Creating a Weekly Meal Plan Can Be Life Changing. Here’s How.

PHOTO: COUTESY OF LYNETTE HARRISON BRUBAKER 

I write frequently about meal planning, and why not? I’m a mom and a chef with an Instagram account that regularly gets me the following DM: Do you really eat like that? The answer is yes. How? Meal planning.

Like any other practice, a little discipline goes a long way when it comes to meal planning. With resolve and commitment, you too can be creating some enviable lunches and dinners with nary a pot to clean. How? Because you made a plan! You did it all on your cook day and now have the week to savor the results.

A meal plan is not a meal service, however. You do still need to cook. Maybe even enjoy cooking. I’m guessing that since you are reading a story under the masthead “Edible,” that’s you. A new year is a good time for new resolutions. So, let’s get started!

 WHO: 
Meal planning is the key culinary routine for anyone who is looking to eat.

• “better”
• healthier
• more affordably
• more sustainably
• knowing your farmers and fishers

Whatever your motivation, the calculation is this:
Make a Plan + Execute the Plan x Repeat = Success.

I can tell you from experience—and you likely already know—that success in all things planned comes from a disciplined practice. I’m disciplined about a number of things: Personal finance and budgeting and long-distance running are among the most challenging. Like yoga, like quitting a vice, like any other resolution, success is born of a commitment. It’s the same with meal planning. You need to acknowledge that DoorDash isn’t working for you and you are ready to commit to a delicious and inspiration-compounding change.

 WHAT: 
Focus on the foods you already love.

One of the many great things about the discipline of meal planning is that the benefits are immediate. Unlike paying off debt, losing 20 pounds, or crossing a distant finish line, meal plan success happens on day one.

To see immediate results, look at your most recent takeout orders and think back on the boxed convenience foods for which you regularly reach. Whatever is on that list is what you eat. You might not love what you see, but start from where you are. Pizza rolls and frozen burritos can be homemade too!

Next, decide which of those items you want to cook for yourself and what is best left to the professionals. For me, I leave things with lots of variety for a designated night out or special takeout meal. Sushi, pho, and ramen are things my family loves but the satisfaction comes from the variety and the time-intensive preparations that local businesses (in our case, Tomo Cuisine, OoLaLa Vietnamese Kitchen, and Ani Ramen, respectively) pour their hearts into and I am happy to pay for the experience of eating out, especially when we are each going to order something different off the menu.

When creating your medley of meals for the week, you will also, of course, want to include tried-and-true home-cooked family favorites as well as any new recipes you’ve been wanting to try.

 WHEN: 
Look at your calendar for the week.

Identify any events that you have and note those in your spreadsheet. (Did I mention my love of spreadsheets?) You’ll also want to designate your cook day and the day you are going grocery shopping or having your groceries delivered to home. I note my local farmers’ market dates, too, so that I know when and where I can get fresh bread, local and seasonal produce, and anything else that fits into my plan.

Being realistic is a big piece of success here, too. If your weekends are fully booked and the thought of cooking before work makes your eyes water, aim to start with one or two prepped-dinner meals at the start. I didn’t start running at 26.2 miles. I started trotting to the next fire hydrant and worked my way up. So too with a meal plan. Give yourself an achievable goal and work your way up to the full week. Don’t let the spreadsheet intimidate you.

Jot down what you are in the mood for—sometimes I ask for family input, sometimes not; look through those online recipes that piqued your interest recently, and let’s make a plan!

 HOW: 
Organize yourself.

Speaking of spreadsheets… I have lists and sheets of all types. For me, make a plan + execute the plan can only happen when I tell myself what to do and keep track of those organizational love letters in a sheet. You can organize yourself however works for you, but I use a simple running Google sheet for my meal planning (see sidebar). I refer back to this document for inspiration when I get bored, busy, or feel burnt out on the process—which happens even to me!

Column A are themes I want to be eating. Lots of wild-caught fish and accommodations for my husband’s desire to cook and contribute; I even note our date nights and new chef recipes. Much of what we cook is kid-friendly (my 9-year-old has a, shall we say, fluid palate. Sometimes easy to please; sometimes lives on Greek yogurt). Kid-friendly doesn’t have to mean boring, bland, or fried. Often, the base menu item (example: white bean chili burgers) is served with kid-friendly crudité, while the grownup version goes over grilled asparagus with a side of roasted mushrooms topped with my favorite chili crisp. I have faith that any day my son will want to try more, and every so often he does. In the meantime, mealtime isn’t wartime and we keep the peace in this way.

I also have a column for each thing I plan to eat for meals, snacks, and desserts throughout the day—this makes grocery shopping a breeze and a nourishing diet achievable. If it is not on the plan, I don’t buy it. There’s also a lot of repetition. I like fruit (especially fresh raspberries) and things to nibble like almonds, popcorn, and pork rinds. They go on the list, then I copy and paste until I get bored and change it up.

Here’s a copy of my Google spreadsheet.

EMILY'S 2022 MEAL PLAN TEMPLATE

Download your own editable working copy at ediblejersey.com/mealplanning.

 WHY: 
Basic discipline is sexy.

This is my mantra in all things that require work. I know it sounds a little blue, but if I hold myself to a higher set of standards and expectations, I have to have a good reason why. For me, a driving force is that I want to be someone who is strong, healthy, disciplined, and is putting in the work at middle age to live a long life with as little self-inflicted pain as possible. I know that there are direct lines to be drawn between dietary choices and long-term health outcomes. With every meal, and every renewed resolution, I aspire to be someone who cared enough about her own and her family’s well-being to invest in positive outcomes. That boils down to my simple mantra above. I say it to myself many, many times a day.

You may also be amazed at how much money you’ll save! If you keep a budget, you’ll see the impact on your bottom line immediately, assuming you don’t replace UberEats with Wagu and fresh truffles. If you don’t keep a budget, well, that’s a story for another day!

 BOTTOM LINE: 
There’s no wrong way to meal plan.

All you need to do is get started. Perhaps start with planning two dinners a week only, and then build from there. Involve the family in the process so everyone feels some buy-in to the week’s plan. If you fall off, get started again. Give yourself grace and pick up right where you left off knowing that I’m out here putting in the practice too. Tag me @chefemilyp on Instagram and show me how it's going. I’d love to ask you: Do you really eat like that? I know the answer will be yes!