How the Pandemic Taught Me to Be a Meal Planner

During my childhood, my mom had an amazing dinner on the table for our family every single night. What's more, she also packed lunches to perfection each day for school.

As I've grown and realized the steps that come with making that happen, all while juggling a job and the life commitments that come with adulthood, I'm even more impressed by her.

But as much as I've tried, meal planning has never been my strong suit. I am usually good at having essentials stocked in the pantry and fridge, but I always feel as if I am scrambling to the store for a last-minute ingredient to complete a recipe.

A Pandemic Made Me a Planner

When the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation last year, I, like so many others, began limiting my trips out of the house. Grocery visits a couple times per week were slashed to once every two weeks, which presented a challenge because of my inability to consistently plan meals.

My meal prep had always incorporated a loose plan, but without regular access to a store, I felt a sudden push to nail down specifics to ensure we had what we needed for each meal. Further, I didn't want any food to go to waste.

With so much time at home, there was no excuse for me to not get a plan together.

1. Take stock of the stock

I started by going through my cabinets and making a note of everything we had, from spices to canned goods. As I went, I made a list of items that needed to be replaced. This was also a good opportunity to identify non-perishables we could donate to a local food pantry.

2. Find common ground (for foods)

Next, I made a list of the recipes we eat most frequently and identified crossover ingredients. In doing this, I had a good idea of the ingredients I could stock up on and use for more than one meal. Because access to fresh produce was intermittent in the early days of the pandemic, if something wasn't available, I could buy what was and know there were still meal options based on my list.

3. Be creative with ingredients

Limited availability of certain products also gave me the opportunity to try recipes I wouldn't otherwise gravitate toward, and it frequently let me use up what we had in a creative, yet tasty, way.

Admittedly, I made more noodle-based concoctions with a combination of random leftover vegetables than I care to admit, but in any other scenario, I would have likely run to the store to get more of a certain ingredient to cook something specific.

4. Make a menu with a plan

Before any trip to the grocery store, I'd make a menu for our week. I liked to pick recipes that made more than two people could eat so we could eat leftovers for lunch at least one day.

5. Organize for faster shopping

From there, I'd create a list of every ingredient I wanted based on location in the store. Time was critical during the pandemic, so I grouped produce, dairy, frozen foods, canned goods, and home supplies in their own categories. This made it easy to look at my list in the store and easily identify if I was done in one area before moving to the next.

6. Prep and pack

Before the pandemic, I had purchased meal prep containers, but I began utilizing them to create a refrigerator system of pre-chopped vegetables or thawed meats. With my pre-made menu, dinnertime was less of a headache, and I didn't feel like I was scrambling. Better yet, I always had what I needed ready to go.

As the weeks went on, I realized that taking time to plan our meals not only made grocery trips easier, it reduced our grocery bill and eliminated food waste. I felt more inspired to keep going, and in doing so, I got better at meal planning — a double win.

Even as the world begins to re-emerge and life returns to some semblance of normalcy, I haven't forgotten all that I've learned. I plan to keep my system in place.

You will hear zero complaints from me about fewer grocery runs, and if I'm being honest, less stress around mealtime compels me to cook more frequently. But if I'm being even more candid, I'm pretty happy to be able to buy bread without the mental gymnastics of sourdough starters.

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