Dinner arrives every day
One of the tiring things about feeding ourselves and other people is the repetition. You can cook a wonderful dinner tonight and, inconveniently, everyone will need to eat again tomorrow.
The aim of simple meal planning is not culinary perfection. It is reducing the daily question of what to make when everyone is already hungry.
Start with a short list of reliable meals
Write down ten meals your household genuinely eats. Not aspirational recipes: ordinary dinners you can make without too much thought. Pasta, tacos, stir-fry, roast chicken, soup, eggs on toast or whatever works in your home.
Keeping this list in your phone or on the fridge means you do not have to reinvent dinner every week.
Use themes if they help
A loose pattern can reduce decisions: pasta night, something from the freezer, easy Friday dinner, leftovers, barbecue or slow cooker night. Themes provide direction without locking you into a specific recipe.
You can also plan only a few dinners at a time, rather than trying to map out every meal for the week.
Plan for low-energy days
Keep one or two emergency meals available. Frozen portions, pantry staples, a supermarket roast chicken or a deliberately easy meal can prevent a difficult day becoming harder.
Convenience is not failure. Sometimes feeding everyone with the least possible effort is exactly the right plan.
