Busy Mom's Guide to Meal Planning

Eating healthy as a family of five can be challenging and time consuming. When I first started down this clean eating path I honestly didn't know how I was going to fit it into our schedule but knew that it would have a long term positive impact on both myself and our family . After a few months of trial and error, I think I finally have it figured out (at least in this category!!)

TIP #1 PLAN AHEAD
Plan your dinners a week at a time. I plan all of our dinners for the week on Thursday night and then we shop / prep Friday thru Sunday. I will admit on Thursday night its not my favorite activity but when paired with a glass of wine, its not too bad :) AND the benefit I get throughout the week is well worth it.

TIP #2 PREP ON THE WEEKEND
I work full time and take my lunch to work. I plan my lunches and snacks a week in advance as well. So on Thursday night when I am making my grocery list I think about what the needs for lunch as the family are for the week (i.e. if I have any meetings, lunches out etc.) Everything is packed and ready to go on Sunday so I don't have to think about it the night before.

TIP #3 SIMPLIFY
Simplify. I do NOT take extravagant lunches to work or make complicated dinners. Its repetitive but that cuts down on the prep time. :)  We use the crock pot ALOT!

MAKING PREP EASY

This specific plan follows Plan A of the Hammer and Chisel meal plan and can also be used with the 21 Day Fix plan. For those of you that aren't familiar with those programs its basically clean eating. Period. Its about 1300 - 1500 calories a day.

The prep of all of this food takes me about 90 minutes. It includes pre-packing the nuts/snacks. Measuring my fruit (where appropriate. I eat about 1 cup per serving), steaming the vegetables and baking the protein. I do not cook the sweet potato ahead of time and just pop it in the microwave at work for 2-3 minutes. While 90 minutes sounds like a lot, it would take me about 15-20 minutes every night so it does save time in the long run. I usually break it up over the weekend during naptime!

Protein
I bake all the protein with minimal seasoning at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes at the same time. It usually consists of a bit of olive oil, Mrs Dash season and a little bit of lemon juice. 1 serving is about the equivalent of 1 cup cooked.

Vegetables
I steam the vegetables with water and then once cooked add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil with a little bit of salt and pepper. One serving is about 1 cup.

Snacks
Snacks include fruit, nuts and chopped raw veggies. I cut all the veggies ahead of time and put them in individual snack bags along with the fruit and nuts.

The containers shown are from Amazon. There are tons of options. These were about $15 for 10. They are dishwasher safe and microwavable.

EXAMPLE DAY 

The meal plan below shows what I would eat in a normal day on this plan including the lunches prepped above. The containers are in reference to the programs mentioned above. 

Breakfast (1 red, 1 green)

- Egg Casserole (12 eggs, 1 cup mixed fresh veggies on hand, 1/4 cup skim milk, salt/pepper to taste. Bake at 350- for 25-30 minutes until done in the middle) Slice into 6 servings.

(If I don't eat eggs I will sometimes substitute in a greek yogurt and or steel cut oats w/ fruit)

Snack 1 (1 red, 1/2 green, 1 purple)

- Shakeology (protein shake) with 1/2 banana and 1 cup of spinach

Lunch (1 red, 1 yellow, 1 orange, 1 green)

- Grilled chicken, tilapia or chicken sausage

- 1/2 sweet potato (You could substitute quinoa, brown rice, couscous, 1/2 english muffin etc.)

- Steamed veggies (usually broccoli and cauliflower)

- 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds

Snack 2 (1 purple, 1 blue)

- Apple or 1 cup of berries

- 12 almonds

Dinner (1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow)

- Protein 

- Vegetable

- Optional carb. (On this plan I get 2 carbs a day, so I modify this based on my above choices and if I want wine! lol) 

Snack 3 (1/2 green)

- Mixed raw veggies

I hope that helps for all of you looking for some clean eating inspiration! I LOVE going to my fridge on a weeknight and simply pulling out my lunch for the next day. It makes such a difference!

p.s. Check out my meal planning page for more dinner ideas!