In part one of this two-part series, we talked about why ADHD families need a weekly meal plan. Now let’s take a step-by-step look at how I make it work for my family. We don’t eat anything fancy, and I don’t spend hours in the kitchen — especially now that summer vacation is upon us. Eating meals cooked from scratch isn’t difficult. It just requires planning, which doesn’t come naturally to most people with ADHD.
This is the meal planning process I repeat each week:
Step One: Plan Your Menu
This takes more than writing down seven nights of meals you want to eat. You need to take your life into account, or you won’t stick to the plan. Here’s how I plan a menu I’ll actually follow:
- Look at the calendar
Start your menu on a day of the week that works for you — i.e. a day you can and will go to the grocery store. Then look at your schedule. Plan labor-intensive meals for slow days. Go for lazy solutions on days you know you’ll walk in the door exhausted. I love the slow cooker for busy afternoons. If I take my kid to an afternoon birthday party, I plan a leftover night because he’ll be full of cake and not interested in eating anyway. - Look at the weather forecast
My husband won’t eat hot foods on a hot day. We eat a lot of Thai peanut noodles and build-your-own burrito bowls in the summer. I love a big pot of spicy chili on a cold, wet February day. Weather-dependent appetites aside, consider your own comfort. Minimize your time using the stove or oven on the hottest summer days. - Browse your favorite cookbooks, Pinterest boards, and past successes
Despite my constant racing thoughts, asking my brain something like, “Hey, what dinners have we enjoyed recently?” produces nothing but a troubling silence. Even though I create a menu every week, I need to page through a collection of recipes for inspiration. My husband, our family’s pickiest eater, made a list in Google Keep of dinners he loves. However you stash your ideas, make them easy to flip through as you make your menu. - Plan leftover nights
Some of your meals will produce leftovers. Unless you have a house full of leftovers-for-lunch enthusiasts, you should slip the occasional leftover night into your meal plan. It’ll give you a night off and prevent leftovers from going to waste. - If you can’t stand having everything planned out…
Decide how many easy meals you need, how many leftover nights, how many more labor-intensive meals, etc. Then make a list. On an easy meal night, you can choose from the list of easy meals instead of following a calendar.
Step Two: Make Your Grocery List
Once you know which meals you want to prepare, it’s time to make your grocery list. Here’s how to write a list that’ll give you supplies for the whole week:
- Write your grocery list in order of where items appear in the store.
If you don’t know, guess. You’ll learn over time as you get used to your store. An organized list saves your brain from having to sort through crossed-off vs. not-crossed-off items in the list. - Go through your recipes one at a time and read each ingredient list.
Sometimes I need to run my finger down the list to make sure I’m not skipping over anything. - Check the public grocery list for items other people in your household have requested.
- Check supply levels of any staples.
For us that means milk, eggs, butter, and flour. - Think through your breakfast, lunch, and snack routines.
Is there anything missing? - Try to avoid going to more than one store.
If you do need to shop at multiple stores (e.g. a specialty ethnic grocery and a standard supermarket), write a separate list for each store.
Step Three: Go to the Store
This is obvious, right? But you actually have to make time to go to the store before you run out of food and cave to the takeout habit. And remember:
- Don’t go to the store hungry, exhausted, or otherwise compromised.
You’ll end up with a cart full of stuff that’s not on your list. If you need to, grab a latte at the beginning of your trip. - Take your list with you, and only buy items that are on it.
If you forget your list, go home and get it (or have someone text you a picture of it). - Write any pertinent reminders on the list itself.
For example, a stop at the wine store or a return you need to make at the customer service desk.
Step Four: Prep and Cook
Sometimes the hardest part of meal planning is sticking to the plan. If you consistently fail to make the meals you’ve planned, change your approach. Simplify your meals, enlist help, or prep ahead on the weekends to take the pressure off on work nights.
Also, don’t be afraid to shift your schedule mid-week. There’s a reason our menu is dry erase. Sometimes I’ll notice fresh ingredients starting to wilt and I’ll make that meal sooner. Other times we’ll make last-minute plans and need to adjust.
Step Five: Save it for Later
If you make big batches, package the leftovers into labeled containers and put them in the freezer. I rely on big batches to fill in days when I don’t want to cook. A container of homemade pasta sauce or beef stew from the freezer will give you a from-scratch dinner as easy as takeout.
Step Six: Track Your Results
Write down meals your family loves, or meals you find particularly easy or enjoyable to cook. Make notes on meals that go differently than you’d hoped, including any modifications you made to the recipe. Don’t assume you’ll remember anything, including what you ate yesterday. Always take notes.
Step Seven: Use Helpful Services
Unless you’re an experienced cook, you’ll probably find some level of help…helpful. Of course, you’ll want a few standby cookbooks, a Pinterest board, and maybe even a collection of family recipes. Consider these options as well:
- Meal delivery services like HelloFresh, SunBasket, Blue Apron, etc. cut down on grocery shopping and remove the burden of decision-making.
- CookSmarts is a meal planning service that, unlike the options mentioned above, lets you shop for your own stuff using an auto-generated grocery list. This is great if you like to select your own produce, buy ethically raised meat, reduce packaging waste, or buy special allergen-free ingredients. CookSmarts also lets you choose between a number of different recipes if you don’t like what’s on the menu, and it includes checkboxes to modify recipes for common dietary restrictions (gluten free, vegetarian, paleo).
- If you’re a rebel wishing you could free yourself from recipes entirely, check out Samin Nosrat’s delightful book Salt Fat Acid Heat. She provides a lovely overview of the art and science of good cooking and will help you lay the foundation for confidence in the kitchen.
Let’s talk about food!
I love talking about food. If you’d like to be friends on Pinterest, check out my recipe board. Or just leave me a note in the comments. What does your family like to eat? What are your secrets to low-stress meal planning and prep?
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