Thank you so much for watching! Looking forward to hearing your meal planning tips, too!! You can find the link for the printable in the video description :) have a great day!! Dawn
I Love your meal plan and shopping list! We copied from you and customized it to our needs und once a week we gather for 5 mins to decide the meals for the next week, then we check the stocks and shop what is missing. Since everyone gets to pick one meal all are satisfied and no picky eaters. All the best from Cologne, Germany!
I like that - I already have recipes that we love so don’t need to learn new ones in this season of life. Favorites are soups (can freeze too, last a long time and make in bulk), stirfries and curries, and roasting meat and simple vegetable/potato side which usually has leftovers for 1-2 days but it’s not too much WORK just more the oven roasting time. Then I actually prefer just having eggs/meat in the fridge and bread or rice to make simple meals to fill in. Sometimes it’s easier to make a sandwich than meal prep in advance.
I really like the app Paprika it lets you save recipes from the internet super easy. It also includes a calendar to add meals for meal planing and create a shopping list. It’s available for iPhone (inkl. iPad) and a separate app for the Mac.
You could put it in Google drive as a public viewable document and then it’ll let people make their own copy and then you should be able to edit in Google docs!
It’s actually brilliantly basic, just like your ‘uniform wardrobe’, when you think about dinner, you know it’s going to be a favorite right? If everything’s a favorite, there aren’t any ‘fails’. I wish I would’ve found this ‘simple living’ lifestyle years ago. I’m unstoppable now. Thank you, Dawn. 😊
Making what I call a "meal matrix" has made my life so much easier! Decision fatigue is gone! Meatless monday(pasta with red or white sauce or Mac and cheese) taco Tuesday (one of like 3 Mexican dishes) instantpot wed( hunk of meat and random marinade) leftover Thurs, pizza party friday(we make home made pizza and watch a movie or play board games together... smoking Saturday is grill or smoked food and family time...Sunday is either leftovers or "fancy pinterest recipe" soooo much easier for me!
@@JoVo1111 I started with what are the kids fave meals... one said pasta with red one said white and one said Mac and cheese ... I'm not making pasta 4 nights a week! But it works for Mondays...since it's easy meal and Mondays are usually rough around here... then we moved on to tacos and pizza... and then I filled in the rest...instapot wed is code for WHATEVER is on sale that week at the store! Gotta have a leftover day or 2 for no food waste ❤️ it had a lot of variety but sooo easy... even my kids will say hey mom it's Tuesday can we have bean burirotos instead of tacos tonight ? Sure... to easy...
When my children lived at home, I made a list of 31 meals. They were pretty simple because I had picky eaters. I just cooked through the list each day based on the date matching the number on the list. When we got to the first of the month, I started over on the list. I don’t think anyone ever caught on that they were eating the same thing on the same date of the month. I alternated the veggies sometimes based on when the foods were in season or which frozen vegetables were on sale at the grocery that week.
I do something that may help someone. I know a lot of people meal prep, but I INGREDIENT prep. As an example, ground beef is less expensive if you buy several pounds at once. I have sooo many recipes that start: "Take a pound of ground beef and brown it..." 😁 so I will brown a lot of beef at one time and freeze it in one pound packages. One pound is about 2 cups cooked. Then when I need beef for tacos, or sloppy joes, or chili, etc., I just thaw it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. I save time and save having to make that mess again. This also works for so many items...pre-chopped onion, cooked & shredded chicken, even diced tomatoes that I use in chili and tacos. I really hope someone can benefit from this. Thank you for the great video and your inspiration. ♥️
My husband has been around when I’m watching The Minimal Mom, he likes the idea for sure. We just returned from a long-weekend trip to MI. Whenever I would see a souvenir or ANYTHING I was thinking of getting, my husband would say, “uhhh, Dawn wouldn’t like that.” Surprisingly it worked, we didn’t bring any clutter back home from our trip!
I've started bringing home a Christmas ornament as my souvenir from a fun trip. It's small, I know where it will be stored and when it will be used/seen, and it's so fun to remember good times together. But I also believe in the power of not buying souvenirs (which is mostly how we've done it!!).
It feels really nice to be given "permission" to be just normal. I think social media and the internet has put us into this mode of thinking that we have to have gourmet meals and be crafty have a magazine perfect home. But watching your videos has made me realize how much time and energy I waste just THINKING these things....I don't even get around to doing them! But I don't have to and I appreciate you telling me this. :)
As someone who cooks 3 meals a day for the last 40 + years I could not agree more that for this to be a success, one must have bullet proof memorized load of recipes. I can make 30-40 by heart and I enjoy it. Does this mean that I never try new recipes, of course not. But I do it when I have time and desire and some new recipes will became part of my arsenal. If you know only one recipe , start there and learn one more, repeat, memorize and add another one later. And so on. Great video, Dawn!!!!!!
Biggest game changer for cooking at home was saving each months meal plan in a binder. Then I can look back to get ideas when I have burnout. In the binder I also keep a paper with each family members top 3 meals and I update that every so often. Then if one person had a hard week or I want to celebrate them I can easily look at their fave meals instead of taking up more space in my head.
We grew up eating the same things regularly. No one thought that was a problem. We overcomplicate things. Make the stuff you like and know how to make (as Dawn said). Also, cook extra and make friends with leftovers.
I don’t actually make a meal plan for the week. If I did, my husband would freak out if I deviated from it one little bit. However, I do have some recipes that I make like chicken or pork marsalla, chicken or fish picatta, and a green bean and pork chop with potatoes skillet( brown pork chops and put in green beans, add some broth and let simmer, add sliced potatoes and cook til done. You can add spices if you want, but we usually just eat as is). Only 1 skillet to wash! We eat at home most of the time. I’m in my 70’s, he’s in his 80’s. We used to eat out a great deal but just decided that eating at home is easier now. We have a really nice new kitchen since we downsized and it’s just fun to cook in it.
@@lynnleipold2617 my goal is to learn more one skillet or pot meals. I’m 63 and we still have 2 young adopted children at home; 11 and 9. My husband works a strange shift at a trucking company. Before we had the kids and before I began homeschooling them, I used to cook every day before he went to work. Now that doesn’t work for us. My goal now is to cook supper each evening for the kids. My husband doesn’t get home until around 11pm so I want to make something for him to have for work the next day and break his fast food habit to save money. He’s the only person I know who can spend $12 at Taco Bell for one person! Lol! It adds up. I tried doing a version of meal planning on my own but it quickly fell thru. Going to try and start again using Dawn’s way. I hate the money we spend eating out and generally it isn’t very good! Then by the time you pay for drinks and tip it’s crazy! And I like to leave a nice tip because o appreciate servers and especially the ones who are working now after the pandemic. Thanks for listening!
I didn’t realize it when I was growing up, but my mom was a semi meal rotator. Every Sunday was a crockpot meal. When we got home from church, we set the table and ate the crockpot meal. Most Sundays meant roast. We always had homemade pizza Saturday night. So many meals I can remember and she even switched up when the seasons changed. It was simple, smart and super star mom category
Oh girl I love Leslie and her walk walk walk!! I don't go to gyms, have 4 kids 10 and under, stay home and homeschool. The ONLY time I can exercise is first thing the morning while kids finish breakfast with dad before he leaves for work as a pastor. We have a good groove going and I've come far on our minimalist journey. In fact, my husband just bought himself four identical shirts because loved your uniform idea, no deciding what to wear, it's all the same! I was proud of him 🤣
I've been struggling so much lately with motivation in everything, especially meal planning, not long ago I considered my self a pro. But with all it's happening here in Australia (again) and the food shortages I've lost my mojo and I feel empty all the time... thank you for reminding me that is nothing wrong with me, that everyone goes through different seasons and it's ok not to be ok sometimes ❤
Guuuuuurrrrllll! I didn’t even know that most folks eat out until this video! 🤣😂 My family and I literally eat every meal at home - we don’t even do drive-thrus or get take-out. While we have meal planning down… I would really appreciate seeing some simple minimal cooking/meal videos from you! I have made your pumpkin Bundt cake AND chocolate chip cookie cake recipes, like, a bujillion times!!! Can you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE share some more super easy and yummy recipe/cooking videos??? That would be SO AWESOME 🤩. ❎🅾️ Susan
Same here! Yet I still struggle with the planning. It's usually throwing random stuff together haha. Having three good cookbooks on hand definitely helps. Being comfortable substituting what you have vs what recipe calls for helps too!
Check out Julia Pacheco on Y/T. She has so so many recipes. I try one of hers every 2 or 3 weeks. She uses common ingredients and spices. The girl is a powerhouse of recipes for one so young. I just made her skillet lasagna last week. So good and much easier with less mess than traditional. Dawns pumpkin cake is awesome. I had to freeze half to keep from eating to much of it!!
@@carolbabb7875 We completely devour that pumpkin Bundt cake every time!!! That cream cheese frosting gets us gooooood 🥳🤪😜 I will def check out these recipes! As long as they’re not hard though… I like EASY girl 🤣😜😎 And THANKS! 🙌🏽
@@carolbabb7875 CAROL!!!!! Julia’s recipes are FABULOUS!!!! And on top of easy … they are also super economical! I am a very frugal grocery shopper so these are an answer to my prayers. I cannot thank you enough! 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
I LOVE this so much! So helpful! One thing that I have done this year that has been the MOST helpful for meal planning is to have a small plastic bin in the fridge that has a package of chicken and pound of beef always thawing in the fridge (I put it in the plastic bin just in case it leaks at all-saves me from having to clean the fridge!)! This has been a GAME CHANGER! I know no matter what, I can always fix standard chicken (season with a ranch packet or alfredo sauce) or ground up some beef and add taco seasoning or spaghetti sauce. This has been a life saver because my biggest issue with cooking was realizing it was 4pm and no meat was thawed. 🤦🏼♀️ Please, friends…try to implement this one hack! It’s amazing!!!! Thank you, Dawn, for all of your hard work putting these videos together! You are the best! You bless me and my family daily! I am learning SO much from you!!! ❤️
Love this! Thawing is my main problem! And now since we got two active kittens I can’t keep out of stuff I really can’t remember to thaw anything! I’m going to use this! Life saver!
@harmonymiller7999 thank you for this!! The bin is a fantastic idea! I always want to thaw meat but I hate when it drips and gets everywhere and I love the fact that when you use the meat from the bin you just replace it with more meat from the freezer. I am going to try to implement this! Thank you for the great idea!
I do a version of this. Since I have meals planned out by the day, I take the meat I will need for the next day’s dinner out of the freezer and put it on a plate to defrost in the fridge as I’m cleaning up after dinner. Even if we don’t end up using it for dinner the next night , for some reason, an extra day in the fridge is not going to hurt and we just shift dinner over one day.
Years back when my son was young, I had a demanding full time job (and overtime duties). I did NOT enjoy grocery shopping on any level. Finally I made a master list of anything I had ever purchased. The list was done in the order of my favorite grocery. It took a while to pull this together, but the time it saved me for years was amazing. I would pull out the list, check my supplies, mark what I needed, and then made one pass thru the store. Huge time saver and no more wasted food because I couldn't remember what I had. I hope this in some way helps another over stressed shopper.
Love it. What I got from this video - in my words is : The secret to tidying was: putting something in its place should be as simple as leaving it out. And the secret to cooking at home is: it should be as simple to cook at home as it is to go out!! Thank you.
I invested about 3 hrs into finding out my family’s favorite AND easy meals and made a list of 18 and doubled each (so I only have to cook every other day) of them. I made a list with the ones with fresh items to be used first. I now have a “menu” and only have to go to the store every 4 weeks and it is AMAZING! I made a set grocery list to accomplish this and I have had so much less thinking necessary, we have saved money, had our favorite meals, and I have saved about 3-4 hours a week! We have not eaten out for 5 weeks!
This is great. I saw a comment from a woman who put a list like that in a notebook along with the shopping list and copies of the few recipes she needs and it’s all right there. Cook once eat twice!
I always felt guilty just getting the same snack produce with apples, Bananas and carrots. Yet that is what my family ate! I would try things like mangos, pineapples etc, but found no one ate them and I wasted so much money. Thanks to you I feel normal keep my snack produce simple!
I have "theme nights" that make the decision part easier. Monday is a big salad and Costco rotisserie chicken. Tuesdays are "on a carb" night meaning something on or with rice, tortilla or potato. Wednesday is meat and 2 vegetables, Thursday is soup, Friday is sandwiches or burgers (my favorite night), Saturday is leftovers or husband cooks (or date night) and Sundays we eat at my in-laws. And I agree about complex or new recipes. I only make something that needs brain power maybe once per week.
Wow!!! I prayed just before searching for meal plans that the Lord will guide me and help me not to have such a mental block towards meal plans….and then your video popped up after my search!!! I literally feel soooo blessed right now…I’m close to tears!!! Because this is just what I needed now!!!! This totally speaks to my personality….and I guess (after watching your video) also the season I’m in…with 3 kids in school and little time for planning and preparing meals…but also at a crossroad now where I realised that I would HAVE TO PLAN to safe our budget!!! I already love you!! I’m gonna watch all your videos now!!! I’m also busy with decluttering (you tend to accumulate ALOT while staying in 1 house for 13 years) and hopefully a small revamp here and there!!! So I think your channel was just what I needed!!! Can’t wait to start!! Lots of love from South Africa ❤
Your meal planning videos have been a game changer for me! I’ve gone down to 7 meals on a weekly rotation. I found it so difficult to find meals that all the kids liked, so being able to cook 7 reliable meals, that I know everyone will eat is perfect for me. It makes everything easier; food shopping, cooking, food storage, mental load… So grateful 😊
I like the MeaLime app. It creates the grocery list for you, plus all the recipes are right there. You can customize it to your family size and food preferences, mostly. You can delete any pantry staples you already have on hand and add to the list if you need extra fruit, veggies or snacks. BUT, currently I have created a 3-ring binder of my family's favorite recipes with a list at the front of the meals inside to create a menu plan from. This eliminates the need for excess cookbooks. I do like the idea of coming up with 31 meal ideas and rotating them based on the day of the month they coincide with, GENIUS! I don't think my family would even notice.
I was needing a way to wrap my head around home and meal management since my spouse is back to school this semester. Two nights home alone was intimidating cause I am so bad at making decisions about dinner after teaching all day. Your previous meal planning video was transformative for me. I love the small list of recipes to chose from and reducing the decision fatigue. I love the customized list for the grocery store. I love seeing the stuff inside the fridge ON the fridge. (That last one is seriously the game changer for reducing food waste and helping me make a decision for what’s next.) I’m currently peeling potatoes and roasting Brussels sprouts to go with the corned beef I made earlier in the week. I would have never been able to have mental space for this without such an easy system to support me. I know you said the habit needs to be there, but you really stripped away all the scary and complicated parts. I can’t thank you enough for making these videos. It makes a huge difference.
A very helpful thing I did a few months ago was to take an inventory of what foods we already had in our 3 (yes... three) freezer areas (upright and two fridges.) It's just my hubby and me but I shopped sales and stocked up on meats and more all the time then forgot it was there or to take it out to thaw in time for a meal. I had categories for sides, veggies, desserts, etc. I didn't care if it was perfect, just knew it was better than not knowing. Now when I need to choose something on the fly I hand the list to him and he reads it like a restaurant menu to order what he'd like. It works best if we talk about it mid-afternoon (we're both retired!) so I can pull a freezer item out in time. I've stopped looking at the weekly grocery ads and only shop big every couple weeks, except for things like milk & eggs. Major life changer and stress reliever for us. No more trying to rattle off things I think I remember we have when he asks, "What's for dinner." And when he picks, I know in which freezer to look for it!!
Meal planning is my FAVORITE. my husband doesn’t mind leftovers so I do 2 crock pot meals a week, leftovers 2x a week and pizza night Friday nights! I can’t tell you how awesome it was to come home from out of town yesterday, wake up SICK and know exactly what I needed at the grocery store this morning because I planned it last Tuesday. Such a God send!
Having a “MUSGO” night (everything must-go) every week has helped me so much. It gives me one night a week where I don’t have to cook and we just put our own meals together from leftovers and random ingredients in the fridge. Definitely helpful for managing inventory as well 😀
Oh we do that! I call it EVERYTHING BUFFET night! Not all you can eat of each item, more like a sampler plate experience. LOL It goes over well until they fight over the last chicken finger 🤷🏼♀️😂 That's when I teach my grandbabies about division... 🤦🏼♀️🤣
LOOOVE your spreadsheet idea Dawn. My husband and I are a young couple and never really were taught how to cook when we were younger, so you explaining the reason why we don't want to meal plan makes perfect sense. Its why all the other apps I've tried have failed, simply because we aren't in the habit of eating at home. We tried a hello fresh subscription for a while until we got our feet wet with cooking, now we put all those recipes in a binder and use your spreadsheet system to meal plan those! It's super easy. We aren't quite at the level of not needing the recipe sheet to look at the ingredients yet, but I'm sure we'll get there. LOVE LOVE LOVE your videos! They all motivate me to continue to declutter!
I went to a meal planning class at my library and she made an awesome point- set realistic goals. If you only cook at home once a week, don’t try to start cooking at home 5x a week- even just cooking once or twice a week more will make a big difference and you’re more likely to stick with it. This was so great. I am actually really drawn to super complicated recipes (not because they’re complicated, the final product just looks so good lol), so I’ve really been trying to figure out how to simplify my meal plan, saving more complicated recipes for the weekend or some time when I have help with my homeschooled preschooler.
Back in October my husband started his busy season at work and if had gotten sick of our recipes so we were eating out a lot. Meal planning and grocery shopping was too much for me bandwidth at the time. So we decided to start hello fresh and we stayed with it until we had 25 new meals that we enjoyed. I saved them all in a recipe binder and now can meal plan and grocery shop easily with new meals we all like.
That's what I'm doing now. I alternate between Dinnerly and HF. Trying new recipes and techniques and saving the ones we liked to try again later. I'm enjoying the reboot and getting the habit of cooking at home down.
This is what I did when we had a house full of kids. I had a sheet of paper that I divided up into a grid of about 24 squares, giving me 24 meal ideas. The meals ranged from simple to more time and labor consuming. In each square I put the name of the recipe and the main ingredients. When I made my menu I also made my shopping list, it was so quick and easy because I had all the information right there in front of me. I usually made a two week menu and something would go into the freezer for the following week or a month later, giving me a quick and easy dinner for a busy day. When I made the menu I would write, "thaw chicken" or buy avocadoes, or freeze half, or cook extra beef for spaghetti for another day. When I made my grocery list I would do a quick pantry and freezer check to see what I needed to buy. I didn't plan by day, I planned by number, usually 12-14 meals, and then every morning I would check the menu to see what fit best that day. I was able to shop every two weeks, with a few trips for fresh fruits and veggies or something that wouldn't last until needed. This was way back before computers, I still have that meal sheet in the back of my recipe box, and it has grown to two sheets.
I tried Once a Month cooking years ago. It worked beautifully. But the recipes were complicated. So, like you, I tweaked it to more simple meals. I cooked it all in one day, like a full container of taco meat already cooked but divided for two meals. Two meatloafs cooked at the same time. It really worked . I did a two week rotation! It even meant going to the store only two times a month. You are correct, low food inventory is the key. My refrigerator only had two weeks worth of food and my pantry the same. But after a cook day it was practically empty. Just breakfast ,snacks and lunch stuff. I loved it.
My current plan - 4 Rotating/Capsule menus- Season/ theme based. Breakfast: Oatmeal frozen with toppings, waffles, egg has brown bacon frozen bowls. Lunch: Soup frozen ahead. Sandwich/Salad. Dinner: Purchased frozen Trader Joe’s meals and premade frozen meals. Weekly make ahead: Sweet potatoes - vary toppings, Rice or Pasta, Veggie medley. Mix and match. Make 1 pot of rice, salad, beans, veggies. Cook Only 1-2x week - leftovers OR freeze large amounts.
Most days each week I pick a meat and a veggie and I just… cook them! Chicken tenderloins cooked in a cast iron pan is delicious. I roast the veggies in my oven or air fryer. It’s not a recipe at all! It takes 10 minutes. So easy and delicious!
This is what I do. We love broccoli, steam basket in instant pot pressure cook for 0 minutes Meat goes in the oven, skillet or even microwave -- hello pre-grilled chicken breast from the freezer section! Then dress it all up with a seasoning shaker (like lemon pepper, kickin' chicken, etc) or pour a can of soup mix on top like cream of mushroom soup or cheddar soup...I don't even bother to heat that up... Works for us!
Every week i get a vegetable and fruit box delivered at home, all organic, mostly regional and packaging free. I plan my meals on that. I also try to make meal prep on sunday, so during the week time, I don’t need to spend so much time on cooking. This has really simplified my life ☺️
This is so helpful and encouraging. Something that helps me is to shop my own fridge/freezer/pantry before making my meal plan for the week. I find that sometimes I can make entire meals with what I already have and then I don't need to go to the store for a few more days! My goal has been to save money by using up what we have before going to the store!
Dawn, you have so much wisdom. I really do believe God has blessed you with this wisdom in order to bless your family and all of us in taking care of our families. I thank God for you and pray He continues to bless you. Thank you.
Dear Dawn, Hello unexpected friend! Quick question for you… Do you ever go back and watch one of your videos when YOU need to ‘recharge your motivator’? As your new friend, I would suggest that you do. Your videos inspire me to not JUST purge and declutter, but to simply ‘do better’ in general. When life is challenging you to an arm wrestle, poke it in the belly and pull up a 5 minute organize your life video by yourself and you’ll be back to making these therapeutic videos for those of us who (now) count on them. Also, thank you for staying the SAME! You’ve been at this for a few years now and you are still the same genuine ‘neighbor’ that you were in the beginning. Most successful TH-camrs start morphing into a fake, ego-driven version of themselves and I PRAY that never happens with you.
Yes! A couple of my other favorite TH-camrs seem to be a little rushed or burned out and Dawn always seems calm and sincere. I love this comment. She is truly helpful and amazing.
I absolutely hate meal planning! It's my number one hated chore but yet I need to, to grocery shop. I ended up writing down all the meals I make regularly and putting 5 meals on a card totaling 8 cards. I pick out a card each week and shop for those meals. Rotate between them, gives me 2 months worth of meals. Leaves open 2 nights for pizza and leftovers. So much easier!
I like the idea of writing just 5 meals on a card. My brain likes the simplicity of that. I've made lists of the meals I know we like and I think my brain gets overwhelmed from all the choices when it comes to making a plan for the week. Dealing with that master list just once and then being done with it sounds great.
Move to a town with no restaurants. Voila, you will have to cook at home! Joking aside, I write appointments and activities on my menu before I choose what I’m making. I picture what our day looks like and what I will feel like making that day. Also, I no longer beat myself up about swapping recipes around when we are crunched for time or a recipe doesn’t work out for the day I planned it. I agree about simple recipes. When I was first married I tried too many new recipes each week and they never happened. One new recipe a week on a low key day is what I try to stick to now. And I am better at recognizing simple new recipes to try.
My friend, a missionary mom of 5, helped me tremendously. She said we are probably already eating the same things every week so just assign them a day. Healthy or not. So now we have pasta Monday, taco Tuesday, eat out on Friday, breakfast for dinner on Saturday. The other days I fill in the best I can. Which listening to this, it reminds me of to figure out the other days better.
Thank you! Your system for meal planning is the most realistic and simple for me and my life. I just want you to know that I love your common sense approach! Have a great Sunday!!
This really resonates with me and I've actually already been doing some of these things already after watching other videos by you and Erica Lucas. 10 years ago I was a young, child-free, professional living on Central London and I enjoyed coming home from work and trying out new recipes. I had multiple cookbooks that I enjoyed cooking from and a binder that I was filling up with different recipes. Fast forward to now, I'm a student and a mum of a young child living on a remote farm where life is busy and hectic and money is tight. Following on from your video about decluttering our "fantasy" self I've purged all of the cookbooks that use difficult to get expensive ingredients and that have lots of complicated steps - that's not the life I live anymore. After watching Erica's video about her recipes binder and how she only includes recipes that most of her kids will actually eat and that she is actually willing to cook I purged my recipe binder to have just the tried and tested favourites that I know I'll actually cook - just like you suggest in this video. Another thing I've been doing, we don't have the option of cheat nights eating out because there is no restaurants or take-away places where I live, so I either have cheat easy meals (frozen pizzas or baked potatoes) or when I do cook I'll cook a big batch and freeze the leftovers so we always have home-made "ready meals" which makes life sooo much easier. One or two days of intensive kitchen cooking days and then I don't have to cook for several weeks other than making some pasta or rice to go with our dinner.
I like your list Dawn! It really helps reduce the "What's for dinner?" decision fatigue. Having a theme for each night helps me add variety even if I repeat the same favorites weekly. Mexican Monday Italian Tuesday Don't Waste it Wednesday* Breakfast Thursday Copycat Fast Food Friday Soup, Steak or Seafood Saturday Southern Cooking Sunday *clean out the fridge I also made my chore list match with the days of the week to help reduce decision fatigue about "What do I need to clean today?" I set my timer for 15 minutes once a day to get my weekly cleaning done. Mopping & Microwave Monday Trash & Toilets Tuesday Windexing Wednesday Refrigerator Thursday Floors & Finances Fridays Stainless, Showers & Sheets Saturday Hotspot Sunday
I love how real you are. I love listening to your advise. It makes me less stressed. The biggest take away for me is seasons! There will be another season for the fancy recipes but for now with little ones it's simple and quick!
Great Tips! When I first started homeschooling 12 plus years ago, a fellow homeschooling mom put me onto a similar plan and it has been my go-to since. These are great tips. Whenever we start getting real extravagant, the cleanup follows suit! I also found out that my husband and I have an extremely consistent time that it takes us to cook a meal. SO as long as I start at the time I know I should, it prevents us(me) from getting hangry and going out to eat. God bless you and your channel Dawn!
I realised recently that I was getting overwhelmed with the decision making, even if I planned the week in advance. I created a 3 week meal plan and just rotate it. Adjusting it when needed just means swapping with something close to it and I know I can do something else if I have capacity. It has been so freeing for me.
I just love you! I have a precious friend, a mom who's the next stage ahead of me, who has wonderful meal planning tips. Her first step is always to "write down everything you know how to cook." From that list, you can grow and grow, but it all starts with that list. So, your simplified list is right on target. I'm 47 with 4 kids and I still haven't figured out why I go periods of time not knowing what's for dinner ... as if it's some unexpected event that shows up everyday. But, what you've shared here is an a - ha moment! I have to get back into the habit of cooking with my simple meals before I try to add on any of the fun stuff. Great tips!
Dawn, everytime I watch your videos I feel like I am talking to a friend who understands exactly what I am struggling with right now. This video was on point about the struggles of my meal planning. You moved me into minimalism and I love it. Thank you for all that you do!
One thing that really helps me is preparing frozen meals ahead of time, especially for the instant pot, because you don’t have to remember to lay it out. You can take your frozen baggy from the freezer and put it straight into the instant pot (unlike the crock pot where it usually has to be thawed). The easiest way I have found to do this is when I am preparing a dinner, I make an extra or 2 to freeze for later.
@@juliequates9529 , I answered before,, but don’t see it here. I have used Six Sisters Stuff for some of my meals. My favorites are the pineapples meatballs and bbq ribs!
Love the spreadsheet!!! Here’s an idea that worked for our family of 7. Each person got to choose a meal for that week off of the easy meal list ! Saved me time !!! also each one knew they would have a meal that week that they were craving. ❤️ your videos
This is so right on with what I’ve experienced at the gym . I am notorious for all in and decided let’s just do move 30 minutes in any way for 100 days no excuses. Started out with a lot of walking , some yoga , even leg lifts in front of the tv at 9m so I get in thirty minutes . Pretty soon I’d completed two different programs on beach body streaming and rowing a ton on Apple fitness. I’m on day 85 and if I had started with the harder programs I would have quit a long time ago.
Love this. I need this. The thing that puts me off many recipes is the long list of ingredients, spices that I will use once in a blue moon ( and are expensive).Thanks for the motivation. ❤
Yes! Having less variety of ingredients in my fridge has helped me throw little to none of it out. I really enjoyed this realistic way of looking at food planning. My husband and I would rather eat the same types of meals over and over rather than not have a clue what to make for supper. It’s ok to keep it simple!
Thanks for your common sense insights to this essential life habit! Your meal spreadsheet is so simple and so effective. I used your template and created my own categories, and I've been using this system for the past 3 months. It's been a game changer. We are a family of 8, and I can actually consistently plan meals and get the shopping done. I used to think what I wanted was variety in my cooking, but I think what I value more is consistency. Every Friday I make homemade pizza - it is not easier than ordering pizza, or baking store-bought frozen pizza - but the more familiar I am with the process of making the dough and prepping the toppings, the more enjoyment I get out of the entire process. It's actually the most time consuming meal I cook, but I always look forward to Friday pizza! I look forward to more meals becoming that familiar to me, so that I can actually enjoy the process.
On Saturday night, I cook two meals and we reheat one or the other all week. It's not a ton of variety but it takes very little prep and clean up and everyone has been cheerful about it.
I found putting a framework into meal planning helped get us back on track. On the weeks I haven’t planned it gives me a quick guide for direction and keeps me from repeating the same types of meals in a week. My jumping off point was to build the framework around cultural food patterns from places we have lived. After a few weeks the kids even know what night dinner will be. Sunday- Family Style Dinner/ Grilling Monday- Meatless(beans/Rice bowls/salad/bake potato) Tuesday- Mexican Wednesday- Pasta(Italian/Chinese/Thia) Thursday- Leftovers Friday- Fish (fish/seafood/even sushi) Saturday- Sandwich(picnic/gyro/bbq) Explanations if anyone is interested- Sunday- Family Style Dinner/ Grilling Monday- Meatless (Traditionally, in New Orleans Monday was beans night bc it was laundry day.) Tuesday- Mexican (Taco Tuesday) Wednesday- Pasta (Old commercial- “Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti night.”) Thursday- Leftovers Friday- Fish (during Lent Midwest Catholics avoid meat on Friday so all the parishes have fish fries on Friday) Saturday- Sandwich (usually easy paper plate meal also sometimes Pizza)
A few years ago when I was determined to lose weight, I got SUPER simple with dinners, cutting out any unnecessary ingredients (calories). Fish or chicken tenders fried or baked (with maybe some lemon or BBQ sauce), some steamed veg (frozen or fresh), some plain fruit, whole wheat bread, and yogurt for dessert. (Every third night was vegetarian, which was a little more involved but still quick and simple.). I got so I really prefer eating “clean,” as opposed to food doctored up with recipes. Plus it’s quick to cook and quick to clean up. And no real thinking/planning involved.
I started following you around the first of the year. I WANTED to declutter, but had failed in the past!! I knew I was WINNING this week when I was able to throw away over 30 years of sheet music and recipes that I never used. You are an excellent coach!! Thank you for YOUR INFLUENCE!!!!!! So MUCH good advise!!!!!!!
LuvYu! And thank you for relieving me from feeling like I needed to be the Pinterest Recipe Queen. Getting my regular menu together to cook at home that everyone likes makes life so stress free. Was spending WAY too much eating out, because the stress of being the Pinterest Queen made it easier to just eat out, because I didn't have all the ingredients in the house for those other special recipes. I eat out RARELY now! Working on getting back to my regular meal rotation of "cooking at home" in place and will add a new one when I have time to shop for the ingredients... and the time to cook it at home. Finding that making my regular meals more in bulk, has saved so much money and time as I have frozen meals in the fridge when I don't have time to cook. LuvYu!!!
Just saw this and it resonated so much with me! We live 20 miles away from any restaurants so eating at home is a must, but allowing myself to have convenience meals during a busy workweek makes so much sense. Thank you!
Awesome video! When I sit down to write out my meal plan for the week, I also grab my planner/calendar. Then I can see who has practice, if my husband might be working late one day this week, if we are have church activities, etc., then I can schedule super easy meals on those nights or throw something in the crockpot. this helps me a lot and the entire process takes less than 10-12 min. after the first or second time. I also have a master meals list and that helps when my brain is mush lol
I had someone recommend when starting meal planning, to actually write down the meals you ate the previous week. Chances are you threw something together last minute most nights, and then the days you had takeout/ate out sub in a very easy meal you already make on occasion. This helped me so much getting started!
My tip for meal planning that I have always done is to make enough for 2 meals. I always cook at home now; being older and just the 2 of us is much easier. I don't find it hard anymore to cook. We live such a simple life, and yes, we eat the same things every week. The thing I hate most is shopping for groceries, even though I shop for the same items. I have used delivery services, but their added charges are too much.
I do the same, cook in bulk so there is enough for at least 2, sometimes 3 meals if we are lucky! This allows me to work to a 2 week meal plan (things we eat in week 1 are served again in week 2). ☺️
Another great concept came from my brilliant mother. Who worked full time. Went back to school and graduated Summa Cum Laude, taking 2-3 classes a week. She traveled. Explored the world. Loved my father til the day she died. Every Sunday she made a big pot of chicken soup. And would eat on it all week. Had all the food groups. Like any good soup she eould start with the base of celery, carrots and onion. Add a starch like rice or potato. Seasonal veggies or whatever was on sale. She was very creative with flavors. Often times it was curry and Green Chile, a staple in New Mexico. She liked sweet with story, so raisins were common place. I called it New Mexican Jewish Soul Food. But in all actuality this is a smart thing to do in this busy chaotic world. A Swiss concept. A One Pot Meal. Save money. Save time. Eat healthy. And eat simply.
In a family of 5 with food sensitivities, you have absolutely nailed it again, Dawn! I’ve been implementing this for two weeks and we’ve only gone out to eat once! Your reminder to start simple and keep the bar low at first has been such a game changer. Thank you for this brilliant advice!
Great tips! I'm so happy you don't use background music anymore. It's pretty distracting in this video, making it harder to listen to your helpful ideas. Thanks for distraction-free, power-filled videos in 2024!!!
This is the key. It’s just my husband and I, we eat every meal at home, I always cook to have leftovers. Then we have lunch and another dinner or two, some to freeze, etc.
Keep it simple!!! I love the reminder. We’re starting the meal planning again in our family. It saves us money and we’re wasting so much without being purposeful.
We always receive free wall calendars. I take one each year and write my meal plan on there. I have weeks where my meal plans are wide open…like chicken and rice. Other weeks it might be more detailed like jambalaya or Thai sauce stir fry. I don’t beat myself up. I love to try new things. I have themed nights. Like Taco Tuesday….something TexMex. Friday is something with seafood.
My word for the year is "Plan". I started decluttering my house at the beginning of the year as well as starting to meal plan. Decluttering and meal planning has given me the motivation and energy to cook at home every night. It's the middle of February and we haven't eaten out yet and I haven't been overwhelmed with cooking like in the past. Oddly enough my kids and husband really love my new meal planning because I've been planning fun things(not just chicken and rice😂). But you are right! It needs to be easy or I won't want to do it. When I try new things it has to be super easy with few ingredients. Crockpot meals have been awesome! Thanks for your help and motivation and guidance!
I always find that a new recipe takes me at least double the amount of time. Once I’ve done it, (and know if the end product will be worth the effort) the next time goes lots faster, plus I learn what shortcuts/modifications I can take!
A list of meals is a must! Easy ones that everyone CAN eat, not necessarily are excited to eat. And having what I call a game changer meal: something that EVERYONE loves, is easy and we always have the ingredients. Ours is chicken parm. I know! Chicken parm is really our go to meal. Prebreaded chicken cutlets in the air fryer basket. Then onto a foil covered tray topped with sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese. While that heats up, I butter up bread and sprinkle garlic salt or throw other veggies in the air fryer. 25 mins for a great meal that is our “back up” meal.
Dawn, I started using your Meal Planning Sheet a couple years ago for our family. It's a game changer! It makes it so easy to keep up with grocery shopping and meal planning!!!! I totally recommend this! 💖
I love everything about this video! Simplifying our meals has helped me SO much, besides saving money. Low inventory of food and regular rotations/grocery pickup orders has made things so much more manageable. I’m not wasting as much food. I no longer shop in person either, or waste time couponing and searching for the best deals. I do stock up when things are on sale, but I’ve got my regular grocery orders from Walmart and then my “loss leader” orders from another grocery store of staples I know I’m going to use like apple juice, cereal, etc. I used to spend so much time grocery shopping, meal planning, throwing out old food, sorting through my pantry stuff until I moved in March of 2020. Found lots of expired things in my pantry and at the same time grocery pickup was more accessible and free and it just changed my life. I also plan in “don’t want to cook” nights too. Good or bad, I have a supply of air fryer frozen stuff my teen can make himself or when I don’t want to cook. Still saves us from getting fast food. Life happens and it’s good to plan for those nights too where things just don’t work out as planned. A stash of chicken patties, nuggets, burger buns, and tots is handy.
Yesssssss, this is so me. Took me a while to get here but I was always frustrated with menu planning because of new recipes or it didn’t sound good, specifically ingredients. I keep my pantry full of basics and roll with it!!! And it only takes a handful of spices. I make my dinner decision/plan by noon if possible so meat is laid out. I also learned to fix from what needs used up and what I know my teens and husband like and get excited about but is not always a winner with everyone 100% of the time.
I once heard that Ethyl Kennedy had a list of 15 meals for her big family, and simply rotated them through the month. When my children were still at home, we made Tuesday's evening meal super simple every week, even using paper plates to save cleanup afterward. It gave a nice break, as we were cooking from scratch almost entirely.
Totally agree! It seems like the only way I can make lasting progress is to just slow down and get one baby step established at a time. It's more effective and less stressful and I make better progress in the long run. Win win win. :-)
I wrote down my list of simple meals that I know me and my 2 year old both love and separated them by the three main ingredients like the “cook once eat all week” cookbook and in a way where all three or four meals are different enough to feel like variety. Recently I bought a rotisserie chicken and used it to have chicken broccoli and carrots one night, a rice chicken “taco” soup with a ton of veggies, chicken and dumplings with a salad, and chicken spaghetti another night (we aren’t big meat eaters so one chicken goes a lot farther for us) I usually do a soup one night, a casserole/sheet pan dinner, classic meat and veggie sides plate, and then something starch based like pasta or pizza another night or this is the night I pull out the nuggets lol. Getting to the point I’m at now took baby steps like you mentioned but going simple really is such a weight lifted off my to do list everyday.
I plan or make (crock pot) dinner everyday at 12pm. I have an alarm set. Ever since I started this, we have not ordered a pizza (which costs $50+ in our area). And also, I have the same ingredients every single week, I keep ingredients that work for many recipes (cream of chicken soup, chicken breast and black beans) on hand all the time, so even if I forgot to pick those up, I have them already!
I write my weekly meals on the back of my grocery list paper. Then I flip it over and make my shopping list. When I get home I hang it on the fridge so everyone knows what the plan is. Also helps that my husband cooks some, too.
Dawn, you have captured the foundation of our issues with home cooking again. Every meal planning concept needs to be founded on home cooking first or it just won’t happen. Start simple and build skills in baby steps according to your season in life.
I remember watching your meal planning video a few years ago and the idea of "Better than McDonald's" meals is pure genius. I make sure I always have frozen lasagna and other such things so I can just pop something into the oven/microwave/air fryer when I'm too pressed for time or energy to cook a more elaborate meal. Thank you!
You are my inspiration! Thank you for being a normal Mom. Thank you for the eye-opening moment. Your videos had allowed me the Deep breath I have needed for years. ❤️
Cooking extra so you have a meal for two days or to keep for that day when you run out of time is so helpful. So right about cooking things you know by heart.
I really like how you acknowledge that this is a “season” and in the future you may be able to try different recipes and whatnot. Hearing this has helped me realize not every meal has to be some super recipe and if we throw in a pizza now and then it’s completely fine. Thanks so much, love your videos. I’ve shared the meal planning strategy with others and they love it too!
Oh Dawn! You’re a lifesaver and my favourite “TH-camr”. Thank you for your down to Earth, practical advise. Always comforting and you nail it every time! 🙌🏼
I am a huge meal planner (by month) and totally agree with this. I only add one or two new to us recipes a month and still sometimes I put trying the new recipes off if I'm mentally exhausted. I do keep a lot of inventory since I do a big shop once a month and buy things I know we use for all our normal recipes. We also keep easy things like pizzas and chicken nuggets for quick lunches after church etc. to make sure we don't go through the drive thru. Even those with baby carrots is healthier than a drive thru.
To get started it helped me to write down what We we’re actually having on a calendar, then after you’ve done that for a couple of weeks you see what had worked for you, what days you were able to manage what, and use that for planning future weeks. No thinking ahead to get started. You can see what days and how many you needed fast food and plan easy at home stuff for those days. Thanks Dawn, this is a huge hurdle and you make it doable!
Dawn, wow, so super helpful. And it seriously is just about simplifying. We tried about a month ago to stick to certain meals we knew well and liked but we didn't have enough variety, we had six meals total weekly planned, which we burnt out on very quickly. So that would be my recommendation is do 10-15 different meals well known and easy to make. We used the 7th day for leftovers. But I think you hit the nail on the head with this one. I kept asking myself, why isn't this working? But it's eliminating the step of heavy planning. Thanks Dawn!
I am with you, Dawn, on the simplifying of main meals! I ditched soooo many saved recipes and recipe books! I settled on 6 or 7 main proteins that we like (shop marinaded or home-prepped with few ingredients). I microwave potatoes and steam lighter veg. We have one takeaway meal or a shop-prepared meal once a week. This works well. It is a blessing cos I can make the meals almost with my eyes closed! If you balance the time taken to eat a meal against the time taken to prepare it one begins to see sense! Love your inputs. xxG Ire
I'm so with you Dawn. The easier, the better. I have a index card/coupon Is holder with dividers for different categories like like chicken, soup, hamburger, desserts, etc. I stand in my kitchen and look in my refrigerator and pantry to to easily review what we have in stock. Then I have our favorite recipes recipes that are also super easy and pull them out to see what we have in stock. from there I just I just have an Alexa shopping list that I review with the recipe on the index card versus what I have in stock and add it to the list on Alexa - voice listing. That also transfers to a shopping list when I get in the store. So then I can just shop or make a grocery order and pick up. During the week I pull out the cards and make the meals. This has been the easiest way I know oh for us. No writing, no learning new recipes, easy grocery shopping. My family also knows to add things we run out of to the Alexa list if they want it to come into our home.. "if you don't add it I don't buy it."
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Thank you so much for watching! Looking forward to hearing your meal planning tips, too!! You can find the link for the printable in the video description :) have a great day!! Dawn
I Love your meal plan and shopping list! We copied from you and customized it to our needs und once a week we gather for 5 mins to decide the meals for the next week, then we check the stocks and shop what is missing. Since everyone gets to pick one meal all are satisfied and no picky eaters. All the best from Cologne, Germany!
I like that - I already have recipes that we love so don’t need to learn new ones in this season of life. Favorites are soups (can freeze too, last a long time and make in bulk), stirfries and curries, and roasting meat and simple vegetable/potato side which usually has leftovers for 1-2 days but it’s not too much WORK just more the oven roasting time. Then I actually prefer just having eggs/meat in the fridge and bread or rice to make simple meals to fill in. Sometimes it’s easier to make a sandwich than meal prep in advance.
I really like the app Paprika it lets you save recipes from the internet super easy. It also includes a calendar to add meals for meal planing and create a shopping list. It’s available for iPhone (inkl. iPad) and a separate app for the Mac.
You could put it in Google drive as a public viewable document and then it’ll let people make their own copy and then you should be able to edit in Google docs!
It’s actually brilliantly basic, just like your ‘uniform wardrobe’, when you think about dinner, you know it’s going to be a favorite right?
If everything’s a favorite, there aren’t any ‘fails’.
I wish I would’ve found this ‘simple living’ lifestyle years ago. I’m unstoppable now. Thank you, Dawn. 😊
Making what I call a "meal matrix" has made my life so much easier! Decision fatigue is gone! Meatless monday(pasta with red or white sauce or Mac and cheese) taco Tuesday (one of like 3 Mexican dishes) instantpot wed( hunk of meat and random marinade) leftover Thurs, pizza party friday(we make home made pizza and watch a movie or play board games together... smoking Saturday is grill or smoked food and family time...Sunday is either leftovers or "fancy pinterest recipe" soooo much easier for me!
Love this idea!
We do something similar. So much easier. We plan now 1 month at a time.
So much easier to eat this way👍
@@JoVo1111 I started with what are the kids fave meals... one said pasta with red one said white and one said Mac and cheese ... I'm not making pasta 4 nights a week! But it works for Mondays...since it's easy meal and Mondays are usually rough around here... then we moved on to tacos and pizza... and then I filled in the rest...instapot wed is code for WHATEVER is on sale that week at the store! Gotta have a leftover day or 2 for no food waste ❤️ it had a lot of variety but sooo easy... even my kids will say hey mom it's Tuesday can we have bean burirotos instead of tacos tonight ? Sure... to easy...
Stealing this! 😁Will make some changes for our needs, but this is GOLD!
When my children lived at home, I made a list of 31 meals. They were pretty simple because I had picky eaters. I just cooked through the list each day based on the date matching the number on the list. When we got to the first of the month, I started over on the list. I don’t think anyone ever caught on that they were eating the same thing on the same date of the month. I alternated the veggies sometimes based on when the foods were in season or which frozen vegetables were on sale at the grocery that week.
I have an extremely picky eater, total family of 5. What are some picky eater meals you'd recommend?
Great idea!
Ok this is genius.
That's so clever!
You very very smart woman you!
I do something that may help someone. I know a lot of people meal prep, but I INGREDIENT prep. As an example, ground beef is less expensive if you buy several pounds at once. I have sooo many recipes that start: "Take a pound of ground beef and brown it..." 😁 so I will brown a lot of beef at one time and freeze it in one pound packages. One pound is about 2 cups cooked. Then when I need beef for tacos, or sloppy joes, or chili, etc., I just thaw it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. I save time and save having to make that mess again. This also works for so many items...pre-chopped onion, cooked & shredded chicken, even diced tomatoes that I use in chili and tacos. I really hope someone can benefit from this. Thank you for the great video and your inspiration. ♥️
My husband has been around when I’m watching The Minimal Mom, he likes the idea for sure. We just returned from a long-weekend trip to MI. Whenever I would see a souvenir or ANYTHING I was thinking of getting, my husband would say, “uhhh, Dawn wouldn’t like that.” Surprisingly it worked, we didn’t bring any clutter back home from our trip!
So proud of both of you, and Dawn too.
I've started bringing home a Christmas ornament as my souvenir from a fun trip. It's small, I know where it will be stored and when it will be used/seen, and it's so fun to remember good times together. But I also believe in the power of not buying souvenirs (which is mostly how we've done it!!).
Your husband is so smart! Save money. Live better. 😊
That’s awesome. Our souvenirs are a magnet for our refrigerator. That’s it. We pick it out with the kids. They love to do that
It feels really nice to be given "permission" to be just normal. I think social media and the internet has put us into this mode of thinking that we have to have gourmet meals and be crafty have a magazine perfect home. But watching your videos has made me realize how much time and energy I waste just THINKING these things....I don't even get around to doing them! But I don't have to and I appreciate you telling me this. :)
As someone who cooks 3 meals a day for the last 40 + years I could not agree more that for this to be a success, one must have bullet proof memorized load of recipes. I can make 30-40 by heart and I enjoy it. Does this mean that I never try new recipes, of course not. But I do it when I have time and desire and some new recipes will became part of my arsenal. If you know only one recipe , start there and learn one more, repeat, memorize and add another one later. And so on. Great video, Dawn!!!!!!
I struggle to find good recipes and don’t know many by heart. Any cookbook recommendations?
Fellow SAHM here (only been in the game 4 years) but I appreciate hearing your advice and wisdom. ❤
Biggest game changer for cooking at home was saving each months meal plan in a binder. Then I can look back to get ideas when I have burnout. In the binder I also keep a paper with each family members top 3 meals and I update that every so often. Then if one person had a hard week or I want to celebrate them I can easily look at their fave meals instead of taking up more space in my head.
Brilliant! Love this. I have a binder but it’s kinda sad 😂
We grew up eating the same things regularly. No one thought that was a problem. We overcomplicate things. Make the stuff you like and know how to make (as Dawn said). Also, cook extra and make friends with leftovers.
Exactly.
Yes, we share a meal almost once a week with another family. They don't care what it is and are always very appreciative.
You took the words out of my mouth! I think in order for companies to make money they have to confuse us...it really isn't that complicated!
I don’t actually make a meal plan for the week. If I did, my husband would freak out if I deviated from it one little bit. However, I do have some recipes that I make like chicken or pork marsalla, chicken or fish picatta, and a green bean and pork chop with potatoes skillet( brown pork chops and put in green beans, add some broth and let simmer, add sliced potatoes and cook til done. You can add spices if you want, but we usually just eat as is). Only 1 skillet to wash! We eat at home most of the time. I’m in my 70’s, he’s in his 80’s. We used to eat out a great deal but just decided that eating at home is easier now. We have a really nice new kitchen since we downsized and it’s just fun to cook in it.
@@lynnleipold2617 my goal is to learn more one skillet or pot meals. I’m 63 and we still have 2 young adopted children at home; 11 and 9.
My husband works a strange shift at a trucking company. Before we had the kids and before I began homeschooling them, I used to cook every day before he went to work. Now that doesn’t work for us.
My goal now is to cook supper each evening for the kids. My husband doesn’t get home until around 11pm so I want to make something for him to have for work the next day and break his fast food habit to save money. He’s the only person I know who can spend $12 at Taco Bell for one person! Lol! It adds up.
I tried doing a version of meal planning on my own but it quickly fell thru.
Going to try and start again using Dawn’s way.
I hate the money we spend eating out and generally it isn’t very good! Then by the time you pay for drinks and tip it’s crazy! And I like to leave a nice tip because o appreciate servers and especially the ones who are working now after the pandemic.
Thanks for listening!
I didn’t realize it when I was growing up, but my mom was a semi meal rotator. Every Sunday was a crockpot meal. When we got home from church, we set the table and ate the crockpot meal. Most Sundays meant roast. We always had homemade pizza Saturday night. So many meals I can remember and she even switched up when the seasons changed. It was simple, smart and super star mom category
You are the most inspiring and light- filled TH-camr I've ever seen. Your light shined and it's obvious where that light comes from. :)
Oh girl I love Leslie and her walk walk walk!! I don't go to gyms, have 4 kids 10 and under, stay home and homeschool. The ONLY time I can exercise is first thing the morning while kids finish breakfast with dad before he leaves for work as a pastor. We have a good groove going and I've come far on our minimalist journey. In fact, my husband just bought himself four identical shirts because loved your uniform idea, no deciding what to wear, it's all the same! I was proud of him 🤣
I've been struggling so much lately with motivation in everything, especially meal planning, not long ago I considered my self a pro. But with all it's happening here in Australia (again) and the food shortages I've lost my mojo and I feel empty all the time... thank you for reminding me that is nothing wrong with me, that everyone goes through different seasons and it's ok not to be ok sometimes ❤
Sending love ❤️
You’re not alone ❤
Guuuuuurrrrllll! I didn’t even know that most folks eat out until this video! 🤣😂 My family and I literally eat every meal at home - we don’t even do drive-thrus or get take-out. While we have meal planning down… I would really appreciate seeing some simple minimal cooking/meal videos from you! I have made your pumpkin Bundt cake AND chocolate chip cookie cake recipes, like, a bujillion times!!! Can you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE share some more super easy and yummy recipe/cooking videos??? That would be SO AWESOME 🤩. ❎🅾️ Susan
Yes! I totally want her Instant Pot recipes. I'm finally sort of using it.... with my one recipe. Lol.
Same here! Yet I still struggle with the planning. It's usually throwing random stuff together haha. Having three good cookbooks on hand definitely helps. Being comfortable substituting what you have vs what recipe calls for helps too!
Check out Julia Pacheco on Y/T. She has so so many recipes. I try one of hers every 2 or 3 weeks. She uses common ingredients and spices. The girl is a powerhouse of recipes for one so young. I just made her skillet lasagna last week. So good and much easier with less mess than traditional. Dawns pumpkin cake is awesome. I had to freeze half to keep from eating to much of it!!
@@carolbabb7875 We completely devour that pumpkin Bundt cake every time!!! That cream cheese frosting gets us gooooood 🥳🤪😜 I will def check out these recipes! As long as they’re not hard though… I like EASY girl 🤣😜😎 And THANKS! 🙌🏽
@@carolbabb7875 CAROL!!!!! Julia’s recipes are FABULOUS!!!! And on top of easy … they are also super economical! I am a very frugal grocery shopper so these are an answer to my prayers. I cannot thank you enough! 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
I LOVE this so much! So helpful! One thing that I have done this year that has been the MOST helpful for meal planning is to have a small plastic bin in the fridge that has a package of chicken and pound of beef always thawing in the fridge (I put it in the plastic bin just in case it leaks at all-saves me from having to clean the fridge!)! This has been a GAME CHANGER! I know no matter what, I can always fix standard chicken (season with a ranch packet or alfredo sauce) or ground up some beef and add taco seasoning or spaghetti sauce. This has been a life saver because my biggest issue with cooking was realizing it was 4pm and no meat was thawed. 🤦🏼♀️ Please, friends…try to implement this one hack! It’s amazing!!!!
Thank you, Dawn, for all of your hard work putting these videos together! You are the best! You bless me and my family daily! I am learning SO much from you!!! ❤️
Same here! Forgetting to take meat out the freezer was my biggest downfall, lol!
Love this! Thawing is my main problem! And now since we got two active kittens I can’t keep out of stuff I really can’t remember to thaw anything! I’m going to use this! Life saver!
@harmonymiller7999 thank you for this!! The bin is a fantastic idea! I always want to thaw meat but I hate when it drips and gets everywhere and I love the fact that when you use the meat from the bin you just replace it with more meat from the freezer. I am going to try to implement this! Thank you for the great idea!
This is GENIUS. I love you.
I do a version of this. Since I have meals planned out by the day, I take the meat I will need for the next day’s dinner out of the freezer and put it on a plate to defrost in the fridge as I’m cleaning up after dinner. Even if we don’t end up using it for dinner the next night , for some reason, an extra day in the fridge is not going to hurt and we just shift dinner over one day.
Years back when my son was young, I had a demanding full time job (and overtime duties).
I did NOT enjoy grocery shopping on any level. Finally I made a master list of anything I had ever purchased. The list was done in the order of my favorite grocery.
It took a while to pull this together, but the time it saved me for years was amazing.
I would pull out the list, check my supplies, mark what I needed, and then made one pass thru the store.
Huge time saver and no more wasted food because I couldn't remember what I had.
I hope this in some way helps another over stressed shopper.
Love it. What I got from this video - in my words is : The secret to tidying was: putting something in its place should be as simple as leaving it out. And the secret to cooking at home is: it should be as simple to cook at home as it is to go out!! Thank you.
I invested about 3 hrs into finding out my family’s favorite AND easy meals and made a list of 18 and doubled each (so I only have to cook every other day) of them. I made a list with the ones with fresh items to be used first. I now have a “menu” and only have to go to the store every 4 weeks and it is AMAZING! I made a set grocery list to accomplish this and I have had so much less thinking necessary, we have saved money, had our favorite meals, and I have saved about 3-4 hours a week! We have not eaten out for 5 weeks!
This is great. I saw a comment from a woman who put a list like that in a notebook along with the shopping list and copies of the few recipes she needs and it’s all right there. Cook once eat twice!
Geniuss
Great idea!
I always felt guilty just getting the same snack produce with apples, Bananas and carrots. Yet that is what my family ate! I would try things like mangos, pineapples etc, but found no one ate them and I wasted so much money. Thanks to you I feel normal keep my snack produce simple!
I have "theme nights" that make the decision part easier. Monday is a big salad and Costco rotisserie chicken. Tuesdays are "on a carb" night meaning something on or with rice, tortilla or potato. Wednesday is meat and 2 vegetables, Thursday is soup, Friday is sandwiches or burgers (my favorite night), Saturday is leftovers or husband cooks (or date night) and Sundays we eat at my in-laws.
And I agree about complex or new recipes. I only make something that needs brain power maybe once per week.
Wow!!!
I prayed just before searching for meal plans that the Lord will guide me and help me not to have such a mental block towards meal plans….and then your video popped up after my search!!!
I literally feel soooo blessed right now…I’m close to tears!!!
Because this is just what I needed now!!!! This totally speaks to my personality….and I guess (after watching your video) also the season I’m in…with 3 kids in school and little time for planning and preparing meals…but also at a crossroad now where I realised that I would HAVE TO PLAN to safe our budget!!!
I already love you!! I’m gonna watch all your videos now!!! I’m also busy with decluttering (you tend to accumulate ALOT while staying in 1 house for 13 years) and hopefully a small revamp here and there!!! So I think your channel was just what I needed!!!
Can’t wait to start!!
Lots of love from South Africa ❤
Your meal planning videos have been a game changer for me! I’ve gone down to 7 meals on a weekly rotation. I found it so difficult to find meals that all the kids liked, so being able to cook 7 reliable meals, that I know everyone will eat is perfect for me. It makes everything easier; food shopping, cooking, food storage, mental load… So grateful 😊
I like the MeaLime app. It creates the grocery list for you, plus all the recipes are right there. You can customize it to your family size and food preferences, mostly. You can delete any pantry staples you already have on hand and add to the list if you need extra fruit, veggies or snacks. BUT, currently I have created a 3-ring binder of my family's favorite recipes with a list at the front of the meals inside to create a menu plan from. This eliminates the need for excess cookbooks. I do like the idea of coming up with 31 meal ideas and rotating them based on the day of the month they coincide with, GENIUS! I don't think my family would even notice.
I was needing a way to wrap my head around home and meal management since my spouse is back to school this semester. Two nights home alone was intimidating cause I am so bad at making decisions about dinner after teaching all day.
Your previous meal planning video was transformative for me. I love the small list of recipes to chose from and reducing the decision fatigue. I love the customized list for the grocery store. I love seeing the stuff inside the fridge ON the fridge. (That last one is seriously the game changer for reducing food waste and helping me make a decision for what’s next.)
I’m currently peeling potatoes and roasting Brussels sprouts to go with the corned beef I made earlier in the week. I would have never been able to have mental space for this without such an easy system to support me.
I know you said the habit needs to be there, but you really stripped away all the scary and complicated parts.
I can’t thank you enough for making these videos. It makes a huge difference.
A very helpful thing I did a few months ago was to take an inventory of what foods we already had in our 3 (yes... three) freezer areas (upright and two fridges.) It's just my hubby and me but I shopped sales and stocked up on meats and more all the time then forgot it was there or to take it out to thaw in time for a meal. I had categories for sides, veggies, desserts, etc. I didn't care if it was perfect, just knew it was better than not knowing.
Now when I need to choose something on the fly I hand the list to him and he reads it like a restaurant menu to order what he'd like. It works best if we talk about it mid-afternoon (we're both retired!) so I can pull a freezer item out in time.
I've stopped looking at the weekly grocery ads and only shop big every couple weeks, except for things like milk & eggs.
Major life changer and stress reliever for us. No more trying to rattle off things I think I remember we have when he asks, "What's for dinner." And when he picks, I know in which freezer to look for it!!
Meal planning is my FAVORITE. my husband doesn’t mind leftovers so I do 2 crock pot meals a week, leftovers 2x a week and pizza night Friday nights! I can’t tell you how awesome it was to come home from out of town yesterday, wake up SICK and know exactly what I needed at the grocery store this morning because I planned it last Tuesday. Such a God send!
Hope you’re feeling better now!
I sure am!!
Having a “MUSGO” night (everything must-go) every week has helped me so much. It gives me one night a week where I don’t have to cook and we just put our own meals together from leftovers and random ingredients in the fridge. Definitely helpful for managing inventory as well 😀
Oh we do that! I call it EVERYTHING BUFFET night! Not all you can eat of each item, more like a sampler plate experience. LOL It goes over well until they fight over the last chicken finger 🤷🏼♀️😂 That's when I teach my grandbabies about division... 🤦🏼♀️🤣
Leftovers dinner! That's what we call it. 🙂
LOOOVE your spreadsheet idea Dawn. My husband and I are a young couple and never really were taught how to cook when we were younger, so you explaining the reason why we don't want to meal plan makes perfect sense. Its why all the other apps I've tried have failed, simply because we aren't in the habit of eating at home. We tried a hello fresh subscription for a while until we got our feet wet with cooking, now we put all those recipes in a binder and use your spreadsheet system to meal plan those! It's super easy. We aren't quite at the level of not needing the recipe sheet to look at the ingredients yet, but I'm sure we'll get there. LOVE LOVE LOVE your videos! They all motivate me to continue to declutter!
I went to a meal planning class at my library and she made an awesome point- set realistic goals. If you only cook at home once a week, don’t try to start cooking at home 5x a week- even just cooking once or twice a week more will make a big difference and you’re more likely to stick with it.
This was so great. I am actually really drawn to super complicated recipes (not because they’re complicated, the final product just looks so good lol), so I’ve really been trying to figure out how to simplify my meal plan, saving more complicated recipes for the weekend or some time when I have help with my homeschooled preschooler.
Back in October my husband started his busy season at work and if had gotten sick of our recipes so we were eating out a lot. Meal planning and grocery shopping was too much for me bandwidth at the time. So we decided to start hello fresh and we stayed with it until we had 25 new meals that we enjoyed. I saved them all in a recipe binder and now can meal plan and grocery shop easily with new meals we all like.
Hi 👋 how are you doing?
Nice! Also, all hello fresh recipes are available for free online!
@@ginavanfleet5386 I had no idea! But im the person who gets us in a meal rut because I have a hard time trying new foods 😅
That's what I'm doing now. I alternate between Dinnerly and HF. Trying new recipes and techniques and saving the ones we liked to try again later. I'm enjoying the reboot and getting the habit of cooking at home down.
@@auntpurl5325 hi how are you doing today?
This is what I did when we had a house full of kids. I had a sheet of paper that I divided up into a grid of about 24 squares, giving me 24 meal ideas. The meals ranged from simple to more time and labor consuming. In each square I put the name of the recipe and the main ingredients. When I made my menu I also made my shopping list, it was so quick and easy because I had all the information right there in front of me. I usually made a two week menu and something would go into the freezer for the following week or a month later, giving me a quick and easy dinner for a busy day. When I made the menu I would write, "thaw chicken" or buy avocadoes, or freeze half, or cook extra beef for spaghetti for another day. When I made my grocery list I would do a quick pantry and freezer check to see what I needed to buy. I didn't plan by day, I planned by number, usually 12-14 meals, and then every morning I would check the menu to see what fit best that day. I was able to shop every two weeks, with a few trips for fresh fruits and veggies or something that wouldn't last until needed. This was way back before computers, I still have that meal sheet in the back of my recipe box, and it has grown to two sheets.
Oh this is fabulous! Thank you for sharing!
I tried Once a Month cooking years ago. It worked beautifully. But the recipes were complicated. So, like you, I tweaked it to more simple meals. I cooked it all in one day, like a full container of taco meat already cooked but divided for two meals. Two meatloafs cooked at the same time. It really worked . I did a two week rotation! It even meant going to the store only two times a month. You are correct, low food inventory is the key. My refrigerator only had two weeks worth of food and my pantry the same. But after a cook day it was practically empty. Just breakfast ,snacks and lunch stuff. I loved it.
My current plan - 4 Rotating/Capsule menus- Season/ theme based. Breakfast: Oatmeal frozen with toppings, waffles, egg has brown bacon frozen bowls.
Lunch: Soup frozen ahead. Sandwich/Salad. Dinner: Purchased frozen Trader Joe’s meals and premade frozen meals.
Weekly make ahead: Sweet potatoes - vary toppings, Rice or Pasta, Veggie medley. Mix and match. Make 1 pot of rice, salad, beans, veggies.
Cook Only 1-2x week - leftovers OR freeze large amounts.
Most days each week I pick a meat and a veggie and I just… cook them! Chicken tenderloins cooked in a cast iron pan is delicious. I roast the veggies in my oven or air fryer. It’s not a recipe at all! It takes 10 minutes. So easy and delicious!
Love this. It doesn’t have to be hard.
Yes, simple is better!
This is what I do.
We love broccoli, steam basket in instant pot pressure cook for 0 minutes
Meat goes in the oven, skillet or even microwave -- hello pre-grilled chicken breast from the freezer section!
Then dress it all up with a seasoning shaker (like lemon pepper, kickin' chicken, etc) or pour a can of soup mix on top like cream of mushroom soup or cheddar soup...I don't even bother to heat that up...
Works for us!
Every week i get a vegetable and fruit box delivered at home, all organic, mostly regional and packaging free. I plan my meals on that. I also try to make meal prep on sunday, so during the week time, I don’t need to spend so much time on cooking. This has really simplified my life ☺️
This is so helpful and encouraging. Something that helps me is to shop my own fridge/freezer/pantry before making my meal plan for the week. I find that sometimes I can make entire meals with what I already have and then I don't need to go to the store for a few more days! My goal has been to save money by using up what we have before going to the store!
Dawn, you have so much wisdom. I really do believe God has blessed you with this wisdom in order to bless your family and all of us in taking care of our families. I thank God for you and pray He continues to bless you. Thank you.
Dear Dawn,
Hello unexpected friend!
Quick question for you…
Do you ever go back and watch one of your videos when YOU need to ‘recharge your motivator’?
As your new friend, I would suggest that you do. Your videos inspire me to not JUST purge and declutter, but to simply ‘do better’ in general. When life is challenging you to an arm wrestle, poke it in the belly and pull up a 5 minute organize your life video by yourself and you’ll be back to making these therapeutic videos for those of us who (now) count on them.
Also, thank you for staying the SAME!
You’ve been at this for a few years now and you are still the same genuine ‘neighbor’ that you were in the beginning. Most successful TH-camrs start morphing into a fake, ego-driven version of themselves and I PRAY that never happens with you.
I agree, Dawn. Still the girl next door. Appreciate you and your family videos.
Yes! A couple of my other favorite TH-camrs seem to be a little rushed or burned out and Dawn always seems calm and sincere. I love this comment. She is truly helpful and amazing.
100% agree. I've been watching this channel for a long time and she has stayed the same. Not alot of paid promotions or always trying to sell stuff.
I love having crockpot Sundays!
I absolutely hate meal planning! It's my number one hated chore but yet I need to, to grocery shop. I ended up writing down all the meals I make regularly and putting 5 meals on a card totaling 8 cards. I pick out a card each week and shop for those meals. Rotate between them, gives me 2 months worth of meals. Leaves open 2 nights for pizza and leftovers. So much easier!
I like the idea of writing just 5 meals on a card. My brain likes the simplicity of that. I've made lists of the meals I know we like and I think my brain gets overwhelmed from all the choices when it comes to making a plan for the week. Dealing with that master list just once and then being done with it sounds great.
Move to a town with no restaurants. Voila, you will have to cook at home! Joking aside, I write appointments and activities on my menu before I choose what I’m making. I picture what our day looks like and what I will feel like making that day. Also, I no longer beat myself up about swapping recipes around when we are crunched for time or a recipe doesn’t work out for the day I planned it. I agree about simple recipes. When I was first married I tried too many new recipes each week and they never happened. One new recipe a week on a low key day is what I try to stick to now. And I am better at recognizing simple new recipes to try.
My friend, a missionary mom of 5, helped me tremendously. She said we are probably already eating the same things every week so just assign them a day. Healthy or not. So now we have pasta Monday, taco Tuesday, eat out on Friday, breakfast for dinner on Saturday. The other days I fill in the best I can. Which listening to this, it reminds me of to figure out the other days better.
Thank you! Your system for meal planning is the most realistic and simple for me and my life. I just want you to know that I love your common sense approach! Have a great Sunday!!
This really resonates with me and I've actually already been doing some of these things already after watching other videos by you and Erica Lucas. 10 years ago I was a young, child-free, professional living on Central London and I enjoyed coming home from work and trying out new recipes. I had multiple cookbooks that I enjoyed cooking from and a binder that I was filling up with different recipes. Fast forward to now, I'm a student and a mum of a young child living on a remote farm where life is busy and hectic and money is tight. Following on from your video about decluttering our "fantasy" self I've purged all of the cookbooks that use difficult to get expensive ingredients and that have lots of complicated steps - that's not the life I live anymore. After watching Erica's video about her recipes binder and how she only includes recipes that most of her kids will actually eat and that she is actually willing to cook I purged my recipe binder to have just the tried and tested favourites that I know I'll actually cook - just like you suggest in this video. Another thing I've been doing, we don't have the option of cheat nights eating out because there is no restaurants or take-away places where I live, so I either have cheat easy meals (frozen pizzas or baked potatoes) or when I do cook I'll cook a big batch and freeze the leftovers so we always have home-made "ready meals" which makes life sooo much easier. One or two days of intensive kitchen cooking days and then I don't have to cook for several weeks other than making some pasta or rice to go with our dinner.
I like your list Dawn! It really helps reduce the "What's for dinner?" decision fatigue. Having a theme for each night helps me add variety even if I repeat the same favorites weekly.
Mexican Monday
Italian Tuesday
Don't Waste it Wednesday*
Breakfast Thursday
Copycat Fast Food Friday
Soup, Steak or Seafood Saturday
Southern Cooking Sunday
*clean out the fridge
I also made my chore list match with the days of the week to help reduce decision fatigue about "What do I need to clean today?" I set my timer for 15 minutes once a day to get my weekly cleaning done.
Mopping & Microwave Monday
Trash & Toilets Tuesday
Windexing Wednesday
Refrigerator Thursday
Floors & Finances Fridays
Stainless, Showers & Sheets Saturday
Hotspot Sunday
I love how real you are. I love listening to your advise. It makes me less stressed. The biggest take away for me is seasons! There will be another season for the fancy recipes but for now with little ones it's simple and quick!
Great Tips! When I first started homeschooling 12 plus years ago, a fellow homeschooling mom put me onto a similar plan and it has been my go-to since. These are great tips. Whenever we start getting real extravagant, the cleanup follows suit! I also found out that my husband and I have an extremely consistent time that it takes us to cook a meal. SO as long as I start at the time I know I should, it prevents us(me) from getting hangry and going out to eat. God bless you and your channel Dawn!
I realised recently that I was getting overwhelmed with the decision making, even if I planned the week in advance.
I created a 3 week meal plan and just rotate it. Adjusting it when needed just means swapping with something close to it and I know I can do something else if I have capacity. It has been so freeing for me.
I just love you! I have a precious friend, a mom who's the next stage ahead of me, who has wonderful meal planning tips. Her first step is always to "write down everything you know how to cook." From that list, you can grow and grow, but it all starts with that list. So, your simplified list is right on target. I'm 47 with 4 kids and I still haven't figured out why I go periods of time not knowing what's for dinner ... as if it's some unexpected event that shows up everyday. But, what you've shared here is an a - ha moment! I have to get back into the habit of cooking with my simple meals before I try to add on any of the fun stuff. Great tips!
Dawn, everytime I watch your videos I feel like I am talking to a friend who understands exactly what I am struggling with right now. This video was on point about the struggles of my meal planning. You moved me into minimalism and I love it. Thank you for all that you do!
One thing that really helps me is preparing frozen meals ahead of time, especially for the instant pot, because you don’t have to remember to lay it out. You can take your frozen baggy from the freezer and put it straight into the instant pot (unlike the crock pot where it usually has to be thawed). The easiest way I have found to do this is when I am preparing a dinner, I make an extra or 2 to freeze for later.
Do you have any favorite recipes you do that with?
I've been doing that since my husband got his new 'toy' instapot. I get to freeze 1 or 2 meals each time. It's a great time saver.
@@juliequates9529 , I answered before,, but don’t see it here. I have used Six Sisters Stuff for some of my meals. My favorites are the pineapples meatballs and bbq ribs!
Love the spreadsheet!!! Here’s an idea that worked for our family of 7. Each person got to choose a meal for that week off of the easy meal list ! Saved me time !!! also each one knew they would have a meal that week that they were craving. ❤️ your videos
This is so right on with what I’ve experienced at the gym . I am notorious for all in and decided let’s just do move 30 minutes in any way for 100 days no excuses. Started out with a lot of walking , some yoga , even leg lifts in front of the tv at 9m so I get in thirty minutes . Pretty soon I’d completed two different programs on beach body streaming and rowing a ton on Apple fitness. I’m on day 85 and if I had started with the harder programs I would have quit a long time ago.
Love this. I need this. The thing that puts me off many recipes is the long list of ingredients, spices that I will use once in a blue moon ( and are expensive).Thanks for the motivation. ❤
Yes! Having less variety of ingredients in my fridge has helped me throw little to none of it out. I really enjoyed this realistic way of looking at food planning. My husband and I would rather eat the same types of meals over and over rather than not have a clue what to make for supper. It’s ok to keep it simple!
Thanks for your common sense insights to this essential life habit!
Your meal spreadsheet is so simple and so effective. I used your template and created my own categories, and I've been using this system for the past 3 months. It's been a game changer. We are a family of 8, and I can actually consistently plan meals and get the shopping done.
I used to think what I wanted was variety in my cooking, but I think what I value more is consistency. Every Friday I make homemade pizza - it is not easier than ordering pizza, or baking store-bought frozen pizza - but the more familiar I am with the process of making the dough and prepping the toppings, the more enjoyment I get out of the entire process. It's actually the most time consuming meal I cook, but I always look forward to Friday pizza! I look forward to more meals becoming that familiar to me, so that I can actually enjoy the process.
On Saturday night, I cook two meals and we reheat one or the other all week. It's not a ton of variety but it takes very little prep and clean up and everyone has been cheerful about it.
I found putting a framework into meal planning helped get us back on track. On the weeks I haven’t planned it gives me a quick guide for direction and keeps me from repeating the same types of meals in a week. My jumping off point was to build the framework around cultural food patterns from places we have lived. After a few weeks the kids even know what night dinner will be.
Sunday- Family Style Dinner/ Grilling
Monday- Meatless(beans/Rice bowls/salad/bake potato)
Tuesday- Mexican
Wednesday- Pasta(Italian/Chinese/Thia)
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- Fish (fish/seafood/even sushi)
Saturday- Sandwich(picnic/gyro/bbq)
Explanations if anyone is interested-
Sunday- Family Style Dinner/ Grilling
Monday- Meatless (Traditionally, in New Orleans Monday was beans night bc it was laundry day.)
Tuesday- Mexican (Taco Tuesday)
Wednesday- Pasta (Old commercial- “Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti night.”)
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- Fish (during Lent Midwest Catholics avoid meat on Friday so all the parishes have fish fries on Friday)
Saturday- Sandwich (usually easy paper plate meal also sometimes Pizza)
Your content is life changing ! I so appreciate the time and effort you put into your content .. I am slowly gaining ground !
A few years ago when I was determined to lose weight, I got SUPER simple with dinners, cutting out any unnecessary ingredients (calories). Fish or chicken tenders fried or baked (with maybe some lemon or BBQ sauce), some steamed veg (frozen or fresh), some plain fruit, whole wheat bread, and yogurt for dessert. (Every third night was vegetarian, which was a little more involved but still quick and simple.). I got so I really prefer eating “clean,” as opposed to food doctored up with recipes. Plus it’s quick to cook and quick to clean up. And no real thinking/planning involved.
I started following you around the first of the year. I WANTED to declutter, but had failed in the past!! I knew I was WINNING this week when I was able to throw away over 30 years of sheet music and recipes that I never used. You are an excellent coach!! Thank you for YOUR INFLUENCE!!!!!! So MUCH good advise!!!!!!!
LuvYu! And thank you for relieving me from feeling like I needed to be the Pinterest Recipe Queen. Getting my regular menu together to cook at home that everyone likes makes life so stress free. Was spending WAY too much eating out, because the stress of being the Pinterest Queen made it easier to just eat out, because I didn't have all the ingredients in the house for those other special recipes. I eat out RARELY now! Working on getting back to my regular meal rotation of "cooking at home" in place and will add a new one when I have time to shop for the ingredients... and the time to cook it at home. Finding that making my regular meals more in bulk, has saved so much money and time as I have frozen meals in the fridge when I don't have time to cook. LuvYu!!!
Just saw this and it resonated so much with me! We live 20 miles away from any restaurants so eating at home is a must, but allowing myself to have convenience meals during a busy workweek makes so much sense. Thank you!
I so appreciate you, Dawn. simplify, simplify, simplify .... and it's OK. (your favorite meals look a lot like mine) Thanks for the printout! 🍇🍒🥑🥦🌮🥗🍜🍻
The first 3 minutes of this video was the biggest light bulb moment and for real my issue!!!
Awesome video! When I sit down to write out my meal plan for the week, I also grab my planner/calendar. Then I can see who has practice, if my husband might be working late one day this week, if we are have church activities, etc., then I can schedule super easy meals on those nights or throw something in the crockpot. this helps me a lot and the entire process takes less than 10-12 min. after the first or second time. I also have a master meals list and that helps when my brain is mush lol
I had someone recommend when starting meal planning, to actually write down the meals you ate the previous week. Chances are you threw something together last minute most nights, and then the days you had takeout/ate out sub in a very easy meal you already make on occasion. This helped me so much getting started!
My tip for meal planning that I have always done is to make enough for 2 meals. I always cook at home now; being older and just the 2 of us is much easier. I don't find it hard anymore to cook. We live such a simple life, and yes, we eat the same things every week. The thing I hate most is shopping for groceries, even though I shop for the same items. I have used delivery services, but their added charges are too much.
Curbside pickup perhaps?
I do the same, cook in bulk so there is enough for at least 2, sometimes 3 meals if we are lucky! This allows me to work to a 2 week meal plan (things we eat in week 1 are served again in week 2). ☺️
Another great concept came from my brilliant mother. Who worked full time.
Went back to school and graduated Summa Cum Laude, taking 2-3 classes a week. She traveled. Explored the world. Loved my father til the day she died.
Every Sunday she made a big pot of chicken soup. And would eat on it all week. Had all the food groups.
Like any good soup she eould start with the base of celery, carrots and onion. Add a starch like rice or potato. Seasonal veggies or whatever was on sale.
She was very creative with flavors. Often times it was curry and Green Chile, a staple in New Mexico. She liked sweet with story, so raisins were common place.
I called it New Mexican Jewish Soul Food.
But in all actuality this is a smart thing to do in this busy chaotic world.
A Swiss concept. A One Pot Meal.
Save money. Save time. Eat healthy. And eat simply.
In a family of 5 with food sensitivities, you have absolutely nailed it again, Dawn! I’ve been implementing this for two weeks and we’ve only gone out to eat once!
Your reminder to start simple and keep the bar low at first has been such a game changer. Thank you for this brilliant advice!
Great tips! I'm so happy you don't use background music anymore. It's pretty distracting in this video, making it harder to listen to your helpful ideas. Thanks for distraction-free, power-filled videos in 2024!!!
When making meals I make extra. I freeze it then I don't have to cook it on the day I want to serve it again. Works great! 🌞
This is the key. It’s just my husband and I, we eat every meal at home, I always cook to have leftovers. Then we have lunch and another dinner or two, some to freeze, etc.
Keep it simple!!! I love the reminder. We’re starting the meal planning again in our family. It saves us money and we’re wasting so much without being purposeful.
We always receive free wall calendars. I take one each year and write my meal plan on there. I have weeks where my meal plans are wide open…like chicken and rice. Other weeks it might be more detailed like jambalaya or Thai sauce stir fry. I don’t beat myself up. I love to try new things.
I have themed nights. Like Taco Tuesday….something TexMex. Friday is something with seafood.
Hi Mrs pink how are you doing?
My word for the year is "Plan". I started decluttering my house at the beginning of the year as well as starting to meal plan. Decluttering and meal planning has given me the motivation and energy to cook at home every night. It's the middle of February and we haven't eaten out yet and I haven't been overwhelmed with cooking like in the past. Oddly enough my kids and husband really love my new meal planning because I've been planning fun things(not just chicken and rice😂). But you are right! It needs to be easy or I won't want to do it. When I try new things it has to be super easy with few ingredients. Crockpot meals have been awesome! Thanks for your help and motivation and guidance!
I always find that a new recipe takes me at least double the amount of time. Once I’ve done it, (and know if the end product will be worth the effort) the next time goes lots faster, plus I learn what shortcuts/modifications I can take!
Cheers to simple meals, really my family never says "hey mom why aren't you trying any new recipes?". I love your pdf, very helpful!
I had pregnancy nausea for the past 6 months... I'm getting ready to start over and cook homemade meals! Thank you Dawn for the great tips!!😘
Bless you dear that is so hard
Thank you@@valor101arise for taking your time to write me some sweet words!
A list of meals is a must! Easy ones that everyone CAN eat, not necessarily are excited to eat.
And having what I call a game changer meal: something that EVERYONE loves, is easy and we always have the ingredients. Ours is chicken parm. I know! Chicken parm is really our go to meal. Prebreaded chicken cutlets in the air fryer basket. Then onto a foil covered tray topped with sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese. While that heats up, I butter up bread and sprinkle garlic salt or throw other veggies in the air fryer. 25 mins for a great meal that is our “back up” meal.
Dawn, I started using your Meal Planning Sheet a couple years ago for our family. It's a game changer! It makes it so easy to keep up with grocery shopping and meal planning!!!! I totally recommend this! 💖
I love everything about this video! Simplifying our meals has helped me SO much, besides saving money. Low inventory of food and regular rotations/grocery pickup orders has made things so much more manageable. I’m not wasting as much food. I no longer shop in person either, or waste time couponing and searching for the best deals. I do stock up when things are on sale, but I’ve got my regular grocery orders from Walmart and then my “loss leader” orders from another grocery store of staples I know I’m going to use like apple juice, cereal, etc. I used to spend so much time grocery shopping, meal planning, throwing out old food, sorting through my pantry stuff until I moved in March of 2020. Found lots of expired things in my pantry and at the same time grocery pickup was more accessible and free and it just changed my life. I also plan in “don’t want to cook” nights too. Good or bad, I have a supply of air fryer frozen stuff my teen can make himself or when I don’t want to cook. Still saves us from getting fast food. Life happens and it’s good to plan for those nights too where things just don’t work out as planned. A stash of chicken patties, nuggets, burger buns, and tots is handy.
Yesssssss, this is so me. Took me a while to get here but I was always frustrated with menu planning because of new recipes or it didn’t sound good, specifically ingredients. I keep my pantry full of basics and roll with it!!! And it only takes a handful of spices. I make my dinner decision/plan by noon if possible so meat is laid out. I also learned to fix from what needs used up and what I know my teens and husband like and get excited about but is not always a winner with everyone 100% of the time.
I once heard that Ethyl Kennedy had a list of 15 meals for her big family, and simply rotated them through the month. When my children were still at home, we made Tuesday's evening meal super simple every week, even using paper plates to save cleanup afterward. It gave a nice break, as we were cooking from scratch almost entirely.
Totally agree! It seems like the only way I can make lasting progress is to just slow down and get one baby step established at a time. It's more effective and less stressful and I make better progress in the long run. Win win win. :-)
You are like my new best friend! Thank you for your videos. You explain things simply and clearly, so down to earth. 👏 👏
I wrote down my list of simple meals that I know me and my 2 year old both love and separated them by the three main ingredients like the “cook once eat all week” cookbook and in a way where all three or four meals are different enough to feel like variety. Recently I bought a rotisserie chicken and used it to have chicken broccoli and carrots one night, a rice chicken “taco” soup with a ton of veggies, chicken and dumplings with a salad, and chicken spaghetti another night (we aren’t big meat eaters so one chicken goes a lot farther for us) I usually do a soup one night, a casserole/sheet pan dinner, classic meat and veggie sides plate, and then something starch based like pasta or pizza another night or this is the night I pull out the nuggets lol. Getting to the point I’m at now took baby steps like you mentioned but going simple really is such a weight lifted off my to do list everyday.
I plan or make (crock pot) dinner everyday at 12pm. I have an alarm set. Ever since I started this, we have not ordered a pizza (which costs $50+ in our area). And also, I have the same ingredients every single week, I keep ingredients that work for many recipes (cream of chicken soup, chicken breast and black beans) on hand all the time, so even if I forgot to pick those up, I have them already!
I write my weekly meals on the back of my grocery list paper. Then I flip it over and make my shopping list. When I get home I hang it on the fridge so everyone knows what the plan is. Also helps that my husband cooks some, too.
I do this too! Mostly so I don’t end up with a random ingredient because the recipe using it is long forgotten.
Dawn, you have captured the foundation of our issues with home cooking again. Every meal planning concept needs to be founded on home cooking first or it just won’t happen. Start simple and build skills in baby steps according to your season in life.
Thank you! This completely explains why it hasn’t worked for me in the past.
Hi 👋 Sarah how are you doing?
I remember watching your meal planning video a few years ago and the idea of "Better than McDonald's" meals is pure genius. I make sure I always have frozen lasagna and other such things so I can just pop something into the oven/microwave/air fryer when I'm too pressed for time or energy to cook a more elaborate meal.
Thank you!
You are my inspiration! Thank you for being a normal Mom. Thank you for the eye-opening moment. Your videos had allowed me the
Deep breath I have needed for years. ❤️
Cooking extra so you have a meal for two days or to keep for that day when you run out of time is so helpful. So right about cooking things you know by heart.
I really like how you acknowledge that this is a “season” and in the future you may be able to try different recipes and whatnot. Hearing this has helped me realize not every meal has to be some super recipe and if we throw in a pizza now and then it’s completely fine. Thanks so much, love your videos. I’ve shared the meal planning strategy with others and they love it too!
Oh Dawn! You’re a lifesaver and my favourite “TH-camr”. Thank you for your down to Earth, practical advise. Always comforting and you nail it every time! 🙌🏼
I am a huge meal planner (by month) and totally agree with this. I only add one or two new to us recipes a month and still sometimes I put trying the new recipes off if I'm mentally exhausted. I do keep a lot of inventory since I do a big shop once a month and buy things I know we use for all our normal recipes.
We also keep easy things like pizzas and chicken nuggets for quick lunches after church etc. to make sure we don't go through the drive thru. Even those with baby carrots is healthier than a drive thru.
To get started it helped me to write down what We we’re actually having on a calendar, then after you’ve done that for a couple of weeks you see what had worked for you, what days you were able to manage what, and use that for planning future weeks. No thinking ahead to get started. You can see what days and how many you needed fast food and plan easy at home stuff for those days. Thanks Dawn, this is a huge hurdle and you make it doable!
Dawn, wow, so super helpful. And it seriously is just about simplifying. We tried about a month ago to stick to certain meals we knew well and liked but we didn't have enough variety, we had six meals total weekly planned, which we burnt out on very quickly. So that would be my recommendation is do 10-15 different meals well known and easy to make. We used the 7th day for leftovers. But I think you hit the nail on the head with this one. I kept asking myself, why isn't this working? But it's eliminating the step of heavy planning. Thanks Dawn!
I am with you, Dawn, on the simplifying of main meals! I ditched soooo many saved recipes and recipe books! I settled on 6 or 7 main proteins that we like (shop marinaded or home-prepped with few ingredients). I microwave potatoes and steam lighter veg. We have one takeaway meal or a shop-prepared meal once a week. This works well. It is a blessing cos I can make the meals almost with my eyes closed! If you balance the time taken to eat a meal against the time taken to prepare it one begins to see sense! Love your inputs. xxG Ire
I'm so with you Dawn. The easier, the better. I have a index card/coupon Is holder with dividers for different categories like like chicken, soup, hamburger, desserts, etc. I stand in my kitchen and look in my refrigerator and pantry to to easily review what we have in stock. Then I have our favorite recipes recipes that are also super easy and pull them out to see what we have in stock. from there I just I just have an Alexa shopping list that I review with the recipe on the index card versus what I have in stock and add it to the list on Alexa - voice listing. That also transfers to a shopping list when I get in the store. So then I can just shop or make a grocery order and pick up. During the week I pull out the cards and make the meals. This has been the easiest way I know oh for us. No writing, no learning new recipes, easy grocery shopping. My family also knows to add things we run out of to the Alexa list if they want it to come into our home.. "if you don't add it I don't buy it."