Meal Planning through Thanksgiving

It’s Thanksgiving week!! For those of us who love to cook and entertain, it’s like our Super Bowl! And at the same time – for those of us who like to operate with a meal plan, it can feel like we’re drowning without our structure and routine!

Meal planning through the Thanksgiving holiday can certainly feel like the wheels have fallen off! Between travel, all that cooking for the big day, and then the mountains of leftovers, it’s easy to feel like you’re out of control of your dinnertime – but fear not! Here are a few tips to help get you (and me!) through this week!

1. Plan to not have a plan. That’s a thing, right?? Ha! If you plan to not have a plan, does that count as not planning [insert mind blown emoji]?!? But seriously though, if you are hosting or traveling, this is a week that you may just need to wing it. Be prepared with some easy backup meal ingredients on hand (breakfast for dinner, tacos, pizza, etc.), and then just go with the flow. Exerting extra energy on all the outside the routine stuff will make you more tired than you expect. Account for that fact that “I don’t feel like it” may be what’s for dinner a night (or two!).
2. Don’t try to do too much! For any meal other than Thanksgiving, that is! This is not the week to channel your inner Julia Child for Tuesday night’s dinner – just don’t! Save all that cooking genius for the big meal, and make the other stuff no-brainers!
3. Remember the leftovers! Don’t forget that you’ll likely be covered with leftovers from your Thanksgiving meal into the weekend! If you get tired of the same things, think of ways to get creative with what you have left – turkey soup and turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce are great options!
4. This is a great week to eat out! In your ‘planning to not have a plan’ plan, going out to eat a bit more than normal can be nice! Have a restaurant you’ve been meaning to try? Yay – try it! Traveling? Then you have no choice! Ha!
5. You’re not “off the wagon“! A holiday week with little to no plan, or not sticking to the plan you made, is not falling off the wagon! Wing it for the week and then next week, get your meal planning game back on!
6. Give yourself grace! Above all else this week, give yourself a break! Let’s spend this week loving on our family and friends – and especially, loving on ourselves!! Take a deep breath, go with the flow, and enjoy this wonderful time of the year!