The Surprising Way to Get More Done as a Working Mom

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Do you feel like your day is completely maxed out when you look at your to-do list each morning?

Meal Planning for Busy Moms

Not only do you have to get the kids out of the house, actual work done for your business, but you also have to think about meals for the day. The worst thing you can do for your sanity is to put off the meal planning and tell yourself, “I’ll worry about that later!”

When you work for yourself there are a lot of things on your plate at any given time. Task after task is screaming your name and the last thing you need to do is worry about dinner for your family.

The best thing you can do for your business today is to start a meal plan. When you take the time to plan this one little task out and put in the prep work you have just bought yourself back hours each week.

Depending on what your diet is for your family this could be quite a bit of time you’ve just saved that you can now invest into your business.

Creating a meal plan shouldn’t be stressful or time-consuming because the point is to make more time for your business, right?

So before I teach you how to make more time by meal planning let’s talk about the basics of meal planning.

Meal Planning for Busy Moms – The Basics

It’s important to make a list and stick to it. Scan your grocery store ad before planning your meals so you can hit the sales, if possible. Put your meal plan up on the fridge or in your calendar so you know each day what is planned. No thinking about it after it’s all planned and prepped.

Speaking of prepped… prep your meals for the week ahead. Chop the vegetables and prepare the meat! That can mean cutting it up, trimming fat or just breaking it down into smaller portion sizes. Store everything properly and have it ready to go.

Plan simple meals with no more than five ingredients, not including pantry staples. When you look at a recipe and it has 15 ingredients that aren’t staples from your pantry then skip over it. Unless you have that recipe memorized move on!

Now that we’ve talked about a few of the key points of meal planning for busy moms let’s go over how to make more time in your business and why meal planning can do that for you.

How to Make More Time

Note from Monica: Affiliate links are included below, this means if you purchase an awesome product from Heather, I’ll receive a small commission at no additional charge to you.

Create a library of meals that your family enjoys

Not only will this save you time, but it will settle arguments over what’s for dinner later on. I prefer to keep all of my recipes in Trello on a family meal planning board. No one likes having to remember what the pin on Pinterest was called!

Prep Simple, but Healthy Meals

Your family doesn’t need a three-course meal, nor do they need three sides on their plates. Hit the main food groups. If they’re hungry they will eat.

Actually Prep Meals

Yes, this will take time but remember you’re supposed to be making time in your schedule throughout the week so you can focus your energy on your business. Prepping your meals will allow for that time.

Make Meal Plans Monthly- If You’re Brave Enough

You already know what kinds of meals your family likes, right? So make meal plans for a month at a time. You can start small by planning for two weeks then move up one week at a time until you are at a month. If you want to shop weekly for those groceries you can still do that, but the hard part of the planning will already be done. You can make separate grocery lists right within Trello and assign them due dates.

Create a Routine

When all else fails to create a routine. Don’t be afraid to mix up the same 15 meals throughout the month. It’s okay to have a little boredom now and then. Just remember, fed is best! Trying to be a perfect Pinterest mom isn’t going to happen. We have things to do that are more important than fixing a new meal every day.

Meal planning can be fun when you create a system that works for your family. The key is to adjust as you go.

When you have a full plate with content creation, launches, and just general business tasks the last thing you need to stress over is what’s for dinner.

Seriously, wave the white flag! No one has time for that. By creating a routine for your family and easing them into it, you will come to enjoy mealtime as a family again.

Take time to find out what your family enjoys for dinner and make sure to incorporate some of their favorites. Just remember, cooks choice is a thing!

Schedule it

Scheduling meal planning into your week like you do anything else will help you to hold yourself accountable. Between the meal planning and actual shopping, you will need to set some time aside.

If all else fails – AUTOMATE

I teach moms how to automate their meal planning over on my blog. Basically, you set up triggers between Pinterest, IFTTT & Trello. You pin your recipes on Pinterest once and the rest is automated until you’re ready to create your meal plan. Then it’s all in one place and it’s not getting lost among the choas that is Pinterest.

You simply choose the recipes you wish to make, copy the ingredients to a list and off to the store you go.

You can even print a list in Trello in the settings of the card.

If you fail at meal planning for a few days or a week- give yourself grace, pick up the pen and paper and start again.

Now get back to your business. I know you have a to-do list a mile long.

About the Author:

Heather Farris
Heather is an entrepreneur, blogger, and mom of two. She and her husband live in the Midwest where he is stationed in the Air Force. On her blog, TheBalancedMamas.com, Heather helps other moms build a balanced home and enjoy more quality time with their families by building systems and routines. She does this by providing practical solutions that moms can implement quickly and usually without fail.