If you’re anything like me, you know the daily struggle of answering the dreaded question: “What’s for dinner?” Between juggling work, school, and sports schedules, meal planning can feel like an impossible task. As a mom of three energetic boys, a full time dentist, and someone who loves to keep our family life joyful and balanced, I’ve found myself in this dilemma more times than I can count.
Dinner time in our house is often the most chaotic part of the day. With practices and games almost every night (kids and/or husband), trying to figure out what to cook and making sure it’s something everyone will eat can be overwhelming.
The Dinner Dilemma
First, let’s talk about the common struggles we face:
- Time Constraints: By the time I get home from work and pick up the kids from their various activities, there’s barely any time left to prepare a healthy meal. If the meal wasn’t planned ahead of time and I have to think on the spot, then forget about it!
- Picky Eaters: Each of my boys has different tastes and preferences, which makes it hard to cook one meal that everyone will enjoy unless I think about it ahead of time.
- Grocery Shopping: Finding the time to make a comprehensive shopping list, let alone actually go shopping, can feel like a Herculean task.
- Cooking Fatigue: After a long day, the last thing I want to do is spend hours in the kitchen.
Enter: Plan to Eat. This website and app for meal planning have been a game-changer for us, and I want to share how it can help your family too.
Click HERE to save 20% off your first annual subscription after your 14-day trial period!
Discovering Plan to Eat
I stumbled upon Plan to Eat while desperately searching for a solution to our dinner woes. Plan to Eat is a meal planning website and app that simplifies the entire process of planning, shopping, and cooking. Here’s how it has transformed our evenings:
- Easy Meal Planning: Plan to Eat allows you to create a meal plan for the week (or month!) with just a few clicks. You can import recipes from your favorite websites or add your own. I love that I can see a week’s worth of dinners at a glance, which makes it easier to plan around our hectic schedule. Stay tuned for future posts which include my favorite dinner ideas that are quick and easy on our busy nights!
- Customizable to Your Needs: You can categorize recipes by type, such as quick meals, kids’ favorites, or healthy options. This helps me quickly find a meal that fits our time constraints and nutritional needs.
- Automated Grocery Lists: Once your meal plan is set, Plan to Eat generates a shopping list based on your recipes. No more forgetting ingredients or making multiple trips to the store. The app even allows you to check off items as you shop, making the whole process seamless.
- Saving Time and Reducing Waste: By planning meals and shopping accordingly, we waste less food and spend less time deciding what to eat. Meal prep for the win!
- Family Involvement: I’ve found that involving the boys in meal planning has made a huge difference. They each get to pick a meal they love, which reduces the picky eater problem and gets them excited about dinner.
Simplifying Meal Prep and Planning
I used to go on Pinterest, scouring for meal ideas, only to be overwhelmed with ideas and hours wasted. I then figured out that if I had a more specific theme for each night of the week, it would give me more direction for the types of recipes to search for. Here are my theme nights and some examples of the foods for that night. I’ve tried to include both quick and simple meals for busy nights and also ones that may take a little longer for when we are at home.
- Slow Cooking Sunday
- Pulled Pork
- Chili
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Beef Stew
- Beef Stroganoff
- Sausage with sauerkraut
- Stuffed pepper soup
- Lasagna
- Ham a la king
- Taco Soup
- Philly cheesesteak
- Ham and potato soup
- Meatless Monday
- Baked potato bar
- Grilled Cheese (different varieties)
- Penne rosa
- Meatless lasagna roll up
- Stuffed shells
- Taco/Mexican Tuesday
- Enchiladas
- Tacos (beef, chicken)
- Nachos
- Taco pizza
- Crunch wraps
- Quesadillas (chicken, bean, cheese)
- Fajitas
- Smothered Fritos
- Sandwich/Wrap Wednesday
- Hamburger/Cheeseburger
- BLTs
- Grilled Cheese
- Pepperoni Sliders
- Ham Sliders
- Steak Escape Sandwiches
- Crispy chicken/shrimp wrap
- Italian subs
- Sloppy joes
- Chicken sandwich
- Meatball sub
- Breakfast/Miscellaneous Thursday
- Waffles
- Pancakes
- Omelets
- Meatloaf
- Breakfast bagel sandwich
- Fish/Seafood Friday
- Tuna melt
- Fish and chips
- Fish tacos
- Salmon
- Popcorn shrimp
- Shrimp scampi
- Shrimp boil
- Tuna casserole
- Honey garlic shrimp
- Shrimp and grits
- Salmon burgers
- Lobster ravioli
- Pizza/Take out Saturday
- BBQ chicken flatbread/pizza
- Garlic bread pizza
- Bagel/English muffin pizza
- French bread pizza
Here is a free “Dinner Theme Nights” printable for your ideas! Included is a sample ideas sheet.
In the Plan to Eat app, you can add tags to your recipes to help quickly identify which ones to pick for certain nights.
Click HERE to save 20% on your first annual subscription after your trial period for Plan to Eat
Final Thoughts
Since integrating Plan to Eat into our lives, dinner time has become less of a stressor and more of an enjoyable family event. It’s amazing how a little planning can bring so much balance and joy into our chaotic everyday life. If you’re feeling the dinner dilemma, I highly recommend giving Plan to Eat a try. It’s a small change that can make a big difference for busy families like ours.
Stay tuned for future posts as I share easy recipes and dinner ideas for families on the go and more specific ideas from my favorite place to shop…Aldi!
Do you have any tips or tools that help you manage dinner time? Ideas for theme nights? Share them in the comments below! Let’s help each other bring a little more joy and balance to our dinner tables.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting our family and blog!