Food is love--plan accordingly!

I’m a big fan of meal planning. My life is complicated and chaos-prone. I find that planning my meals out a week or so in advance gives me a lot of bang for my buck–a little time spent planning up front yields a huge time savings over the course of a week.

I meal plan because it saves me time and saves me money. It saves me stress!

But I never considered that my meal plan can show my love for my family–not until today! In the afternoon I was browsing through the book Sacred Influence: How God Uses Wives to Shape the Souls of Their Husbands and encountered an anecdote where a husband asked his wife to change her meal planning habits to make their family mealtime more enjoyable. (Apparently, the wife had been making food the kids hated! That didn’t make for a pleasant dinner, it seems.)

And then a few hours later I encountered this great post by Jessica who says that we can love our family through meal planning. Her big three tips?

1. Create meals that allow flexibility in how it is served.

2. Introduce new flavors, but allow a way out.

3. Include at least one favorite each week.

I won’t spill any more juicy details; go check it out at

http://goodcheapeats.com/2011/02/loving-your-family-through-meal-planning/

It’s time for me to make a new meal plan around here. Our cupboard is bare and a trip to the grocery is in order. But this time around, I will definitely have love on my mind as I plan out my meals. I encourage you to do the same!

photo credit: Marit and Toomas Hinnorsaar

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