Meal Planning with Debra Smouse & a Giveaway

I’m so delighted you stopped by today. My good friend and life coach extraordinaire, Debra Smouse, is here to discuss with us meal planning! You may remember she stopped by Finding Silver Pennies in November and shared her wonderful clutter busting tips. I was talking to Debra about the food struggles we’re going through in our home and also how sometimes I don’t plan accordingly when I get busy…. Which led to our conversation.

Grab your coffee or tea, because there is a lot of great tips here!

Q. Life is certainly busy for us all. Sometimes I find myself rushing from school, to activities to painting furniture and haven’t done anything to plan a meal so I heat up frozen pizza or pasta. I know others feel the same way. How can I find the time to cook? How can I plan ahead?

Debra – One of the most stressful parts of the day for a family can be dinner time. Everyone is tired from the day and their tummies are empty. It’s not unusual that I hear this lament from folks that, come 6:00, the last thing they want to do is figure out what’s for dinner.

Also? Our children want us to be happy. So, when you are feeling stressed and running around trying to figure out what to feed everyone, children pick up on the vibe that you’re upset or stressed. On top of that, it’s at a time when their bodies are HUNGRY, which is stressful for them. So, they’re double stressed and it’s totally out of their control!

This is why it’s important to create a meal plan.

Q. Can you give us some planning tips?

Debra – You don’t find the time to plan, you make time. Setting aside an hour a week will allow you to get your head above water in many areas of your life, not just meal planning. Give yourself the gift of some quiet time to plan. Bring your cards, a pen, some paper (or download this PDF), and a fresh cup of coffee or tea with you and make this a nourishing quiet time for yourself. Oh! And don’t forget to bring your family calendar with you. This allows you to see patterns in your family life like Boy Scouts, Soccer Practice, Choir Practice, etc.

Brainstorm a list of all your family’s favorite meals and write each individual meal on a 3×5 card and you’ll discover that you have the skeleton of a meal plan – what your family love to eat! Then, organize the cards into types of meals based on the core ingredients. This allows you to see patterns in your family’s eating, make grocery shopping less stressful and do one of my favorite things: prep (or cook) once and eat twice!
Lay your cards out in a logical order. What many of my clients discover is that they actually will already have a rotating meal plan that can be repeated every two weeks or so. You can also create themes based on the day of the week based on family activities. For example on days that you know you’re going to be away from the house, that’s a crockpot meal day.
If you have children (especially picky eaters) bring them into your meal planning phase by asking THEM their favorite meals. Then, designate one night a week that’s “kid’s night”. If you have two kids, maybe it’s twice a week or every other week. This allows them to feel like they have a voice in the family and some control over what they put into their bodies.
Create written menu for the week or two. It gives you the basics of your grocery list for the week and a plan to go by. When you post in the kitchen, everyone in the family knows what to expect. This is comforting for kids, especially your picky eaters. It also begins to teach your children the benefits and skills of planning and models for them the importance of fueling our bodies with good foods.
If your life is super busy, I really advocate making a rotating plan of two or three weeks of meals seasonally. Then, all you have to do is make copies of the menus. If any single meal becomes too tired, then you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, you simply have to substitute one single meal in the rotation.
Last but not least: you are not a short order cook and you shouldn’t have to cook separate meals. You can lovingly provide a meal that everyone is expected to eat by putting aside some of the meal that, maybe is less seasoned (plain noodles, plain rice) or isn’t served sauced.

Q. How can I save time with my cooking?

Debra – Organization and planning will go a long way to help with the time issue.

Bulk cooking is my first go-to. For example, make two or three recipes that use the same main ingredient, like tacos one day and meatloaf the next. Another great option for bulk cooking is to double a main ingredient. For example, roast enough chicken in the crockpot for two or three meals. It can be served roasted the first day, chopped and tossed into pasta one night and into some chicken enchiladas another night.

I’m also a big fan of prepping ahead. When you get home from the grocery store, go ahead and prep as much as you can to make it “grab and go” ready for the rest of the week. Be willing to double (or triple) recipes and freeze the leftovers for a “rainy day”. I do this for marinara, meat sauce, chili, soups, and stews. This can be a huge time saver, especially when you know you have a busy week, or your schedule goes awry and you aren’t able to get to the grocery store. I use gallon sized zipper bags so that I can freeze it “flat” and stack them. Just be sure and use a Sharpie to write what’s inside and the date. Sauces can be frozen for six months. Cooked meats in sauces can be frozen for four months. Then, for a quick dinner, you just have to pull an already home cooked meal out of the freezer the night before and warm it up.

Q. What about baking? Can I freeze baked goods?

Debra – I do this for baking, too. While you have all your ingredients out, why not bake a couple of kinds of quick breads, muffins, cakes and cookies. When you freeze baked goods, let them cool completely. Then, wrap in waxed paper before putting them into labeled zipper bags. Most baked goods will keep for six months. For a quick breakfast, I individually wrap muffins in waxed paper and freeze them in a sandwich bag. Just pull them out the night before and they’re thawed by morning. And what’s better than needing to take cookies to a school event and knowing you have some already frozen? Especially around the holidays, I begin my baking in October so I’m not as stressed out Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Thank you so much, Debra, for sharing all those time saving and healthy tips with us.

BUT That is not all! Debra is also giving one lucky reader the clarity season’s pass!

GIVEAWAY

An All Access Pass 30 Days to Clarity

Is 2014 the year that you finally shed that clutter? Clear your spaces. Clear your head. Get Focused. Create a Vision for your Life? You don’t have to do it alone. Reach out for help and we’ll walk through it together, one step at a time. Get it all:

Clutter Busting Edition (Clear Your Physical Clutter)
Clearing Brain Clutter (Discovering Your Heart’s Desires)
Clearing Soul Clutter (Creating Your Vision)
The Advent Series Close Out 2014 and Prepare for 2015 with Love, Joy and Hope

Talk about making 2014 a Clutter Free year! The All Access Clarity Pass, All you need is an email address and each day during the class, the lesson will be delivered to your home.

To Enter this fantastic GIVEAWAY:

leave a comment on this post.
a second chance, like Debra’s facebook page and let me know you did.
for a third chance, share this giveaway on a social media of your choice and let me know you did.

The giveaway closes on Saturday, April26th at midnight, EST.The winner will be announced on the blog on Sunday, April 27th at Silver Pennies Sundays link party! Good luck!

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