Quick and Easy Meal Planning Step by Step

Quick and easy meal planning… because you need to focus on helping your loved one battle cancer.

Update:  If you have no idea how to deal with all this cancer business, we can help you formulate a plan to tackle the immediate issues… finding the best care, talking with your insurance company, finding resources that will actually help, and dealing with the fear, anxiety and overwhelm of this whole situation.

We can’t control the cancer, but we CAN show you how to manage this crisis.   And it’s 100% Free.  

You can get the Cancer Combat Plan FREE here…

One of the things I greatly struggled with while I was helping my dad battle Small Cell Lung Cancer for almost two years was how to manage my life at the same time.

Cancer battles are extremely time consuming.  Cancer is like a revolving door of dr. appointments, scans, treatments, follow-ups and then when you throw in a few services like physical therapy, or visiting nurses you have pretty much a full-time job.

So, when you have a family to at home to juggle too, this can feel really intense. Life doesn’t stop when cancer descends on you.

Right from the beginning cancer monopolizes a ton of your time.     

One of the things I had to start working on almost immediately was how to get myself organized, so that I could make the battle my priority but manage my house and family at the same time.

Meal planning was a huge part of that. 

• I already knew what we were having for dinner.
• Everything we needed was in the house and ready to cook.
• I had a few simple meals that the kids or my husband could make, in case of an emergency or I wasn’t home.

This quick and easy meal planning system, changed everything!

 Quick and Easy Meal Planning, Step by Step

Step 1

Grab a pencil (you’ll want to erase!) and a sheet of paper. Or, you can use the meal planning sheet we made for you.

You can grab the free meal planning sheet here…

Step 2

Think about your schedule for the week ahead. Is there anything you know in advance?

• Late dr. appointments
• Kids’ basketball games
• Overnight(s) in the city where your loved one receives treatment.
• Mark any days that you know are going to be late or extremely hectic, so you can plan ahead.

(Note:  For me personally, I usually start with one plan.  But as things come up throughout the week I rearrange the same meals to different days (Ziti moves to Wednesday and Taco’s to Monday) .

 Step 3

Choose a main meal for dinner. Something quick and easy that you can have on the table in less than a half an hour. 15 minutes is best.  30 min is the absolute max.

• Try to stick with meals everyone likes. This way you don’t have to make changes or something additional because 2 kids won’t eat it, etc.
• Consider Crockpot or Instant Pot Meals for really late nights.

P.S. If you’re struggling for ideas for quick and easy dinners…  Pinterest is FULL of them.

Step 4

Fill in a side dish and a vegetable for each day.

Step 5

Identify 2 meals that you can have in the house and available for someone else to prepare, in case you get into a jam.

For example:  My husband can ROCK dinner with…

• Sloppy Joes
• of frozen hamburger meat
• 1 can of Manwich
• Hamburger buns

-or-

• Tuna Melt
• 3 cans of tuna fish
• Mayo
• American cheese
• 1 loaf of bread

Step 6

 Add in breakfast and lunch if this is something you usually plan for.

Step 7

Take inventory of what you already have.

Step 8

Make a shopping list, including all of the ingredients you need for each meal.

I know it’s tempting to try to plan ahead meals for a month.  But, trust me start with a week and move from there.

It’s hard to make a consistent plan every week and stick to it.

Quick and easy meal planning helps you get and stay ahead of the game!  This one little change made a HUGE impact on my time.

Instead of scrambling around at the last minute trying to throw dinner together.  I know exactly what we are having every night, I can change things around as I need to, and I have a backup plan if things go crazy.

Win/Win/Win.

P.S.  If you’re drowning in all this cancer business, and you have no idea where to start…  The Cancer Combat Plan is a step by step guide from someone who has struggled through this and found ways to manage the chaos, the stress and the overwhelm.   

Things feel better, and more in control when you have a plan.  So if you’re looking for action steps, resources, and strategies that will help you manage this crisis, we’ve got you covered. And it’s totally free… 

You can get the Cancer Combat Plan for free here…