Maybe you’ve never meal planned...

Every time I talk about Meal Planning with friends, I imagine myself wearing bleached high waisted pants a la Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolf. It sounds like such a “mom” conversation to have.

I didn’t always Meal Plan...

I used to be SUPER creative in the kitchen. Growing up on the equator in South America lent my mom all the abilities in the world to cook our family delicious meals ALL. THE. TIME. My husband grew up in the same situation with a Cuban mom who is an incredible cook.

So when we were first married I cooked all the time. In my early twenties I was baking yuca, frying plantains, and marinating flank steak while my friends looked at me like I had a third head. They didn’t know what those things were, much less how to properly cut an avocado.  

I enjoyed cooking for my family for the longest time but when Amelie, our oldest, was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 my energy was obviously sapped. The year became take-out orders pretty much every day we were at the hospital. When we were home we’d buy groceries based on the things she craved that day but then she’d have no energy to eat it and we’d throw uneaten prepared food away.

When treatment ended we knew we needed to get our spending and eating in order. We had gotten used to ordering food already prepared but that was no longer sustainable as our GoFundMe dried up and we were home all the time again. We battle against a lot of traumatic eating experiences for our oldest - so many classics that we had always eaten now have a negative association for her.

I began researching Meal services, ones that deliver versus ones that I could do on my own. As I went down the long and super crowded space of learning about meal planning I found some really important information that solidified my need to get on a clear meal plan for our family.

‍If you aren’t doing some type of meal planning and you’re feeling like you need some better rhythm, or more variety, or just someone else to guide you through how to fuel your family with VERY little brain effort...meal planning is for you!
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How is Meal Planning Sustainable?

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In our blog about having a sustainable healthy diet we talk about how it means something that you can maintain easily. Which is what we are all about here at Honeydew Goods!

It’s incredibly important to make healthy choices for obvious reasons, but it also has to be something that you can do almost mindlessly so you aren’t obsessing over the correct choices for your health when you’re super hangry because you forgot to pack some snacks on that road trip you're taking with the kids. (It Me.)

Taking that same concept of buying foods that are good for you and your family while also making sure it’s stuff they want to eat applies to Meal Planning.

Once you find the type of meal planning that works for you, you will be reducing waste, saving money, buying back time and making healthier choices for your family. Those are LITERAL side effects of meal planning. That sounds pretty manageable right? It’s also sustainable! It is pretty much the definition of sustainability because of all those things. Good for you, good for your family, good for the planet.

Boom! Mic Drop.

But also, let’s dig further.

‍Why Meal Plan?

That all sounds super inspirational and exciting. But the reality is, that all of us are feeling like we’re drowning in some way shape or form. Sometimes we just don’t have the mental capacity, or the mental health, to plan something for our family to eat that will be healthy and fulfilling at the same time.

So why do it?

Did you know that the average American consumer spent over $3,500 a YEAR on “food away from home” In 2019 alone?! And research shows that despite the pandemic the cost of food away from home (think Postmates, Grubhub, or Pick-up/delivery foods) went up 3.9% in January of 2021 than the year before.*

‍Yikes. All those lovely dollars. You’re spending the majority of a Disney vacation on extra food each year. Y’all!

Here’s another one.
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Did you know that “American households waste nearly 32% of the food they buy, according to a study released in early 2020. That amounts to about $240 billion of wasted food.”*‍

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‍Friends. The amount of food we are throwing away in this country is UNACCEPTABLE!

If we don’t begin to figure out our habits, this number is only going to go up and you know who will be doing that? OUR KIDS! Our kids are learning their habits from us and if we don’t wrangle in our waste, they’re going to think this is normal.

Let’s teach them a new normal, even if it’s gonna be a little painful for us right now.

Ok. If that hasn’t sold you enough on why you should try out the whole Meal Planning thing, here are 5 ways your family will be COMPLETELY transformed.

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‍5 Reasons to Start Meal Planning

Health

• You will curate a menu for your family that is well rounded, covers the major food groups and teaches you about portion sizes.
• Food is your body’s fuel, so filling it with good things translates to more energy, better mental health and a healthier outlook on life.
• Eating healthier foods at least 80% of the time literally translates to fewer sick days, shorter ailments and better long term health, not to mention the amount of current ailments you have that could be literally healed. (For more info on this check out It Starts with Food by Melissa Hartwig.)

Budget

• By implementing some type of meal planning into your life you’ll save about $50-100 a WEEK because you’re shopping with intention!
• Being more conscientious about what you are actually buying and putting in your house means you’ll be less inclined to impulse buy products and therefore you’ll save money.
• You will be prepping meals for the whole week and may even be able to plan in lunches and therefore you save loads of money on eating out too!

Control

• You’ll learn portion control by seeing what is actually recommended per recipe and per serving for size. This will have a revolutionary affect on your health and your budget, but requires you to do the work of following the guidelines presented.
• The grocery list will reduce drastically! Using a Meal Plan gives you a shopping list for just what you need or provides the ingredients already compiled for you. That way the things you need to add to the list are just the extras you’ll need for additional meals and snacks.
• Your kids will eat what is available. If you control what is available you teach them better snacking habits! Teach them these habits young and it’ll benefit them when they’re adults!

Waste

• This is a big one! You reduce the amount of FOOD WASTE you’re responsible for because you’re only buying what you need for the meals and snacks you’ve already determined.
• You are reducing the amount of food your preparing because your basing it off of preset amounts and therefore you aren’t preparing as much food as you normally would.
• Time becomes your friend again! Instead of hitting the store each day for what you need to buy for your recipe you only prepare ingredients for your preset plan. If you choose a Meal Plan option that gives you a prep day schedule you can even get all your meals for the week done in one day freeing up so much time throughout the week for pretty much anything else but being in the kitchen.

Added Benefits

• Say adios to stress! You have meals set before you, you aren’t thinking at the last minute what you need to prepare or go shopping on the fly to complete a meal!
• Your willpower will go through the ROOF! Yup! You’re eating healthier more frequently, babe! This means those sugar cravings will go buh-bye and you’ll trim your waist without feeling like you’re really sacrificing much.
• You’ll eat a variety of foods you never would have considered before. This means you’re opening up your family’s pallet to different foods which actually is really good for brain development!
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If only this was a comprehensive list. There are just WAY too many benefits to list out but these are the key benefits we’ve experienced.

Case in point, I never used to eat pork because I ruined it one time. Then I tried it through one of the meal planning tools I use...and it was KILLER! Ever since then I’ve added this lean meat to your diet about twice a month. It’s saving me money on the type of proteins I buy because it’s more affordable than beef, it’s easier for our bodies to digest and its...well it’s delicious.

You can do that too. Things you would never have felt you had the capacity or inclination to even try, you’ll wind up finding out are your favorites!

In a future blog we’re going to go through all the different types of meal planning there are, because, like I said, it’s a pretty crowded space. So as you read these benefits don’t think that you are going to be living your life in the kitchen, or you have to have a whole lot of knowledge about this topic.

‍Tackling the food your family eats in all its forms will be extremely rewarding - even possibly one of the most physically, financially and relationally rewarding habits you adopt for your family.

‍What would you do with the $200 a month you’re saving on food?
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* Check out our Affiliate Marketing Disclosure over here.*

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PS. Here are some things you can investigate in your home right now as you begin to mull over whether meal planning is something you want to tackle or not.

It might make your brain hurt a little but it’ll be worth it!

Create an Inventory: I want you to inventory everything you have in your fridge and pantry right now and determine how long you’ve had it, how often you buy it and how often you throw it. (Check out these fantastic Inventory Charts we made!)

Create a Realistic Budget: I want you to look at your bank statement and tally up all your food purchase for the last two months. This’ll give you a good look at what you normally spend. Even on holiday months, you still have a routine of things you purchase.
*Don’t have a budget: we love YNAB - worth every single dollar!

Bullet List Journal: Notice how often you throw things away and how often you impulse buy something to eat because you don’t have a healthy alternative on hand. This should be motivation enough to really dig in and get your kitchen and your habits in order and you didn’t need a New Years Resolution to do it!

Our end goal is that you’ll be saving money, your family will be eating healthier (and stay fuller longer) and you’ll be making a positive impact on your local and global environment. It really is as simple as it sounds!