Hi! I am not new to meal planning in general but it has been taking a backseat since having a toddler and a busy full time working job. Meal planning takes the guesswork out of dinner, reducing decision fatigue — that mental exhaustion from answering “What’s for dinner?” every. single. night. With a plan, you can easily build balanced meals that include a variety of colorful produce (yes, even the weird vegetables we forget about), sneaky legumes (hi black eyed peas in the back of my pantry, we see you!), and a reliable dose of protein to keep everyone fueled. It’s a great way to make sure you’re not stuck in a dal chawal week after week. Plus, with everything mapped out, you’re more likely to skip ordering in and eat nutritiously without the stress. Well, that is the hope atleast.

For context, we are a family of three – two adults and a 2.7 year old. My child goes to full time daycare so she has her lunches there. Her meal for breakfasts are very simple – mostly PB toast, oats/weetbix, dosai/idli or banana smoothies. Her dinner is a mix of what we eat and some kind of rice. She doesn’t get dairy at daycare so we try and incorporate that in her meals at home. Like all toddlers, she will eat what she feels like and if all else fails, we just do comfort meals that we know she likes aka curd rice or toast.

To view this meal plan as a PDF – click Week of 14th July Meal Plan