This week I’m sharing the menu planning strategies that I use to make my life easier and to eat healthy real food. In the past, I’d make a menu for the week, I would look through cookbooks, pick out recipes that looked delicious, or plan to make something I new we all loved, or some other vision of what a great dinner looks like. I was often derailed from that plan in a day or so. I often spent a ton of money at the grocery store, buying all sorts of ingredients. At the end of the week we would be left with a bunch of food in the fridge. I’d come home most nights from after school stuff, totally overwhelmed and angry that I had to cook the *amazing* dinner I planned. Or I’d just say F*** it! And grab some take-out.

No more. I keep it simple. And I make yummy, soul enriching food. I share a peaceful(ish) dinner with my family. I only say F*** it once or twice a month. In essence, I don’t think about my dinners that much anymore. I definitely don’t fill myself with a bunch of negative thoughts about the hassle of dinner, with the “what am I going to cook” energy drainer, or the “why-can’t-I-be-like-all-the-other-moms-who-are-perfect”crap. Nope, been there, done that, owned it, moved on.

Here are the top 4 reasons my menu plans failed (and sometimes still do).

1) Ambitious, unrealistic and idealized meal selections – To many ingredients, to much time, to many components = to many dishes! The thought of making the “amazing” dinner and cleaning up was enough to yell “Uncle” before the kids could even moan, “I’m hungry! What’s for dinner?”.

2) I took my “perfect mom” syndrome to the table when writing the menu. I imagined a fantasy life of cooking gourmet meals every night - Speaks for its self. Now my mantra is: Simple. Simple. Simple. Cook once, eat twice. Everything needs to take 20 minutes or less for prep. Save the big cooking to one or two days a week, and only if you enjoy cooking!

3) I did not match up the reality of my schedule with my meal plan - This seems so obvious to me now. I used to forget to budget my time (and energy) for the meal preparation/eating/dishes. I was more interested in  what I thought, or wanted, dinner to look like. Total recipe for failure.

4) I’d make a plan, buy the groceries, and forget to look at it – I wouldn’t think about what I was cooking until it was time to cook. And often I’d realize, at that moment, the recipe was going to take to long. Or to much prep. Then I’d cry (JK, kinda).

Here is this weeks dinner menu, based on my afternoon/evening schedule. I post it on the fridge. I glance at it while I’m cooking or cleaning up the kitchen the night before, and plan ahead. Everything on it is prepared in 20 minutes or less (cooking time may be longer, but I plan for other things during those times). And the crock pot meals are ready when we get home and on the table in 10 minutes.

I’d love to know if you plan your meals. What works for you? What hasn’t worked? Share a strategy or comment below.

Cydney Smith, founder of Mompreneur Wellness, is a certified Holistic Health Coach offering private and group coaching to entrepreneur moms who want to leverage the power of healthy eating to fuel their success. She is the mother of 2 daughters and lives in southwestern New Hampshire. Connect with Cydney and her work through social media. Stop by the Mompreneur Wellness Community on Facebook and share your thoughts. Say hello on  twittter @Cydneysmith.