How to Answer the Questions "What's for Dinner?" With Ease

Never be stressed about about dinner again with these tips

Woman cooking at stove in kitchen
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Meal planning for working moms helps alleviate stress and makes meal time enjoyable. Cooking regular staples are a must because we all love consistency and comfort. Having organized food shopping lists saves time and mommy energy. Picking recipes which are easy for you to make helps get dinner on the table quicker and stops the kids from asking “Is dinner ready yet?”

If you are new to meal planning, here’s how to start.

Clean out the Pantry, Refrigerator, and Freezer

Check the dates on all cans and purge. Any food that it’s been sitting for a while (perhaps you bought it for a new recipe you wanted to try?) pack them up and donate to your local food pantry. Organize what remains and document your inventory. We group all the snacks on one shelf, cooking dinner’s lunches on the next, baking items and bread, then cereal on the bottom so that the kids have easy access. Group similar items together so it’s easy to spot when you’re running low.

Poll the Family for Favorites

Poll your family:

  • Ask your family, "what is your favorite home cooked meal?” or “If I were to make your favorite meal tonight, what would that be?
  • What recent meal did you make that your family praised you for?
  • What is your favorite meal?
  • What is your favorite recipe to follow?

Examine the list and evaluate how much time each meal will need. Any meal that can be made in 30 minutes or less will be a weeknight meal. The rest will be weekend meals which you could double for left-over night. 

Create a Weekly Menu

Based on your meal planning poll create a weekly menu. Post it somewhere everyone can see, like a whiteboard. If someone asks, “What’s for dinner?” refer them to the menu. If the kids can’t read yet you can look at the menu and quickly answer them. If your family really craves consistency, you could serve a beef dish on Monday, chicken dish on Tuesday, pasta on Wednesday, pork dish on Thursdays, pizza on Fridays, and left-over’s on Saturdays.

Shop Smart

Create a food shopping list based on your local supermarket’s aisle layout. Some supermarkets may have this type of list. Others may have an app that can tell you what you’ve purchased in the past and you can make a list from that. Bulk up on items that are used in your top five meals. 

Keep Track of Recipes

You could make a physical binder where you have all of your recipes organized by meal type. In the front of the binder, you can have a table of contents at the front, which may also include recipes you know by heart, as well as your family’s favorite takeout meals.

Pinterest is a great meal planning tool. Create a board where you pin meals you’d like to try. If your family enjoyed the meal, (meaning it didn’t take too long and the family liked it), you can keep it on your must-make list. Eventually, you can write out the recipe and place it in your binder for ease of use.