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Meal Planning for Minimal-ish Moms

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Meal Planning · March 15, 2020

Creating the perfect dinner backup plan

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in 3 easy steps!

Cooking Dinner: Love it or hate it? As busy moms, we usually fall into one of those categories when it comes to making healthy dinner recipes. Some moms are killin’ it with crockpot meals and we see the “look what I made for dinner tonight!” on Facebook every night, and yet others struggle just to come up with a quick and easy chicken recipe to feed their kids.

Which one are you?

You could be a meal planning beginner or you could’ve been meal planning for awhile. But there will ALWAYS be a time when you forget to defrost something, or someone eats the whole block of cheddar cheese you were planning on using, or you thought you had a carton of chicken broth in the pantry, but low and behold, it’s not there.

You need an emergency plan so you don’t have to order pizza at the last minute.

This is the first post in the series “Create the Perfect Dinner Backup Plan” – that will help you create that emergency plan! Over the next few weeks we’ll be talking about 3 different ways to make sure you always have dinner on hand. When you add them all together, you will have a seriously solid back up plan!

You can find the rest of the series here:

  1. Creating a Dinner Backup Plan with Rescue Meals – this post!
  2. How to Solve the “What’s for Dinner” problem with Freezer Cooking
  3. How to Meal Plan Only 4 Times Per Year (part 1)
  4. The Capsule Pantry™: A Faster, Easier Way to Meal Plan (part 2)

First up on your backup plan is what I like to call Rescue Meals.

What is a Rescue Meal, you ask? Good question! It’s basically dinner that:

  • requires little to no prep
  • takes 30 minutes or less
  • you always have the ingredients for

I personally think the magic number of Rescue Meal recipes is 5. This gives you a few different options when it comes time to make one of your emergency meals.

Okay, let’s create your own Rescue Meal plan!

1 Download and print the Rescue Meals Planner

Free Rescue Meal Planner in a dinner emergency

2 Find recipes for your dinner backup plan

This probably seems like the most difficult part of this plan, but it’s really not. Once you have your handful of recipes, the hardest part is actually keeping the ingredients on hand! But don’t fret, I have tips for that below.

Here are a few places to start brainstorming. Think about:

  • dinners you can make with your eyes closed
  • family favorites that get requested time and time again
  • dinner “staples” like tacos and burgers and pasta (a box of pasta and a jar of sauce totally counts!)
  • recipes with a protein that’s already cooked or cooks fast (like sausage, shrimp, bacon, ham)

Some things you can search on Pinterest

  • quick soup recipes – soups are great for last minute dinners!
  • pantry challenge meals
  • quick and easy pasta recipes
  • 15 minute dinners

Bonus: I have a Pinterest board dedicated just to Rescue Meals for you to get ideas:

3 Always have the ingredients

Like I said, this is the part that gets lost in the shuffle. Here are some things you can do to make sure that it doesn’t happen to you!

  • a dedicated basket or bin in your pantry AND freezer only for Rescue Meal ingredients
  • a section of your grocery list devoted to only the ingredients you need
  • as soon as you “break the glass” and make it – actually before you make it – put the ingredients on your grocery list
  • set a reminder on your calendar to check the ingredients
  • keep your Rescue Meal planner in a place you’ll see it and use it: on the inside of your Pantry door, on the fridge, or in a meal planning binder.

There you have it, Step One in creating a fool-proof backup dinner plan!

And don’t forget your Rescue Meal Planner that will help you plan out some dinners so you don’t have a dinner emergency!
Free Rescue Meal Planner in a dinner emergency

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3 videos dropping tomorrow 01.22.23 at noon EST! 3 videos dropping tomorrow 01.22.23 at noon EST!

If you’re a minimal-ISH mom (or looking to be!) go follow my new YouTube channel!  If you’re looking to learn minimalistic meal planning (aka Capsule Pantry) but also decluttering and - kinda - minimalist ways, you’re gonna love it. 

⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ You might get a heavy dose of real life and brutally honest opinions. I’m not into showing you just the pretty side of things. 

Drop a 🖤 for the link or follow along in stories!
Ya gotta do what ya gotta do… #eggs #eggdealer Ya gotta do what ya gotta do… 

#eggs #eggdealer #eggshortage2023 #eggsarelife #justajoke
I call them rescue meals. Because they rescue me I call them rescue meals. 

Because they rescue me from a crazy day. 

They can be as simple as leftover pizza, or as complete as a freezer meal. 

Start with 2 and work your way up to 5. 

You’ll thank me later.

Follow for real life meal planning tips 👉🏼 @mealplanningblueprints
Top 5 of 2022 // #1 in laughs What’s the Daily Top 5 of 2022 // #1 in laughs

What’s the Daily Dinner Blueprint method?

It’s simply applying a formula to your meals.

I used to be in finance, and I know it doesn’t seem to go together, but it’s how I’ve been able to apply a mathematical approach to keeping meal planning simple.

If you want to DIY it, do this:

✏️Make 3 columns on a piece of paper.

The three columns are: main meat (or vegetarian option), side dish or vegetable, and a flavor or style.

✏️ And then just write in 2 of each item.

✏️ And then you’re just going to mix and match them. Take one from each column - it’s really that simple! 

✏️ BUTTTTTT... If you don’t want to DIY it and would like to just keep it simple this season (or all year, ha!) check out the Daily Dinner Blueprint meal planning calendar!

🎉 Flash sale * ends TONIGHT!

Comment “dinner” if you want the link to check it out!
 
🎉 or click and find the link: @mealplanningblueprints 

#Whatsfordinnertonight #mealplanningmadeeasy #mealplanning101 #kidfriendlymeals #whatsfordinnermom #mealprepsundays #familymealplanning #mealplanning #dailydinnerblueprint
Top 5 of 2022 // #1 in comments! Also perfect ti Top 5 of 2022 // #1 in comments! 

Also perfect timing because this calendar is on sale thru tomorrow. You don’t even have to comment, I’ll put the link you-know-where!

What would you do with your extra time if you didn’t have to meal plan and grocery shop every single week?

Comment the word DINNER and I’ll send you the link!

#Whatsfordinnertonight #mealplanningmadeeasy #mealplanning101 #kidfriendlymeals #whatsfordinnermom #mealprepsundays #familymealplanning #mealplanning #dailydinnerblueprint
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