Karine Talks Meal Planning

I kid you not: I am writing/posting this with less than an hour (edit update: now less than 15 minutes) to get food on the table for three of my four kids before they need to be at a hockey arena. (My 14 year old daughter Milla is already at her dance studio armed with leftover rice, cheese and crackers, yogurt, an apple and popchips — hey, it isn’t pretty but at least I am being honest.)

As you can imagine, meal planning for a busy family of six can be a challenge: There’s the aforementioned dancer (who moonlights as a rugby player in the off-season), three young hockey/rugby/lacrosse/soccer/baseball players depending on the month, a husband who commutes (and, admittedly, is a better cook than me) and my working-mom-slash-“flexitarian”-self, and feeding my family used to be a nightmare.

That is, until, I discovered SPC’s tips on meal planning. Simple, easy, thoughtful and economical. (Karine Life Lesson: We took Ceri’s advice and let everyone choose one dinner a week. At least once a week a kid is happy. The seventh meal is either at a restaurant, delivery or breakfast for dinner. #backtothathonestything)

And, if you watch their video, Ceri and Laura (gently and kindly in my opinion) make fun of people like me who aim to have a yearly meal plan: I almost have six months worth DONE — I am talking breakfasts, lunches and dinners — because I started back when they first posted this video, and I keep and label each plan by the week (including my grocery list), so by next September, the cycle will be complete and everything will be new again!