How To Make A Meal Plan As A Stay At Home Mom

Everyone loves a good Stay At Home Mom Meal Plan, especially when they help you whip up dinner in under thirty minutes. What if I told you that it is not as hard as it seems. With simple and easy daily meal plans you can make meal planning a breeze.

You can find more tips and tricks on our Happy Stay At Home Mom page.

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RELATED: Becoming a Stay at Home Mom {Everything You Need to Know}

Staying home with the kids is not always full of high fives and pats on the back, but it is full of love and full of laughs. I like to say that the kitchen is where I find that we have the best conversations and meal planning can be a part of that conversation too.

What Is A Good Daily Meal Plan?

Something that is both affordable and simple is always going to be my first choice. If I spend too much time and money on planning I almost always end up with something that one of us doesn’t want to eat and we spend a lot of time making it and the money is wasted. 

How Do You Plan A Meal For Beginners?

First, do not stress about it. This will make you overthink it. Here are a few of my favorite tips that help me when I am talking about it with friends, colleagues, new moms I know. 

Make A List Of All The Foods You Like To Eat

This will help you when choosing what you want to buy and make at home. Now if you like sushi, do not be so adventurous that your first week’s meal plan includes learning how to make sushi, buying all the supplies you need, and making it. I can tell you, you will be setting yourself up for failure. 

Instead, you can plan to eat out that day and have sushi as a special treat. Some time off for good behavior after cooking all week. Or if you like, you can also buy it from the store pre-made. Trust me, it works in a pinch. 

Have A Dedicated Day Of The Week To Plan Your Meals

So choosing a day of the week to do the “dirty work” is by far my favorite thing to do. When I know that Wednesday is my day to do it, I sit down and do it. It is now such a habit that even my family gets in on the act. 

They come to me with their list of items they want for the upcoming week or two. I know that this is teaching them to be consistent so when my kiddos are out on their own they will have a system that works for them because they have been practicing it for years without even really knowing it. 

Choose A Day To Take Inventory Of Your Supplies, Time, And Food

This goes well with the above, but I do not do them on the same day. For me, doing planning and the inventory is a little too overwhelming for me for one day. It requires too much time all at once. 

Instead, I do this on a Thursday or Friday. It allows me to concentrate on just one thing for the day, inventory. 

Here is what my inventory looks like. I check my refrigerator and make sure that everything old is in front, I am a big fan of FIFO and you can read more about that here if you like. Then I check my deep freezers and pantry. 

I usually move things around in both to make sure they are fifo’d as well. I pull items that go with my meal plan to the front to make sure I do not make any last-minute trips to the store thinking I forgot something. 

Then I check to make sure that nothing is scheduled for that upcoming week. No appointments, meetings, holidays, special events or tests can be forgotten. Ok, I always seem to forget something but then I also make sure that I give myself grace when I do. 

Start With A Small Budget And Work Your Way Up

Now I know that a lot of systems out there can seem really good. And maybe you have tried a few. But meal planning systems are like dieting, if you jump all in, you are more likely to fail and fail a lot. So start small.

You can try a couple of different methods to see which one works for you. 

The first method is to take twenty-five percent to fifty percent of your current budget and use it for meal planning. If you have meal planned before do the fifty percent. If you are new to this do the twenty-five percent

Then plan out however many meals you can with that money for your meal plan. If you do not know if it will be in your budget, just write it down anyway. You will figure out how much everything is when you start shopping. We are currently doing a lot of Instacart so I can see my total very quickly. 

Once you figure out what your percentage is and add them to the cart, ask yourself is that enough for me to make three meals at home this week? As long as it covers three meals, you are all set. 

I want you to make this a habit of three meals at home, that you made, every week. Again, they don’t have to be sushi, it can be something as easy as spaghetti with homemade sauce from canned tomatoes or chicken pot pie using a simple crust. 

Again, ease into it. 

Once you have done this for several months, you will start to realize you are a pro! Then you can add on another meal. I added brunch for my family. So once a week I pulled out all the stops and made everything they loved. 

We had everything from fresh-squeezed orange or apple juice, grits, eggs, toast, sausage, fruit cups, and usually something like a cinnamon roll too.

Now let’s get into a few recipes.

Stay At Home Mom Morning Meal Plan Idea – Pumpkin Muffins

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of pumpkin pure
• 2 cups of gluten-free rolled oats
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup of maple syrup
• 1 cup 2% of Greek Yogurt
• 1 ½ Teaspoon of baking powder
• ½ Baking soda
• ½ Vanilla Extract
• ⅛ Teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 2 Teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice

How To Make Pumpkin Muffins

1. Combine the rest of the ingredients with oat flour in the blender, blend until smooth and creamy for 1-2 minutes
2. Divide batter into prepared muffin cups, Sprinkle your chosen toppings
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool muffins in pan 5 minutes
4. Remove it from the pan and cool completely

Dinner Meal Plan for Pork Chops Pizzaiola

INGREDIENTS

• 4 Bone-in pork chops
• Kosher Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion
• 1 teaspoon crushed pepper flakes
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup red wine

HOW TO MAKE PORK CHOPS PIZZAIOLA

Season the chops with pepper and salt. Heat virgin olive oil in medium-high heat. Add crushed garlic. Add in the chops and caramelized on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove the chop on the plate and reserve it. Stir in fennel seed, red pepper flakes, and oregano. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes. 

1. Add a tomato paste and cook. 
2. Add the wine and then cook for another minute.
3. Stir in the stock and combine
4. Arrange the chops and sauce on a plate.

HERE ARE SOME HEALTHY FOODS YOU CAN SNACK ON

• Sweet Potatoes
• Mangoes
• Broccoli
• Nuts
• Wind Salmon
• Yogurt
• Oatmeal
• Garbanzo Beans
• WaterMelon
• Butternut Squash
• Leafy Greens

Here Are Some Other Family Meal Plans For Stay At Home Moms

FRIED SALMON RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• Sliced of Salmon
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• Salt
• Ground Pepper

HOW TO COOK FRIED SALMON

1. Make sure to store salmon to room temperature for 10 minutes before cooking
2. Seasoned the salmon with a pinch of salt and pepper and turn the heat into medium-high. Place the salmon in the pan. Make it cooked until it becomes golden brown. You can choose if the skin is crisp if you desire.
3. Skin can easily be removed
4. Put it into the plate and serve.

I hope that these SAHM Meal Planning tips have helped you today! Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. Sign up below!