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Meal Planning for Minimal-ish Moms

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Meal Planning · January 1, 2019

Best Meal Planning Posts of 2018

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Happy first day of Twenty Nineteen! Remember back in 1999 when everyone freaked out because we didn’t know how we were going to say the years in the 2000’s – was it going to be “two-thousand-four” or “twenty-oh-four”? Funny the things we remember at the beginning of the new year!

Anyhoo. I am super psyched about the upcoming year, I have so many plans and updates to make to this website. Ideas for posts, trainings, classes, even a membership. More about all that later…

First, let’s look back at 2018 and see what your favorite posts were. Is your’s on here?

Your favorite meal planning posts from 2018:

#1: 42 Amazing Theme Night Ideas

This has been the top post of all year, with the exception of November (it was beat out by this post in November). Everything that has to do with theme nights is super popular, but that makes sense since I loooooove theme nights and talk about them all the time! I have more Ultimate Theme Nights guides planned for 2019, and some expanded trainings revolving around theme nights. They’re seriously the simplest!

#2: Feast of the Seven Fishes

Well, this post sneaked it’s way into the #2 slot pretty quickly since it was just published on Nov 21st! I believe this one actually qualified for “viral status” because it easily got 10x the traffic of any other post. Which is funny because I wasn’t even going to write this! I did some background research and saw that not a ton of people were looking for Feast of the Seven Fishes recipes but I wanted to include it because it’s what my family does, and it’s so important to me. Well, I guess it was a hit on Pinterest! Which just proves that sometimes we just need to talk about things because we love them or because they’re important to us. Not everything is about being strategic to get big numbers!

#3: How to Meal Plan 4 Times Per Year

Oh, how I love the Capsule Pantry and the minimalist way of meal planning! I planned this way for years when I first had Thor and was seriously restricted on what him (and I, since I was nursing) could eat. Read this article if you have a family full of food sensitivities, allergies, are following a paleo or Keto diet, or even picky eaters. It might just become your favorite way of meal planning!

woman holding ivory bag with groceries and a text overlay

#4: 12 Paleo Foods that are Cheaper at Costco

I try to eat Paleo as much as possible (for years I ate similar to this which started because of Thor’s food issues as a baby, like I mentioned above). This post is a simple list that’s not overwhelming and not all-encompassing, which I think is why it’s so popular. It’s also my top post that comes from people searching on Google.

#5: The Capsule Pantry: A Faster, Easier Way to Meal Plan

This is basically the follow-up post to How to Meal Plan 4 Times per Year that goes into more detail about planning a Capsule Pantry. It’s also the pre-cursor to the Capsule Pantry Blueprint, if you’re looking for more information. If you are tired of having a house full of food, constant grocery shopping, and everyone still saying “there’s nothing to eat!” then this plan is for you.

#6: How to Plan School Lunches Quick with this Simple Trick

This cool little method of planning school lunches is still how we plan them – and I say “we” because I literally sit down with my 5 year old and plan his Kindergarten lunches in like 10 minutes. Plus, I think the bright and fun School Lunch Planner is visually popular with y’all!

#7: Super Simple Grocery List for Two Weeks

I love grocery shopping but there are better ways I could spend my time so I came up with an easy grocery shopping plan for every two weeks. It’s so nice to not have to spend so much time grocery shopping, and I think y’all must agree – this post was #1 for November, beating out 42 Amazing Theme Night Meal Ideas which held on to the #1 spot every other month of 2018!

#8: How to use Trello for Meal Planning

Gosh, when I started using Trello for my meal planning, I just fell in love. I had tried other things, but nothing compares to the ease of Trello – both the ease of adding my recipes to it, and also finding them when I’m actually sitting down to meal plan. I found a cool trick where you can connect a Pinterest board to Trello so it automatically adds any new recipes you save too, how cool is that??? I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a traditional recipe box!

#9: How to Create Crockpot Freezer Meals in 3 Easy Steps

Freezer meals are just plain awesome because they keep things so simple, and can keep you from ordering take-out at the last minute. This post is popular because it’s simple and straight-forward and it teaches something that literally anyone can do. You don’t even need a separate freezer for this, just work with what you have!

#10: 15 Holiday Planners You Need to Finally Get Organized

And finally, another end-of-year post that made it into the Top 10 list! This was a compilation of planners from a bunch of bloggers that will completely get you organized around the holidays. I realize the holidays are over, so just pin it for next year to one of your Holiday boards.

There you have it! The posts YOU chose to be your favorites just by reading them 🙂

Thank you so much for reading, I’m so thankful for each and every one of you that reads my articles or how-to training!

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What's the dinner cycle of death? And how do we br What's the dinner cycle of death? And how do we break it?!?

Hey, we've all been there but if you want to stop stressing over dinner, somethin's gotta give!

If you haven't watched my free meal planning workshop yet...go do it now!

Break the cycle. You deserve a stress-free time with your family every evening.

👉🏼 You know where to find the link! or go to: mealplanningblueprints.com/ minimalist

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Is this a hack? I don’t know if it’s a hack. B Is this a hack? I don’t know if it’s a hack. But it’s definitely changed me from hating baking to *liking* baking. 

I actually find it 🎉 EASY 🎉 (if you knew how much I hated to bake you’d understand!)

Especially since I started sourdough. I can’t believe I waited so long because I thought it would be hard or time consuming! 

It has actually simplified cooking at home and you know me… I’m chasing simple!

#bakingsourdough #mealplanningblueprints #chasingsimple #simplelivingmama #simplelivinglifestyle
Closing out your meal plan each week will save you Closing out your meal plan each week will save you time in the future, and it takes under a minute!

Plus it’s helpful if your week didn’t go according to plan and you didn’t end up making everything you intended!

Here’s what I do: 

✔️ Checkmark
Made it and we liked it
👉🏼 move on

❌ X it out
Didn’t make it but don’t have the ingredients anymore
👉🏼 move on

🌀 Circle it
Didn’t make it but have the ingredients 
👉🏼 put first on next week’s meal plan

⭐️ Star it
Made it and loved it, need to save recipe
👉🏼 add to your recipes

➖Cross it out
Made it and hated it
👉🏼 remove from master meal plan (and take note of why you hated it)

Save this for when - not if - your plan doesn’t go according to plan!
You don’t need to do it all! #dontdoitall #fam You don’t need to do it all! 

#dontdoitall #familythateatstogetherstaystogether
#habitandhome #livingsimply #alifeofintention #intentionalliving #seeksimplicity #mealplanning #mealplanningblueprints #planningmom #singlemompreneur #singlemomlife #singlemomsrock #honestlymothering #theeverymom #ohheymama #honestmotherhood mealplanningmadeeasy #mealplanning101 
#kidfriendlymeals #whatsfordinnermom  #whatsfordinnertonight #dinnerideasforkids
My new favorite Amazon find! I love a good upcycle My new favorite Amazon find! I love a good upcycle!

How can you use these?!?

Single serve anything! 
- yogurt parfaits
- overnight oats 
- bananas and milk
- chia pudding
- smoothie bowl
- hummus and baby carrots
- guac and celery
- peanut butter and apples
- mini mac-n-cheese
- spaghetti and a meatball
- crustless pizza
- individual “mug” cakes
- homemade ice cream
- mini apple crumble

Go check out the link in my Amazon highlight bubble and comment with what you would put in them!

#simplelivingmama #simplelivinglifestyle #organizedpantry #declutterlikeamother #tidyhome #gettingorganized #organizedhome #kitchenorganization #pantrygoals #kitchentipsandtricks #kitchentips #kitchenhack #kitchenessentials #upcycledjar #glassjars #reduceplastic #zerowastejourney
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