Have you ever thought about creating a family menu, rather than a meal plan for the week ahead? The way we talk to ourselves, and even the words we choose, can have a huge impact on how we feel about something. It can make a difference between feeling stressed and stuck or empowered and capable.

For example I can’t bring myself to have a schedule for the family. Even though I know it makes things a lot easier and it’s often necessary. Gosh, and I’m German, I should thrive on this stuff! Go figure :).
So instead of resisting to have a schedule, which makes me feel rigid and stuck in busyness, I started to look at our days as more of a rhythm. I kid you not, it made me feel immediately a lot calmer. To simply follow the rhythm of the day sounds and feels a lot different than trying to keep things on schedule!

Creating a family menu rather than meal planning

The same applies to meal planning. I’m not much of a meal planner, but you know what I do like? Ordering things of a menu in a café! Who doesn’t. And for quite some time now, my ritual around preparing for the week ahead hasn’t been meal planning, it has been creating a family menu.

A lot of what I do is driven by my joy of eating, joy of preparing food and joy of feeding others. Meal planning in itself doesn’t feel joyous to me, but creating a family menu does!

Now that I have set up our seasonal capsule recipe collection, putting together our family menu has become a lot quicker. I simply go through the list of recipes and pick a good mix of those that I want to make this week.

Why it creates joy in the kitchen

There are three main reasons why I feel a family menu is a helpful tool:

It helps to plan the big shop completely if you prefer, but also leaves room for some spontaneous additions if that’s how you like to approach it.
Going shopping with a list is always a good idea, but I don’t fully plan ahead some parts of the family menu (snacks, fruits, vegetables, bits and bobs). I prefer to see what looks good in the shops.
Either way it works and you can pick the approach that is better for you.

It makes you feel organized but it leaves room for changes.
Having the family menu up in the kitchen helps to stop hubby rummaging around the pantry murmuring ‘what can I eat…’, hehe. He can go straight for the corn chips and hummus or boiled eggs on rye bread or whatever it says on there.
At the same time it’s not as rigid as a meal plan for each night. This is a more fluid approach, because you may not feel like whatever it is you planned for Wednesday evening.

It inspires you to try and make it as varied as possible.
This is probably my favourite thing to talk about. When you’re creating a menu, like a restaurant would, you naturally look for a variety in dishes and ingredients. With this family menu you not only take into account the meals itself, but also part of meals (eg pre-cooked veggies, boiled eggs, dips) and snacks. A list of fruit and veggies for the week shows you immediately how many different ones you’re eating. If they have been the same, three weeks in a row, it might be fun to switch it up a little.

How it works

The most important thing to remember is that it’s not about creating the perfect healthy menu. It is about creating the perfect menu for you, right at this point in your life. Store bought and processed items always complement the homemade meals and snacks on our family menu and that’s totally fine with me.

So for example this week our breakfast options are coconut chia pudding with pistachios and pinenuts, vegan rice porridge with pear, bread with jam or vegemite and yoghurt with oats, honey and almonds. These options together have loads of variety in whole grains, fruits and nuts. Only the rice porridge needs some prep work, the others are quick to stir together or make on the spot.

For meals I often opt for at least one or two vegan/vegetarian versions like miso roasted sweet potato or eggplant and broccoli with soba noodles. But I also like to add store bought spring rolls as a quick option and we simply eat those with iceberg lettuce and fresh mint for a green boost. We’ll have that tonight actually because I’m too busy writing this article and can’t cook :).

The sweets, snacks and bibs and bobs section gets filled depending on my time and energy levels.
For snacks I often choose hummus and corn chips, vibrant cottage cheese this week, frozen grapes, bliss balls or loaves.
For bits and bobs I usually list things that can be used to make quick meals with like boiled eggs, avocado, pre-cooked veggies, pesto, antipesto etc. Add a wrap and you’re good to go. But you can use that section however you like.

And lastly, listing fruit and veg that are ready for snacking (or can be made in a flash – think roasted green beans) finish the menu.

That’s it!

In the end you have a wonderful overview of all the different fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes etc that you can enjoy this week. Go on and add a few sweets or chips or a take away night. It will hardly matter in the company of so much delicious healthy nourishment! No need for stress or guilt. The bigger picture of moderation and balance is right there on your family menu.

If you’d like to use the family menu printable that I use, you can download that here.

But if you’re more the traditional meal planning type, I’ve created a wee little template for you too. If that’s how you roll, go for gold! You can download it here.

However you choose to plan your meals, I hope you do it with joy.

Much love,

Katrine x