Modern life is hectic. There is no escape from this fact. And yet, we are supposed to work 8 hour days (if we’re lucky, it’s only 8 hours!), take the kids to extracurricular activities, check homework, attend meetings, concerts, and events. And to top it off, we’re also supposed to eat right and exercise! I’m exhausted just thinking about it. Many years ago I came up with a way to plan meals with my busy schedule. It has worked for me ever since and I hope it can work for you too!

When I get home from work, everyone is hungry. “What’s for dinner?” is the stock question. She often didn’t have an answer and hoped she could whip up something fabulous, healthy, and tasty from the pantry without any forethought. She would occasionally please everyone, but most of the time she would fail miserably. I would think of something to make but I don’t have a key ingredient. Or I would have the ingredients but not the time it takes to prepare them. And forget about new recipes. Those were for the weekends when I had time and more energy to shop. I thought I needed a way to plan meals around my schedule.

I found that if I spent an hour or two on Saturday morning planning meals and shopping for groceries, the depressing question “what’s for dinner?” disappears. When it’s the middle of the week, it’s too late to decide. I have a small notebook specifically for meal planning that I take out and write the days of the week on the left side. I check the calendar and include the specific times the food should be ready and write the time next to the day. I leave a large empty space at the top for specific ingredients and products that need to be replenished. Then I pull out the cookbook for the day and flip through the recipes to see if any appeal to me. I write the recipes I want to try or have enjoyed in the past next to the day with the name of the cookbook and the page number. Then I write all the ingredients I don’t have at the top of the page. As a final thought to the planning stage, I write in the recipe book any changes I make to the recipes and how much the recipe is enjoyed. I don’t want to do something again if we didn’t enjoy it the first time!

The next step in meal planning on a busy schedule is to actually do it! We always eat fish early in the week and I like spicy Mexican food once a week. I start filling in the days with what’s for dinner, then go through the list and write down the sides so I know what to buy at the store. The list could be something like this:

Plan meals on a busy schedule, example for a week:

eggs milk yogurt

lettuce carrots/celery apples/pears/bananas

mushrooms

mango chutney

bread noodles

1.5 pounds pork loin

3/4 lb lean turkey sausage

Saturday: Homemade Split Pea Soup, Cornbread

Sun: HC p.64 Pork Tenderloin with Chutney Dressing, Baked Apples

6:00 Mon: Fish (sole), brown rice, broccoli

Mata: Taco, Spanish rice, beans

Wednesday: HC p.66 Fettuccine with Sausage, Mushrooms

5:30 Thursday: Chicken, sweet potato, salad

Fri: salmon, green beans, brown rice

HC stands for Healthy Cooking Cookbook, one of my favorites from Williams/Sonoma.

Now I tear out the list, grab my cloth shopping bags and visit my favorite supermarket. I make sure I buy everything I need for each meal, plus everything I might need for breakfast, lunch, and healthy snacks. So if I put sole on the Monday menu, I don’t need to write it at the top, because I check each meal to make sure I buy what I need. I check at the end of each section of the store; produce, meat, dairy, frozen I have picked what I need at the top of the list and on the meal plan for each day.

When I get home from the store, I freeze the meat that I won’t be eating before the expiration date and prepare the vegetables that need to be cut. Now when I get home from work, nirvana! I know what’s for dinner and how much time I need to prepare it. With my busy schedule meal plan out of the way, the whole family can sit down for a healthy meal and lively conversation!