Lessons learned from falling off the meal planning wagon!

Lessons  learned from falling off the meal planning wagon!

I fell off the meal planning wagon!  Over the last 2 months I haven’t been as diligent with meal planning as I should be and it is showing. Here are some of the lessons learned.

Lesson 1

My bills have started to rise a little more, as I am buying food almost daily. While I still have stuck to my basic template and therefore, at least know my main ingredient. I am finding myself at the store almost every day. I don’t know what to make to go with my main ingredient. I stand and stare at the shelves. Lessons learned, a template is good but a meal plan is better.

Lesson 2

My kids are complaining of having nothing to eat (that’s because anything in the cupboard needs to be cooked still or the can actually opened) so they are making themselves eggs and toast.  We have started to be a little less healthy than we should be. Lesson learned, having set menus written where the family can see them, helps them see what they will be eating with “no food” available.

Lesson 3

School lunches are once again a nightmare to think of making. Except thankfully for the template, I at least know what to put on the bread. Lesson learned school and work lunches take more thought than I remember and take longer to prepare.

Lesson 4

I get home from work and don’t feel like cooking as I haven’t had anyone do any prep . It used to be that I would be able to assign prep tasks in the morning and I would come home and be able to begin putting my meal together immediately. I have gone from having dinner ready in 45 minutes or less to sometimes taking over an hour to make. Lessons learned.

Lesson 5

We are eating supper much later than normal. I often arrive home from work at around 6 or even later if I have to go to the store and decide what we are having with the main course, once am home I still have to prep before cooking.  I work 5 minutes from home. Lesson remembered, I HATE shopping!

Lesson 6

My children are snacking before their dinner because they can’t wait till 7:30 for food. This is a very bad habit. A habit they learned from …….. (an older family member). Snacking before a meal is extremely unhealthy. Lesson learned, family needs retraining!

It’s time to get back into my good habit of proper meal planning. What are the lessons learned? Meal planning is the tool to making my life easier! It saves me money and it reduces the amount of complaining from the kids!

Follow me in my FB group, Kashering Your Life, Instagram @kasheringyourlife or Twitter @adibog to see how I get back up to speed! My weekly dinner plan is found in my insta-story and I post the meal in my feed once we have eaten. I also post the plan on my FB page.

Do you meal plan?