What’s for Dinner, Mom?

Recently my dear friend, The Fairy Mum, struggling with the same late-afternoon uncertainty, asked for meal planning ideas on her blog. Now, I’ve never been consistent with meal planning, but I do have a system that works when I actually use it. It’s an incredibly simple method that was suggested by a dear friend a number of years back when I was a new mom struggling to manage baby, home, work-from-home, and meals.

It’s simple… plan about 10 dinners for a two week period. Ten dinners in 14 days allows for an impromptu dinner out, a sandwich or cereal night, and a couple of left-over nights. (You may want to plan fewer than 10 meals if you know you will be eating out a night or two). In each two week period, I try to include a few new recipes, some old family favorites, and a couple of quick and easy meals. Some weeks, I’ll also plan a couple of special breakfasts or lunches or an afternoon treat to bake with the boys.


Once you’ve planned your 10 dinners, shop for all ingredients that will keep for two weeks, and at least enough of the fresh ingredients for 5 or 6 meals. Then post the list of meals for which you have all ingredients in an easily accessible location. I post mine on the back of my pantry door. Each evening, take a peek at the list and decide which of the meals you will prepare the next night; take any ingredients that may need to thaw out of the freezer, and cross that meal off of your list.

I love that this method of meal planning doesn’t lock me into one specific meal on one specific night. I have tried meal planning methods that assign a meal to each night of the week, and have found that unexpected afternoon activities, or even food moods or cravings, seriously undermine that method leading straight back to the 4:30pm “What’s for dinner, Mom?” panic.

Now that I’ve shared my meal planning method – actually, Beth’s meal planning method; thank you, Beth! – I’ve decided I should actually start meal planning once again! This evening I’ve been perusing a variety of cookbooks, searching for fun, nutritious recipes to try over the next two weeks. Our menu will include Pasta Primavera, Crunchy Chicken Tenders (a first Sneaky Chef recipe attempt), Grilled Chicken Yakitori Skewers, and Kale and Potato Soup, to name a few. We’ll also try Banana Pancakes for breakfast one morning, and will give making our own graham crackers a try!

Bon Appetit!