{"id":33430,"date":"2015-02-27T11:02:15","date_gmt":"2015-02-27T19:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.mainelyseo.com\/cdi-upgrade\/?p=33430"},"modified":"2019-07-23T16:54:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T23:54:00","slug":"make-life-easier-meal-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/healthy-meals-for-kids-teens\/make-life-easier-meal-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Your Life Easier with Meal Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\u00a0<picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/How-to-Make-Your-Life-Easier-with-Meals.webp 700w,https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/How-to-Make-Your-Life-Easier-with-Meals-600x407.webp 600w,https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/How-to-Make-Your-Life-Easier-with-Meals-100x68.webp 100w,https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/How-to-Make-Your-Life-Easier-with-Meals-400x271.webp 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" type=\"image\/webp\"><img src=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/How-to-Make-Your-Life-Easier-with-Meals.jpg\" height=\"475\" width=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/How-to-Make-Your-Life-Easier-with-Meals.jpg 700w, https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/How-to-Make-Your-Life-Easier-with-Meals-600x407.jpg 600w, https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/How-to-Make-Your-Life-Easier-with-Meals-100x68.jpg 100w, https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/How-to-Make-Your-Life-Easier-with-Meals-400x271.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-33436 sp-no-webp\" alt=\"How to Make Your Life Easier with Meals\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\"  > <\/picture><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>If you&#8217;re searching for ways to save money and time in the kitchen but still create nutritious meals each day, starting with a menu plan for weekly meals can help immensely.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why are meal plans awesome for busy families and hectic schedules?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. A menu plan begets\u00a0a focused grocery shopping list. How many times have you gone to the store and gotten home without one or two important items?\u00a0 Keep a pad and pen near by and write down items for each planned meal, or keep track of what you need in your smartphone with the notebook function or with a grocery app like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.groceryiq.com\/Default.aspx?home=true\">Grocery iQ<\/a>\u00a0(available for iOS and Android).<\/p>\n<p>2. A menu plan allows you to save time in the kitchen. Knowing that you have everything you need because you&#8217;ve kept track of it means no last minute runs to the store or awkward substitutions.<\/p>\n<p>3. You can make a menu plan for one week, two weeks, or if you&#8217;re feeling really organized you can plan out months in advance. Keep each week\u2019s menu plan in a journal, file, or in your phone or computer.\u00a0 Make notes about which ones your family likes and dislikes and modifications that might make the meal better.\u00a0Be creative and don&#8217;t be afraid to experiment with recipes!<\/p>\n<p>4. You can also make &#8220;snack plans.&#8221; Come up with a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/healthy-meals-for-kids-teens\/smart-eating-6-brain-boosting-school-snacks-kids\/\">healthy after-school snack<\/a>\u00a0for each school day of the week.<\/p>\n<p><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Have-Fun-with-Meal-Plans.webp 500w,https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Have-Fun-with-Meal-Plans-100x68.webp 100w,https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Have-Fun-with-Meal-Plans-400x273.webp 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" type=\"image\/webp\"><img src=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Have-Fun-with-Meal-Plans.jpg\" height=\"341\" width=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Have-Fun-with-Meal-Plans.jpg 500w, https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Have-Fun-with-Meal-Plans-100x68.jpg 100w, https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Have-Fun-with-Meal-Plans-400x273.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" class=\"alignright wp-image-33438 size-full sp-no-webp\" alt=\"Have Fun with Meal Plans\" decoding=\"async\"  > <\/picture><\/p>\n<p><strong>How to Make a Meal Plan<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. Make a list of all the dishes your family enjoys.<\/p>\n<p>2. Mark dishes that take considerably longer than 30 minutes to prepare, not counting cooking time, so you can save those for days you have more time.<\/p>\n<p>3. Put each main dish into categories such as Mexican, Italian, sandwiches, soups, salads, casseroles,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/healthy-meals-for-kids-teens\/4-quick-easy-and-healthy-brown-bag-lunches-kids-will-eat\/\">lunch-for-dinner<\/a>, breakfast-for-dinner, etc.<\/p>\n<p>4. Leftovers are your best friend. Many meals still taste great when reheated, and eating leftovers saves time and money.<\/p>\n<p>5. Make the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/melissaharrison\/easy-dinners-everyone-can-cook#.io2xBNrNM\">quickest and easiest meals<\/a>\u00a0on the busiest nights.<\/p>\n<p>6. Create routine with your weekly meal schedule, e.g. Taco Tuesdays, Italian on Mondays, make-your-own sandwiches on Fridays. Instilling tradition, even in the smallest of ways, in your kids&#8217; lives will help your family stay connected.<\/p>\n<p>7. After you&#8217;ve chosen your meal categories, it\u2019s time to look through your cupboards to see which ingredients you already have and which ingredients you need to purchase. Take your time with this &#8211; organize your pantry, throw out old food, and make lists of what you already have.<\/p>\n<p>8. Be flexible. Plans change, people stop by, meetings pop up, and sometimes you just feel like being waited on at a restaurant. By having a meal plan, you can choose to switch meals from one day to another and still know you have everything you need.<\/p>\n<p>9. Before you know it, you&#8217;ll practically have your own personalized family cookbook with solid\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/healthy-meals-for-kids-teens\/make-your-own-granola\/\">go-to recipes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 If you&#8217;re searching for ways to save money and time in the kitchen but still create nutritious meals each day, starting with a menu [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":33538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,361,13],"tags":[140,533,223,2163,404],"class_list":["post-33430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parenting","category-family-finances","category-healthy-meals-for-kids-teens","tag-family-meals","tag-featured","tag-nutrition","tag-parenting","tag-stress-management"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Make Your Life Easier with Meal Plans - Child Development Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Feel like a chicken with your head cut off during the week? 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