Oh boy! A long day has happened. We’ve parented, driven to dance class, helped with homework, packed lunches… and now we are ready to take a rest and have some “me time”, right? Haha, just kidding… those kids (and you!) have to eat, right? So, what do you have the energy to make? Do we even have the spoons to stand at the counter and chop veggies? (Shoot, do we even have the spoons to Door Dash or call the local pizza place?)
Let me say this first- I am firmly in camp “fed is best,” and if heating something up in the microwave, having sandwiches, or calling for pizza is what gets the job done, then everyone eats and that is good. I will not food shame. And I am not here for mommy wars – any day they go to bed with food in their bellies is a win. Especially if you are in pain or exhausted or living through a flare.
So, we are going to talk about some ways that we can try to function a little differently with meals. Not just planning, but preparing, and even allowing ourselves the wiggle room to mess up and have a week where we “backslide” (I say this very gently) and go back to having pizza…I mean, once when I was out with my kids, we saw the local pizza man and my toddler thought he was family. No shame in my game.
First, and perhaps easiest, is to outsource if you can. Your partner or kids want to take a more active role in meal planning or cooking family meals? Great! They’re hired! This is a great step if you have that option.
For those of us with littler kids, we know that can be more difficult and less time saving. Now, I am a huge fan of getting children involved in cooking and baking. But (depending on their ages), that might mean peeling carrots or cutting up squash with one of those nylon safety knives – not pulling off a whole meal. And for those of us who have a partner who is out of the house for a 40/50/60 hour work week, or who are single parents with limited local support, having someone else do it (meaning, what? A personal chef, dare to dream!) isn’t an option.
One for me, one for thee
One of the easier ways to meal plan is to stock up meals in a freezer, while doing the work you’re already doing. Spending the afternoon making one lasagna for dinner becomes making two – one that goes into the freezer. I also do this with baked mac & cheese. It isn’t much more work to put two trays together instead of one.
If you don’t have the extra baking dishes, the dollar store has them (and I have gotten sturdy disposable ones with lids at Costco). If you don’t have the extra storage, this might be tough to do often – but you still might be able to scale it back and make a half a tray. Depending on your budget, buying something like a small chest freezer could be part of your meal planning.
An extension of this that does not necessarily require any freezer space is bulk veggie prep. Like if you know you are going to use carrots in a recipe that week, and you also like to snack on carrots, just go ahead and peel and chop them all at once and put them into the fridge. I do this with things like grated zucchini or onions, too, for the freezer – and I will save them in individual bags or containers that have the amount I would need for something like zucchini bread, or the amount of onions I would typically use for soups or stews or even spaghetti sauce. Anything that I can frontload in terms of meal or snack prep for days when I have no time or energy to do it, I consider great.
Using jarred garlic or those pre-cut veggies in the produce section is another option. We know how a task can look daunting from where we stand. Those convenience items are helpful, and this is one of the reasons they exist to begin with.
Many hands make light work
If you have a group of busy mom friends, they can all relate to things like we have been chatting about. So band together and meal prep in solidarity, I say. I have done group meal prep in several ways.
The meal swap is easy, in the sense that you wind up making a certain number of the same thing at home and then you all bring them to a get-together and trade. So you might walk into a girls’ night with five lasagnas, and leave with five other freezer ready meals. The one draw back to this is that you still have to do the work alone. For spoonie moms, that can backfire quickly! The plus side to this is that you get some meals that you may not have tried before (and if you’re all feeling really fancy, include a recipe card with each meal so you can recreate the ones you like in the future!)
Shared meal making is great – a group of people get together and all chop and grate and stir together, and you all leave with a few items to take home (say, a lasagna, some pasta sauce, and some chili made from some of the tomatoes you prep). The plus side to this one is easy to understand: every task that you’re doing is shared, so you may just sit at the counter and be a designated chopper and dicer. The down side to this is finding several meals that “go together” (chicken and rice, chicken and dumplings, and chicken soup are great… until they’re not). If you’ve got picky kids or food intolerances in the group, it can be rough to make one meal plan to fit all of the families.
Leave it to the crockpot (or Instantpot)
Another great way to have an easy and accessible meal prep experience is to prep things to later go into the crockpot or instantpot. The best thing about this one is that you can cater completely to your household’s tastes, and it is perfect for days when you know you won’t have the time (or if you, like me, tend to get more exhausted toward the end of the week!) There are great cookbooks at the library to check out full of freezer meals that you prep and then pop into a bag or container and pull out of the freezer to toss in the crockpot in the morning, to have ready when you’re home later.
Recipes I have used range from a full stew or complete meal to just the protein so that I can just make veggies on the side later. We also do a lot of things like sandwiches or tacos using the filling we make in a crockpot.
Consider mail-order meal kits
I don’t love mail-order meal kits, personally. As someone who hates single-serve items because of the issues with all of the disposable packaging from small containers of honey or whatever you’re receiving, this just burns me up a little. I also have tried a few different meal kits and found that the recipes weren’t very customizable, and don’t lend themselves to things like leftovers (which is a big part of my meal planning!) I am also someone who loves to cook, and experiment with recipes, so the rebel in me wants to color outside the lines too much to appreciate the pre-planned meals.
However, I know that many folks love them – and it takes any guesswork out of cooking or deciding what to make. If you’re someone who wants to try new recipes but doesn’t want to buy a whole container of a spice for one teaspoon, mail-order meal kids are worth exploring! I know there are also a lot of discount codes out there, so ask a friend or post on a local group (or even search online for podcasts sponsored by meal prep kits and use their discount codes to try it!)
But, as always, fed is best!
Like I said earlier, having your family have a meal is the goal. And some days, dinonuggets or takeout sushi is the way that will go. And no one should be judging you (including yourself!) on that. If we want to try one new thing a week, or month, we are not going to get down on ourselves for not diving deeply enough into meal planning. Or for using jar-lic. Or for heating up some food in a microwave.
We are all wanting to do the best for our families. And sometimes baby steps are the way to go. Other times, leaping in works best. Do what works for you, and forget all expectations out there.
What are your meal planning tips or shortcuts for spoonie mamas?
Happy cooking!
