Simple Meal Planning Tips for the Busy Farm Family
I imagine that this post caught your attention because you are either (1) an expert meal planner wanting to learn more, or (2) a beginner meal planner that gets overwhelmed with thinking about where to even start. Not too long ago, I fell into the "beginner" category, and I didn't even know where to begin. I finally discovered a few simple tricks that help me manage my meal planning, and I can't wait to share them with you. I hope this post gives you some tips that you can implement into your daily/weekly/monthly meal planning so that you can save yourself time every week and not have to struggle with the daily "what's for supper" stress. And, most importantly, I pray that these tips move you closer to living a life of peace and joy!
I have always struggled with meal planning. I don't mind cooking, but I constantly find myself in that 4:00PM panic of "what am I going to make for supper tonight"?! I have a difficult time coming up with meal ideas, and no one in my family likes to help me brainstorm... It's funny how they have "no opinion" until supper is on the table, and then all of a sudden, it's not what they like. 🤦🏼♀
Despite this daily cycle of stress and frustration over what to make for supper, I just cannot get myself into the habit of weekly meal planning. As much as I know it would be so helpful to me and make my life easier, my mind goes blank the minute I try to write down some ideas on paper.
Earlier this year, I started a note on my phone of meal ideas that my family enjoys. While I filled out this note, I noticed how we typically follow a seasonal eating pattern. This is one of the consequences of living on a farm in rural Minnesota. We make meals with fresh garden produce in the Spring and Summer, and then we eat soup and hearty meals in the Fall and Winter, hoping that they will help us survive the snow and cold. Because of our tendency to eat with the seasons, my initial iPhone note was a Spring/Summer list, with the foods separated into different categories (i.e., chicken, beef, pork, meatless, and sides). To be honest, my iPhone note looked a lot like a Pinterest board!
To start my list of meal ideas, I coordinated a "family brainstorming" session at supper one night, and then as the weeks went on, I kept adding to the list meals that I made or other ideas that came to mind. I decided that this worked so well that I would create a Fall/Winter meal idea list using some of the same food categories, so late this summer, we brainstormed and the list creating began. Believe it or not, my basic iPhone notes were a great way for me to start the meal planning process. I always had a thorough list on my phone, so coming up with plans for supper was significantly less painful during my nightly end of day meal panic.
As a family, we have certain seasons of life that require me to be more organized with my cooking. We live in a small town with very few restaurants/fast food options, and we aren't that interested in prepared food anyway. This means that homemade meals are the nightly routine at our house, and I can frequently be found rolling up to the tennis meet with a slow cooker of soup (or pasta salad, depending on the weather) in my car. I'd much rather save the money and enjoy home-cooked food on the road, even if it requires extra coordination and sometimes gets me labeled as the "weird mom" with the slow cooker in her trunk.🤷🏼♀️🚗🍲
The busiest seasons of life for us are Spring and Fall since we crop farm. During these months, I try to be more deliberate in my meal planning, just because I know that I have to use my time more wisely. Also, both of my girls have played on our school's tennis team. The Minnesota girls' tennis season is fast and demanding, mostly due to the transitioning weather and decreasing daylight. Normally in the tennis season, we are at meets 3-4 nights a week and all-day tournaments on Saturdays, so this is another season I have to be extra conscious of my time and the calendar.
For many years I have had a calendar of meals planned out for all of October. October is typically when we are the busiest with harvest and the plan helps me maintain my sanity in the whirlwind of farming. My husband works crazy hours during harvest, and it is important to me that he has at least one good hearty meal every day... even if that means I have to deliver it to him in the fields (which is the norm).
Since we quickly transition from the busy tennis season into demanding harvest, this year I started thinking a little more about how I minimize the daily stress of planning meals, buying groceries, and keeping up with "all the things". (Like always, I am constantly trying to find ways that move me closer to living a life of peace and joy!) As I sat down with my annual October meal plan calendar, I had an ah-ha moment. I put together all my thoughts about seasonal eating and our busy times, and I realized that our calendar doesn't change much from year to year. Just as our school calendar events (tennis meets, band concerts, and academic banquets) tend to be held around the same dates each year, our other commitments (like church committees and school board meetings) and farm demands also tend to be the same. This led me to my ultimate question: What if I kept a year-round calendar of our meals and used it from year to year?! Ta-da...end of the meal planning headache! 🎉💃🏼
When I am planning meals, I always take into account what is scheduled on our family calendar. Some nights we need to eat early, so that means I need to cook a quick meal option. Other nights, I am gone for meetings, thus I try to have something in the slow cooker or frozen that can be easily heated in my absence. And, I always plan every Sunday night as "leftover" (or as we call it, "catch as you can") night. Reflecting on how I plan meals prompted me to start a calendar template spreadsheet with a tab for each month of the year, in addition to a tab for my seasonal meal lists (Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter). I then spent a few minutes comparing my already prepared October calendar of meals to our family calendar of events for the month. This allowed me to choose meals that worked best for each night's schedule. For example, if we had a choir concert at 7:00PM, I planned a slow cooker meal or a quick fix. Conversely, if we had a free night, I chose a more-involved meal with a few extra steps that I wouldn't take the time to do on busy nights.
Then I started working on the November calendar, following a similar process. I think that once harvest is over, I probably won't push myself to plan a month's worth of meals ahead of time unless I am feeling motivated. 🤷🏼♀️ But what I am going to do is keep track on the monthly calendar spreadsheet of what I cook each night. Then, this will be the last year of stressing over what should I make for supper! Soon I will be able to print each month's calendar and have our plan from year to year. A yearly calendar also provides us with variety, compared to having a weekly or biweekly calendar that rotates. I know it will take dedication and diligence to track what I cook each night, but I am so excited for the time when I don't have to think about meal planning! Instead, I can spend my free time doing what I love most: cooking and hanging out with my family! (Or, I'll put my time to good use designing new crochet projects to share with you all 😉).
If you want to take this a step further, I also made my grocery list for each week as I filled out my monthly calendar spreadsheet. I use the Notes app on my iPhone for my grocery list, and I have even shared this list with my family so that they can add items. Then I always have the list of what we need with me for any unplanned stop at the local grocery store. At the bottom of my regular shopping list, I added sections titled "Groceries for the Week of Dec. 1st - Dec. 7th", etc....you get the idea. This works wonders for me when I am short on time, and to be quite honest, short on brainpower. Busy days and busy nights quickly catch up with me, and they make it difficult to think clearly and plan thoughtfully.
*Disclosure: I am very flexible even when I have meals planned! Things come up, plans change, and the grocery store is out of stock in ingredients I need... I just move meals around to accommodate. Regardless of what happens, it still is so much help having some plan and the groceries in the house to accomplish this plan.
Here's another meal planning tip that I utilize throughout the year: preparing freezer meals ahead. I try to have a couple of options for each meal. For breakfast, burritos, pancakes, muffins, and smoothie packs are my go-to items. At lunch, I freeze a variety of soups in individual servings and homemade "hot pocket" sandwiches. Finally, supper options may include chicken pot pie, tater tot hotdish, or lasagna/pasta casseroles. I even freeze granola bars and cookies for my family - these are so handy when some quick energy is needed to get through a long day on the farm.
Truthfully, I am not into spending all day prepping meals for the freezer. That's just me though... if it works for you, great! Instead, I like to make double servings of whatever I'm making for supper and freeze the extra. Or, I make one freezer option up simultaneously as I'm cooking that night's supper. The other night I browned two pounds of hamburger, which provided me with enough to assemble two casseroles for the freezer, all while I was making supper for my family. It can even be as easy as making a few extra chicken breasts or hamburgers when you're grilling and throwing them in the freezer. As soon as freezer meal prep feels overwhelming for me, I drag my feet about doing it. When I prep this way (cooking double batches or making two meals at the same time), it doesn't feel like a ton of extra work to sprinkle in a few minutes of freezer prep in your evening. And, speaking from experience, the reward outweighs the extra planning and coordination!
Even though I have discovered a few meal prep tips since I started, I am by no means an expert! We still schedule every Sunday night as "leftover" night, and I constantly move meals around to be more flexible if I don't get a chance to shop for that night's ingredients or have enough time for the original plan. And, if all else fails, frozen pizza saves the day! 😄 Nevertheless, meal planning has significantly helped me come closer to living a life of peace and joy, and I want to help you, too! That is why I have attached my meal planning template that you can customize to fit your family. I included my list of meals and ideas, just to give you a starting point. You can easily delete everything and edit it to fit your needs.
We all get busy in different seasons of life, and especially if you are a farming family, harvest and planting make for long days and limited time to prepare. I sincerely hope that this post, and the free template, help you with your meal planning - regardless of whether you are an expert or a beginner! I am so excited to read your ideas, too! Are you currently a meal planner? Do you have any go-to freezer meals that you love to prepare? Leave a comment below, and we can swap suggestions!
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