Clarify Your Meal Planning Goals
Before we jump into the Simplified Meal Matrix, let’s clarify what you’re trying to achieve with meal planning. If you’ve struggled with cooking or sticking to a plan in the past, it might be because your goals weren’t clear or realistic.
Here’s How to Clarify Your Meal Planning Goals:
- What does successful meal planning look like to you? Is it having healthy meals ready, cutting food waste, or spending less time cooking?
- Why is this important to you? Do you want more time with your family, less stress, or a healthier lifestyle?
- Is your goal realistic? Can you aim for a few planned meals each week instead of trying to cook every night?
Once you’ve clarified your goals, you’ll have a clearer direction as you build your meal planning strategy.
What Is the Simplified Meal Matrix?
If you’ve heard of the Simplified Meal Matrix before, you might think it’s just about eating the same meals every week. But that’s not the case.
Instead, it’s a flexible framework designed to make meal planning ADHD-friendly. By assigning meal categories to each day of the week, you’ll reduce decision fatigue and streamline grocery shopping while still keeping variety on the menu.
The Only Strategy You Need: The Simplified Meal Matrix
Part #1: Assign Themes to Each Day
The key to the Simplified Meal Matrix is assigning a theme to each day of the week. This gives you a starting point for meal ideas without locking you into a rigid menu.
Examples of Daily Themes:
- Monday: Meatless Monday (vegetarian meals)
- Tuesday: Taco Tuesday (Mexican-inspired dishes)
- Wednesday: Leftover Remix (transform last night’s dinner)
- Thursday: Sheet Pan Dinner (easy one-pan meals)
- Friday: Family Favorites (everyone’s top pick)
By sticking to these themes, you’ll simplify decision-making and reduce the overwhelm of “What’s for dinner?”
Part #2: Build a Recipe Bank
ADHD moms thrive on having options without needing to reinvent the wheel. A recipe bank is your go-to list of meals that align with your daily themes.
Here’s How to Build Your Recipe Bank:
- Start with 3-5 recipes for each theme.
- Save them in a digital folder or write them on index cards.
- Rotate recipes weekly to keep things fresh.
For example, under Taco Tuesday, your recipe bank might include:
- Beef tacos
- Black bean and sweet potato tacos
- Chicken fajitas
Part #3: Automate Grocery Shopping
Grocery shopping is often where ADHD brains get stuck. Automating this step can save you time and reduce stress.
Here’s How to Simplify Grocery Shopping:
- Use a grocery delivery or pickup service.
- Create a master shopping list based on your recipe bank.
- Keep a running list of staples to reorder each week.
Pro Tip: Apps like Instacart or Amazon Fresh can save your past orders, making it even easier to restock your kitchen essentials.
Key Takeaways
Let’s wrap this up, shall we? The key takeaways from this post are:
- Clarify your meal planning goals to stay focused and motivated.
- Use the Simplified Meal Matrix to assign daily themes and reduce decision fatigue.
- Build a recipe bank to streamline meal prep and keep things interesting.
- Automate grocery shopping to save time and energy.
At Distracted Diva, I make it my mission to help ADHD moms create routines that work for their unique brains.
