we need?” conversation when it's time to grocery shop. I also like to keep note of freezer meals we have on hand, and to jot down requests.  When kids ask for certain meals, I make note of them to make sure that they get put on an upcoming plan. 

Pancake tray bake.

I would love to hear from you. Do you have a meal plan? Or are you looking to simplify meal time at your house. Is minimal meal planning something that you might like trying out? 

Download your free copy of my minimal meal planning sheet here to get started.