Why You Need a Meal Planning System as A Super Busy Mom

*Disclosure: some links may contain affiliate links. For more information on what this means, visit my disclosure page.

meal prep, meal plan, meal planning system, mason jars for meal prep, glass jar for salads

Why You Need a Meal Planning System as A Super Busy Mom

If you’re a busy mom who also wants to be healthy and bring up healthy kids; then you need to use a meal planning system. Without one, you will likely fail and fall into the trap that many Americans do; eating out and relying on heavily processed foods.

Why?

Because you’re busy. You don’t have time to cook fancy healthy meals everyday of the week.

If you don’t plan an prepare what’s for dinner ahead of time; there’s a good chance it may be fast food or boxed mac and cheese…again. (Which, by the way, kids love, but it’s not good for them.)

So, maybe you’re wondering:

What’s a meal planning system?

How do I even start a meal plan?

How do you actually stick to a meal plan for good? I’ve tried so many times and have failed over and over again.

Do I need to meal prep? Why do people meal prep anyways?

And, all of these are great questions!

I know exactly where you’re coming from with these questions; I used to be the same way.


Related Posts:

The Pros and Cons of Meal Prep for Already Busy Moms

Meal Planning Ideas and Tips to Stay on Track!

One Simple Trick to Actually Stick to a Meal Plan


Want to Remember This? Pin Why You Need a Meal Planning System as A Super Busy Mom to your favorite Pinterest Board!!

meal prep, meal plan, meal planning system, mason jars for meal prep, glass jar for salads

I would try over and over again to get my meal plan to work for me, but every week it would end up failing; food would go to waste, money would be lost, and we’d end up eating the super quick (not so healthy) meals for dinner because I didn’t have time to make anything else before the kids started throwing tantrums about want being hungry and wanting dinner.

This is when I realized that a ‘normal’ meal plan would probably never work for me; I needed something different. Something to help me stick to the meal plan, I needed a fail proof system I could set up and use week after week.

This is where a meal planning system comes into play; it’s simply what you do with your meal plan (whichever kind of meal plan you create) to make it almost impossible to get off track with your meals for the week.

So, why do you need a meal planning system?

I hope you can see from above why it’s vital to yours, and your families health, that you set up a meal planning system in your home. But, just in case, I’ll give you a few more reasons.

Know what you will eat, and serve, for breakfast before you get up

With a meal planning system, there’s no guess work during the week for what you’ll eat.

You can either plan everything out on the weekend, or the night before.

It can be a discussion that you have with other family members, where they choose what they want for breakfast (from a list of breakfasts that were chosen for the week), or you could choose for them.

Breakfast should be healthy and easy, especially on busy mornings where you’re rushing out the door.

But, a quick breakfast doesn’t have to be unhealthy.

If you plan and prepare, you could be serving your family pancakes with fruit on top for breakfast, without having to wake up early to make all those pancakes. (I don’t know about you, but it seems to take me forever to make a batch of pancakes so they turn out golden instead of brown.)

Know the answer to the dreaded question, “What’s for dinner?”

One goal that a meal planning system has in mind is reducing the amount of times you hear the question “what’s for dinner?”

One method that can be used in a meal planning system is posting what all the meals are for the day, on the fridge for everyone to see.

I say reduce the amount you hear the question, because some people may not look at the fridge, or maybe you have younger kids who can’t read yet. I can’t guarantee you’ll never hear that question again, just like no one can guarantee they can stop your kids from saying “mom, I’m hungry”. But, there is a way to reduce that, as well!

Save your sanity during the summer with hungry kids

Or, anytime of the year, really! Especially if you have kids who are old enough to go into the fridge and get their own food.

Trust me, they can do this younger than you may think. If you have their lunch and a few snacks all prepared for them to grab from the fridge and eat, they will do so!

No more making food on demand because you hear the words ‘mom, I’m hungry’.

I call it the lunch box method. And, it’s truly amazing; the best thing I started doing to reduce the amount of work I have to do during the day as a pregnant work at home mom to two little girls! You can learn more about this method here.

Save you money

Having a meal planning system in place will save you tons of money.

It will save you money from having to buy fast food or eat out.

You’ll save money by actually eating what you bought at the store.

And, you may even save money on future meals by buying in bulk or making freezer meals!

There are so many ways to save money when you take control of your families meals and use a meal planning system to keep everyone on track!

Save you time

Maybe saving money isn’t your biggest concern, maybe it’s that you don’t believe you have time to eat healthy or feed your family healthy meals.

Well, you do!

A meal planning system helps you streamline the meals you and your family will eat, in whichever way makes sense for you and your family. You’ll spend a whole lot less time implementing a meal planning system than you would making a trip out to get food, or rushing to make a ‘quick’ unhealthy meal each night.

Plus, if you don’t take the time now to eat healthy, you’ll be forced to take time later in your life dealing with nutrition related chronic illnesses. And, you don’t want that, for yourself or your family.

Be in control of yours and your families health

Somehow, it always seems to be us moms who are responsible for what everyone is going to eat.

It’s up to us to feed our families, day in and day out. And, maybe you can get your husband to do it once in a blue moon. But, it’s rare, and possibly not very healthy, either. (Or, maybe that’s just how it is for me!)

Luckily, implementing a meal planning system will take the stress off of you day in and day out from having to decide what to give everyone to eat.

Sure, you’ll still have to decide and make the food. But, with a system in place you have more control over the food your family eats, because you’re not exhausted from the day and making decisions last minute.

You can plan and prepare to make your family healthier meals, meals that will improve their health, not diminish it. And, isn’t that what we all really want when it comes to feeding our families?

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.