Meal Blueprints: Like Meal Planning, But Better

When my husband and I traded New York City for rural New England, there was one thing we knew we were going to miss above all else. No, not the non-stop energy, or the architecture, or the museums (though we dearly loved all those things). It was, shamefully enough, the food delivery app Seamless.

This is What Happens When Kids Choose the Meal Plan for the Week

Now, instead of hundreds of options at our fingertips day or night, there are two nearby takeout options: a Chinese spot and a pizza place. Make that three if you want to count the salad bar at the local gas station, but I’d rather not. I adore our new town, but as soon as we moved it quickly became clear that we needed to step up our home-cooking game in a big way.

The solution of course, is meal planning, which I had dabbled in before, but the concept just never stuck. This time, however, with a young child and without the safety net of food delivery, I had to find a method that worked. So I leaned on two chefs and cookbook authors who are unequivocal experts on the subject: Melissa d’Arabian and Pamela Salzman.

Both chefs started meal planning long before children (d’Arabian has four; Salzman three), and for very important reasons: To save money, eliminate food waste, and reduce stress.

“Part of what I love about meal planning is that it frees up your mind to focus on tasks that are really important during the week, like work,” Salzman says. “It robs you of your productivity when you constantly have to think about what you’re going to have for dinner.”

But for meal planning to work, it really needs to be simple, the authors stressed. Instead of my old way of approaching meal planning (sitting down and sifting through magazines, cookbooks, and a "recipes" folder in my email, waiting to see which recipes struck me), they suggested I use a weekly blueprint to provide an easy framework.

“We only have so much decision-making power every day, so why waste it on non-value-added decisions like ‘fish or meat today?’” d’Arabian says. Instead, create a rubric for yourself that focuses on meal categories versus individual meals. Assign a category to each day and stick with it. (Think: Fish,” “Vegetarian,” “Casserole,” “Poultry,” “Takeout.”) It gives you the right amount of structure without being stifling. Sketch out your categories and simple meal ideas at the beginning of the week (you can use a notebook, a white board, even Google calendar).

Tucking the magazines away and relying on what I know how to cook, I was ready to give this a go.

Each night has a theme: on "vegetarian" night, stick to easy dishes like this Spanish frittata, or beans and rice, or even waffles.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Ali Nardi

My Blueprint

Following d’Arabian's advice, I write down only one to three words for each meal. Takeout for dinner that night.

Wildcard for dinner. It could be an at-home roast (usually chicken) or a restaurant (if we’re out and about).

Eggs or tofu. Scrambled eggs and salad or, more likely, spicy tofu lettuce cups with coconut rice, which I can make with only a cursory glance at the recipe. Occasionally egg night can morph into breakfast-for-dinner if we have time to bust out the waffle maker.

Dealer’s choice. Most often roasted sweet potatoes with enchilada-style ground turkey or skinless chicken thighs drizzled in extra-virgin olive oil and dusted with sea salt.

My husband will artfully poach whatever looked freshest in the case. If all hell breaks loose, we’ll rely on sustainable canned tuna or salmon.

With ground turkey and beef always in the freezer, this usually ends up as a type of chili. Alternatively, I’ll make a pork loin, which can go two ways: vaguely Mexican, using canned salsa as a base, or vaguely Asian, with a very fast marinade made of soy sauce, sesame oil, powdered ginger, garlic, brown sugar, and chili paste. (In summer, this night will become grill night.)

Remixed leftovers, a frozen Caulipower pizza crust that we top, or anything that can go with baked Alexia sweet potato fries!

The Key to Weeknight Cooking Lives in Your Freezer

The Takeaways

By giving myself a master blueprint for the month—which included designated nights off—I found sticking to meal planning wasn’t nearly as daunting as I expected. As the weeks ticked by, I graduated from writing out the plan in a notebook to using a small whiteboard on the side of our fridge. It made more sense—I’m an “out of sight, out of mind” type of person. Plus, it made divvying up the work with my husband that much easier.

"Easy” is not one-size-fits-all. Do you need recipes that are hands-off, but take longer to cook? (Think roasts, Instant Pot, and slow-cooking.) Or do you prefer hands-on recipes that take less time? (Sautés and stir-fries.) And be prepared to tweak your blueprint as you go along. Although I had assumed using my slow cooker would be the smartest move, I'm still struggling to make it work simply because it requires active prep in the a.m., when mornings are a blur and every minute is precious. On the flip side, having a “freezer Friday” helps me combat the home cooking fatigue that inevitably sets in on Thursday (okay, Wednesday) each week.

Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Fish Friday—whatever suits your family, try it, cliches be damned. Truthfully, I had always dismissed themes because they felt too stifling. Yet d’Arabian encouraged me to think more broadly and, in the case of Taco Tuesday, not be limited to a literal taco. I eventually hit on a successful twist that’s manageable: roasted sweet potatoes stuffed with Mexican-style sautéed ground turkey and onions.

“There is no shame in frozen vegetables,” Salzman says. “Who says you have to have something different and fancy [every night]?” This thought carried me through as I ditched the idea of a full-fledged fresh “side” and discovered the easy joy of roasting from-frozen cauliflower, broccoli, or green beans almost every night. A 400-degree oven, roughly 25 minutes, a spray of sea salt (lemon juice optional), and we were home free.

You’ll inevitably have a night that doesn’t go according to plan. This is where your smartly stocked pantry comes in. For d’Arabian that’s chickpea pasta, which she combines with jarred no-sugar-added marinara and frozen vegetables. Her other hip-pocket recipe is a smoky tuna salad with canned tuna and canned beans. Salzman, meanwhile, will create a whatever-goes stir-fry made with fresh and frozen vegetables, herbs, and leftover grains or quinoa, topped with an egg, chickpeas, or sesame seeds. Me? I’m still finding my way with fallbacks. Often, I’ll make a salad that only I think is great—ready-to-eat baby kale topped with a Dr. Praeger veggie patty, avocado, and a quick homemade apple cider vinaigrette—while my daughter eats yogurt, fruit, and crackers, and my husband delights in his own personal favorite...hot dogs. Hey, it works for us.

Perhaps you hate fish or want a standing salad night—let your blueprint reflect your needs, wants, and/or required restrictions. Ignore the noise and pressure created by Instagram and find a rubric that works for your time and energy—and then give it a chance to stick. (d’Arabian recommends trying it for three weeks.)

“In pool, the best players aren’t the ones who take the best shots. They’re the ones who set up their next shot to be the best. That’s how I think about meal planning,” d'Arabian says. “I’m not the best at pulling it all together and being Pinteresty. What I am good at is figuring out how to make future-me less stressed. I’m always setting up my next shot.”