Episode 84

#84. Summer Series: The Never-Ending Again of Meal Planning Gets As Simple As Possible! | Part 1

Previous episodes mentioned:

Ordering Our Days: Part 1

Ordering Our Days: Part 2

We can avoid laundry for awhile. We can put off cleaning. We can let those dishes pile up, but if the kids are hungry they are going to let us know! If meal planning feels more like an unceasing punishment and less like a picnic, listen in as Jen and Steph talk about ways to reduce decisions to make this unavoidable, repetitive task feel less overwhelming!

Would you like to learn more about Entrusted with a Child's Heart, our biblical parenting study? Find us here.

Transcript
Speaker:

Welcome to the Again

podcast summer series.

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I'm your host, Stephanie Hickox, and this

is brought to you by Entrusted Ministries.

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This summer, we've selected some of our

favorite episodes that we think help

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set the tone for biblical motherhood

in our hearts, but also have great

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practical wisdom for you to apply.

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I've shortened these as much as I can,

so you can get what you need as quickly

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as possible and get back to swimming,

splashing, and snuggling those kiddos.

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Whether your summer is a bunch of

schedule managing or a blank open

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canvas to architect, we pray that

you find time to sit at the feet of

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Jesus and to enter in with your kids.

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Today, Jen Frackman joins me for this

replay, and we talk about the tools that

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we've learned and the tips that have

saved our sanity in the Unceasing Task of

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meal preparation Today, you'll just hear

part one of that episode because there's

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so much to tackle with meal planning,

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we know there are so many tips that

we don't talk about because there is

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an abundance of information out there,

but we hope this just inspires you to

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develop a system that works for you.

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Keep coming back because

part two will be next week.

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In an earlier episode, we had

set the mindset already for the

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heart that we want to have behind

bringing order in our homes.

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I'll link that in the show notes

because we certainly don't want to

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have routines just for routine We want

to have our days ordered by the Lord.

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Before I get to this conversation with

Jen Reman, I want to share an idea I

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came up with at the beginning of this

summer that my kids are absolutely

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loving, and that has brought me a

lot of freedom in meal planning.

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I sat down with a few of my kiddos

at the beginning of the summer and we

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created a three week meal routine that

we're just going to cycle as long as we

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need to to get us through the summer.

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We created a different genre

for every night of the week.

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So for example, we have a Mexican

night, an Asian night, an Italian

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night, a soup night, a grilling night,

and a pizza night, and we just put

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in there some really simple meals

that everyone's pleased with that

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require very little thought on my part

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as I am really working on some

big projects this summer, it's so

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helpful to know that my meal plan

is taken care of and very simple.

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And then when I go to just grab

the ingredients, I can decide,

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okay, it's quesadilla night.

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Am I just gonna grab the basics

or do I have the capacity to

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add a bunch of fun toppings?

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Perhaps that would be a really

simple way to get your kids involved

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and to take that mental load off

of your shoulders for the summer.

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And now to that conversation

with the amazing Jen Breckman.

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Stephanie: And now we're going to give

you some practical Meal planning tips

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that we've developed over the years,

what we found works and what doesn't,

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You will cook for your children if

you calculate three meals a day for 18

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years, it equals about 19, 000 meals.

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So just give yourself permission

to say, that is a lot.

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And there's a reason that

this is overwhelming.

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There's a reason that we just

don't know what to make anymore.

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Then sometimes you add in food allergies

or food sensitivities or diets or things

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you feel called to by wisdom you've

encountered and it gets very tricky to

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meal plan and we are so blessed in our

day and age to have so many options

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and so many resources and yet it's very

overwhelming decision fatigue is a real

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thing and I feel that as a mother a lot

with the amount of decisions we make.

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So Jen and I strongly feel that it's

hard to be so intentional in your home

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if you don't have a plan for this thing

that comes up three plus times a day.

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So if you know you're going to be

encountering meal planning and people

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are going to need to eat every day in

your home, let's have a system for it.

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Let's

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not have it take us off guard constantly.

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And then you will find, oh, all

of a sudden there's a piece.

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I can conquer something else.

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I can think a little bit more

intentionally about other areas of

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my life because that is covered.

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And as with all systems, you develop a

little bit of a routine and then you know

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where you can flex and where you can give.

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We do want to say a very surprising

fact that we just learned.

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Betsy's not on this episode because

she is cleaning up our lovely lunch

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that we just had, but she said that

she would go to the grocery store and

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she would just buy things and Then in

the morning, she would just think, what

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do I want to make for dinner today?

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Betsy is a picture of

hospitality and intentionality.

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And that might be a little bit freeing

for you to realize that even with her

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orderly personality, she chose a lot of

spontaneity, and that worked for her.

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Jen and I homeschool, and I think we

don't have as much freedom at dinner time

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to all of a sudden pull together that

we need a little bit more of order and,

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Jen: yeah,

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Stephanie: jen, Tell us about your

meal planning routine currently.

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Jen: Sure.

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I used to be surprised every day

around four o'clock when the children

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were asking what was for dinner.

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I was like, Oh, that's right.

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I need to

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feed you again.

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Shoot.

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Stephanie: question.

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Jen: I have no idea what sounds good.

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And then I'd try to figure that out.

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And as the children started getting

older, where they were, needing more

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of a meal, you know, when they're

little and they eat what you're

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eating and you just share your plate.

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I used to call it the mommy diet because

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everything I was

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eating was cut in half because

the kid was going to eat it.

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But once they got past that, where

I was making separate, soft foods

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for them, that type of thing, I

started to do more meal planning.

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As I mentioned in a different episode

about how we plan our week, I do

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the meal planning on Saturdays.

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And so I'll sit down with our calendar and

I'll decide what days I have the time to

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be able to make a from scratch meal or a

halfway from scratch meal, whatnot, where

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something that would require more chopping

and more sautéing and just as a longer.

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Um, And so I'll put those meals on those

days where I have more time and the

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times when I don't have as much time,

then I will go to a freezer meal that

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I've made before and I can talk about

how I do that, but, or I'll do something

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like frozen pizza, but very rarely do

we eat out or to get taken just with

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food allergies and just the cost of it.

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It just, it's hard.

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We end up eating at home so much more.

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But so what I do for making ahead and

freezing, what I do is if I am making

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a meal and it's going to be like a from

scratch meal, I will double the recipe.

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Sometimes I'll triple it, dependent.

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We will eat as much as we can that

evening and all of the leftovers I

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take and I put into these wonderful

things that I found on Amazon.

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called super cubes and,

but it's S O U P E R, like

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Stephanie: oh

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Jen: cubes.

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They come in one or two cup

cubes and they're silicone, but

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they're like food grade silicone.

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So

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you

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put your soup or you put your

leftover food in that and it

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freezes them into these nice little.

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Cubes.

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And then I take those frozen cubes.

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So I freeze them in that for a couple

hours or a day, and then I'll take

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them out of the freezer and take

them and I'll put them either in our

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glass jars or in our, if a baggie or

something to keep them in the freezer.

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But I have them all labeled and it, I

know that this portion feeds one person.

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Then I try to put, if I have

Doubled or tripled the recipe.

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I'll try to put it as we have

six people in our family.

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So I'll put the six in one

bag so I can pull that out.

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And here's a full meal.

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All I need is a side.

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And sometimes I'll put on there

pair with rice, pair with a sweet

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potato, something like that.

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So that I can give me an idea

quickly to be like, Oh, I have that.

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I could pair that with this.

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Stephanie: So

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Jen: that's been super helpful.

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Really handy for those nights

when you want a home cooked

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meal, but you don't have time.

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Stephanie: Yes, several similarities.

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We rarely eat out or order

takeout I do the Cook once,

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eat twice, I think it's called.

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Also where you're just doubling something.

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So if I'm ever doing something

like making a chicken pot pie,

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I double that and freeze one.

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And it does take longer,

but not double, right?

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Yes.

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It's longer, but not double.

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I found.

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Especially when the kids were

little, that was just great.

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, I'm cooking every other day, basically.

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Or often I'd make a double portion.

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That helped really a lot when they were

younger because they didn't eat as much.

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So I would just double the recipe and

we would eat it two nights back to back.

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And financially That works out

well because, maybe you're buying

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cilantro for a recipe, but you're not

using the whole thing of cilantro.

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But if you double the recipe, now you are.

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And just, it, so that helps financially,

but also it helps with my time a lot.

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And it's okay, now I have so much more

time to push you on the swings tonight

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because the leftovers are in the fridge.

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And maybe remake rice fresh, but you

have the stir fries already made.

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Meal planning is one of those things

where we have had a lot of food

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allergies and food sensitivities

to work around over the years.

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And I felt like every time I would

curate my list of recipes that worked

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well, something else would happen.

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It was every couple years, or

every year and a half, and you're

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like, Oh my goodness okay now

we're dairy gluten and egg free.

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Now we're this, now we're that, now

we're And it's okay, everybody except my

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husband can have cashews, that's great.

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So let's have some recipes, with cashews.

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And then all of a sudden my

daughter was allergic to cashews.

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That's been, a huge barrier to

creating consistency for us.

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But I did eventually, I made some

Pinterest boards, and I created

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one called Recipes to Try, and

then one called Tried It, Loved It.

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So

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once I tried a recipe and everybody

liked it, I would move it to

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the Tried It, Loved It board.

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And eventually I had this list

that was quite comprehensive and

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one night I decided, okay, fine, I

am finally going to get this done.

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And I printed out a ton of recipes,

put them in page protectors

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and put them in a binder.

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My goal was to have a hundred

recipes, but once I started, it's

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maybe it's only 60 or something, but.

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I have a good chunk of recipes

and different seasonal ones in

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there that it's like everybody

in our family can eat these.

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I can make adaptations if I need to.

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And just having that physical binder in my

kitchen, then if I want to go meal plan,

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I just pull it down and I page through and

say, Oh, we haven't had this in a while.

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Let's make that this week.

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And so I'd put it on a

list for our meal plan.

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I do have a list in the front of

really simple things you know, maybe

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sourdough grilled cheese and tomato

soup, or something that's so simple.

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And when you look at a week and you're

thinking, I don't have time to make those

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fresh from scratch meals all week, I will

put a couple of those easy ones on every

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week and then a couple of harder ones.

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For me, it does work well

to not assign the day.

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Usually.

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I don't always assign the day.

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I feel like things come up with work

often and I don't know is this going

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to be the night where I can make that.

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And so sometimes it's okay I thought

I was going to make a harder dinner

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tonight, but it's going to be simple.

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But then towards the end

of the week, you're like I

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bought all those ingredients.

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I've got to make that, make

the longer ones at some point.

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Jen: some

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Currently, we

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Stephanie: currently we are part of

a food share, which is an incredible

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blessing, but requires a lot of

flexibility and a lot of creativity.

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Every Sunday one of four families

will go to this wonderful, healthy

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food store and they give us everything

that's about to expire, or maybe it

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was discontinuing tons of produce that

just has a bump or a bruise on it.

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And we fill our van to the brim.

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Bring it, and the four families divide

it up, and it is an incredible blessing.

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But I never know what I'm getting,

and so I'm pretty intentional that

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by Sunday morning I want very little

in my fridge, because I want to be

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able, to steward what's coming to

me, I'm really careful about that.

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Let's use up what we have, while just

making sure that I always have a ton

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of eggs on hand, things like that

don't usually come from the food chair.

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But there are times where you're

just filled with overflowing.

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You're like, oh my goodness,

so much manna this week.

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And then there are times where

I'm thinking, I don't know what

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I'm going to make for dinner

tonight because it wasn't as much.

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So I do have to have

backups in the freezer.

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And I find that, just having frozen

chicken and frozen ground beef That I

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can pull out and, make and of course,

always have rice on hand and some of

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those staples to supplement that I

could always pull something together.

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That really helps, but I would say I

pray a lot as I'm food planning and I

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just, as I'm getting the things, I'm

like, Lord, what could I make with this?

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And it's almost a fun thing of what

can we make and we have such a creative

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God so I feel I'm trying to embrace the

joy of that and then to be stretched

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too and sometimes we get things like

artichokes and I'm, Googling recipes

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and I'm like, this is way too much work.

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I'm sorry, Lord.

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I can't steward the artichokes, but

those five bags of Brussels sprouts,

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like great, let's do something with them.

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Or those hundred bananas, let's

freeze a ton for smoothies, so it's a

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stewardship process, but such a blessing.

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But I just want to be honest that my

meal planning looks a lot different now.

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So with that, Jen, I wanted to know, what

are a couple easy dinners that you have?

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Jen: So we have a little system where

I don't want to be a short order cook.

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I,

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Stephanie: Amen.

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Jen: and

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so what I do is I'll make a meal, I'll

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print out a recipe, and I will try it.

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And then after everybody has tried

it and we have eaten the meal, I will

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say to everybody, I will go around the

table and I'll say, what did you think?

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Would you put it in the rotation?

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And they'll say, yes.

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Loved it.

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Let's put it in the rotation.

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And so I'll make a note on that.

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Everyone liked it.

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If somebody didn't like it,

but the majority did, I'll say,

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it wasn't Josiah's favorite.

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That type of thing.

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That way I'm a little bit more

mindful not to always have that meal

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if he really just doesn't like it.

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But I, Find ones where everybody likes it.

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And I always have those types of.

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Things in the pantry so

that I can make it quickly.

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We have a stroganoff meal.

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We have a bolognese that's

an easy one to make.

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I have a chicken and

rice meal that's easy.

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I often keep Costco's rotisserie chicken.

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They have it like in a package where

they've done all the work of pulling it.

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And it's just the meat in

a package and it's frozen.

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I keep that in my freezer.

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And if for some reason I'm having

more people coming or I have something

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where I just need more protein in it,

I'll quickly thaw that and add it to

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pasta or to something that I'm making

so that it just extends my life.

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The quantity.

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Stephanie: Sure.

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Jen: So those little staples help a lot

or having the Costco has grilled chicken

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breasts that they come already in like

a chicken sandwich and we have those on

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hand and so if for some reason it's a

busy night and I couldn't get to the meal

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that I thought I was going to get to.

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I can easily grill those on the stovetop

and add an egg to it or, something,

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and we've got a chicken sandwich.

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Always trying to have

those things on hand.

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But one of my favorite tips for this

is as the kids get older is to teach

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each of them a meal that they can make.

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We did this a while back

with each of the kids.

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Olivia picked a meal.

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She could pick any meal she wanted.

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And she made it for the whole family.

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I provided all of the ingredients.

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She had to tell me ahead

of time and she made it.

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And the beauty of it was

one, she got to understand.

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How long it takes to cook a meal

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and all the

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effort that goes into it.

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Josiah did the same thing.

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He got to pick a meal and he

did a wonderful job, but he

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also learned how long it takes.

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It's not an easy thing to just come

up with a meal and you're planning it.

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You're going to the store, you're

getting the ingredients, you're spending

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your money on it, you're chopping

the vegetables, you're spending time

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doing this and then you're waiting

for it to cook and then you sit down

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and if you sit down at the table

and someone is being a picky eater

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or is just being rude and saying, I

don't want to try it, that's hurtful.

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So

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we've, we have talked about table manners

of how In our family, they're not allowed

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to say, I'm not going to eat that.

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Or I don't like that.

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They have to at least try it.

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You have to swallow one bite.

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Like

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you may not

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make a decision and judge this meal

before you've swallowed one bite.

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But when I go do ask them

what do you think about this?

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Do you want it in the rotation?

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They're allowed to say,

thank you for making it.

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It's not my favorite yet.

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And

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that's my clue that yeah,

mom this was not good.

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I don't like it, but it respects me

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for all

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the time and effort that was put into it.

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But

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also the beauty of having them do

that is they understand how hurtful

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it is and how disappointing it is.

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And.

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I pray as I'm making the meals, I pray

that everyone would enjoy it, that it

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would nourish us well, that it would

fill our love bank to know that I made

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this meal for them, that they would

feel loved and cherished by this.

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And then having them have a

meal that they know how to make.

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If I'm in a pinch, I can call

them up and say, Hey, I can't make

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it home in time to make dinner.

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Will you please make your meal?

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And they have the ingredients

at home and they can make it.

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The other thing that we do is

as they're older, around 10, 11

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years old, I give them a snack.

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Side that they can make.

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And Olivia, she knows how

to do the sweet potatoes.

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She knows exactly how I like them

done, how we make it, everything on it.

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And whenever we have a meal and the

side is the sweet potatoes, she helps.

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Josiah's side is rice.

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Whenever the meal is being made and

the side is rice, I'll be like, Hey,

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Josiah, we're making rice tonight.

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You got to come make it.

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While I'm in the kitchen cooking,

Josiah's He's with me and it's so fun.

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I have a buddy in the kitchen and we get

to talk and it's his goes much quicker

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because it's just rice boiling on the

pot, but he's in the kitchen with me.

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So

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it's

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been really sweet and it's also

been super helpful and it gives

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them ownership in the meal as well.

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Stephanie: Yes.

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Oh, that's phenomenal.

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I remember you talking about

them each making a meal and

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I definitely want to do that.

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I love what it produces in them

as well as it being super helpful.

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I think my favorite thing that

I've ever done, too, with cooking

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is having my kids cook with me.

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Betsy talks about the 15 minutes a

day with your children, and I think

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that's so important, but we homeschool.

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And you're like, all right

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Jen: 24 hours.

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Like, how do

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Stephanie: how do we count our minutes?

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And I think just adjusting the mindset of.

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That can be minutes where they're

helping me with something.

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It doesn't have to be me sitting

down, going into their world or

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playing Legos with them every day.

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It can be them helping make the meal.

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And so we have, I've done it

before where they each had a

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different night to help me cook.

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Jen: Oh, I like that.

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Stephanie: And it, I think this is

best maybe in winter seasons where

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it's cold outside, because I feel

when it's warmer outside, of course I

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want them playing as much as possible.

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So it was more of a winter or fall idea.

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They would each have a night

to help me make things.

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And we did do a brief

stint with a meal service.

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And I'm trying to remember the name

of the one we used because it really

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wasn't It wasn't as expensive.

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It was a pretty reasonable one.

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Especially if you did like

the introductory deal.

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So we didn't do it for that long, but

it was neat because the directions were

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nicely printed out about everything.

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And I was learning something

new too, so it was like we're

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learning a recipe together.

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Yeah.

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And then I would let them even help

pick out the meals that were coming.

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That was fun and it just was a sweet time

to talk and to teach them those skills.

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One on one.

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Jen: Mm hmm.

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Stephanie: often we're one on four, right?

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Yeah.

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So I like teaching them to

grate the cheese and yeah.

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Everything together.

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And that's cool.

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Right now what I'm doing is my oldest,

one of his roles is to help cook.

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He's my assistant chef for the summer.

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I feel like I'm wanting to train him.

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That by the end of the summer, he

would know how to make a lot of things.

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This doesn't mean that he has to do things

every day, but it means often I'm going

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to pull him in if it's a great time.

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I'm also trying to pull him into the

meal planning and the grocery shopping

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of it, and starting to trying to teach

him a little bit about even the budget,

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like that we've got to

make this last all month.

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And we can't just have filet every night

in week one or And it that's been such

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a blessing really that he's starting to

make these sourdough grilled cheeses And

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he adds different things for texture and

he loves that so he's becoming famous

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in our home for that and I mean, I

think it's going to be such a blessing

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if my boys do get married someday that

they know how to cook and they've been

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a part of that, then they'll be more

grateful towards their spouse when

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they cook, but then also that they're

willing to take on some of that too.

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Do you have a takeaway?

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I hope so.

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If you do write it down.

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Do you know that you're so much

more likely to accomplish something?

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When you actually take that

step of writing it down.

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Maybe you don't have time to develop

a whole new system, but maybe

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you can just change one thing.

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To make this area of your life.

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Simplified.

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If you found.

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Hope peace or encouragement

through this podcast.

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Would you share it with a friend,

either share this episode, share

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the show or go and write a review.

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So other moms can find it too.

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Thanks for listening.

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We know you're busy, Mama, so

we are truly grateful you joined

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us for this episode of Again.

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If you're looking for more information

about building your home on the

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foundation of Jesus Christ, head to www.

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EntrustedMinistries.

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com to learn more about our study for

moms, Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

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This scripture saturated study

has blessed families around the

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world, and we want it for you, too.

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Before you go, I want to pray

this benediction over you

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from 2 Thessalonians 1, 11 12.

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We're rooting for you.

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To this end, we always pray for you,

that our God may make you worthy of His

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calling, and may fulfill every resolve

for good and every work of faith by

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His power, so that the name of our Lord

Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in

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Him, according to the grace of our God.

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And the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Amen.

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Until we meet again.

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About the Podcast

Show artwork for The Again Podcast on Christian Parenting: Redeeming the Repetition of Biblical Motherhood
The Again Podcast on Christian Parenting: Redeeming the Repetition of Biblical Motherhood
Christian Parenting, Biblical Motherhood, Faith, Family

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About your host

Profile picture for Stephanie Hickox

Stephanie Hickox

Stephanie has always delighted in God’s Word and in sharing it with others. Whether it is equipping mothers and leaders through Entrusted with a Child’s Heart, inspiring students when teaching at homeschool co-ops or children’s ministry, or homeschooling her own children, Stephanie’s life mission is to encourage others to follow faithfully and joyfully after Jesus—especially if they hold her favorite job title: mom.

Betsy Corning wrote Entrusted with a Child’s Heart in 1999 in response to the needs she saw in families as she and David counseled young parents just a few years behind them. Entrusted has been taught in hundreds of churches nationwide, been translated into several foreign languages, and has made its way around the world. More recently, Betsy received her Masters in Biblical Studies from The Master’s University and is developing a new Bible Study program called Get the Word Out. Her passion for God’s Word, discipleship, and teaching biblical principles as they apply to family life has remained strong to this day. One of the greatest blessings in Betsy’s life are her three grown children, their spouses, and ten grandchildren that keep her constantly in touch with every age and stage.

Jen Freckman Is an incredible wealth of wisdom. She will tell you a natural remedy for just about anything! She is also a voracious reader and she is just overflowing with quotes and guidance that she's encountered through reading and being faithful. She delights in her children and is a devoted mother. She is also an amazingly creative problem solver! Her solutions to manage her home and guide her children are inspiring.

Emily Deyo is such a treasure. She is an incredible encourager and servant-hearted woman. When she has the mic in front of her, so much value comes out! She is a wordsmith and her heart consistently beats for how she can encourage and serve others. She is a truly loving and attentive mother.

Join Betsy, Emily, Jen, and Stephanie as they share the wisdom only Scripture and on-the-job training can provide to help untangle the joyful calling of motherhood.