Meal Planning as a Work of Mercy

Opportunities for sanctification while serving our hungry and thirsty families

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

Giving food to the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty are perhaps the two works of mercy that are easiest to "spot" in motherhood. Whether it's breastfeeding, the eighteenth request for a snack between naptime and dinnertime, or that one "last" cup of water before bed, so much of what we do as mothers is provide food and drink for our families. So already, we can pat ourselves on the back for fulfilling these two requests of the Lord - although I'm sure we all know there's room for growth in the ways we go about it.

But if you are looking for a way to elevate, so to speak, or highlight, or emphasize these two works of mercy in your own motherhood - or if taking care of food and drink gives you a lot of anxiety and you'd like to grow in this area - meal planning might be for you. What I love about meal planning (when I'm consistent and faithful to it) is the way it simplifies my week, reduces my stress about food (and rising food costs), and allows me to integrate natural and liturgical seasons into our family life. So let's dive right in!

The idea behind meal planning is simple, and we’ve all heard it before: rather than grocery shopping while you're hungry and buying whatever looks good, along with a few staples (guilty as charged), the person in the home responsible for shopping sits down once a week or once a month to plan out what meals will be made each day, when leftovers will be served, when eating out might be an expectation, and the like. From there, inventory is taken of items already in the house, a grocery list is drawn up, and the shopping is done.

Even in this most basic form, meal planning brings with it a whole host of benefits, specifically in the realm of increased intentionality. Thinking through a week (or a month) of food at a time allows families an opportunity to consider more deeply whether their overall diet is well-rounded and healthy, whether they are likely to stay within their food budget (the advent of grocery-shopping apps has aided in this in a totally new way!), and whether the portions they are preparing are meeting the needs of their family. There are so, so many recipes and food blogs on the internet, so whether you choose to start with a recipe and build from there, or start with an ingredient and find a recipe that fits your family's taste and budget, the possibilities are literally endless.

But beyond just these benefits, meal planning opens up a twofold world of seasonal eating and drinking - the times of year when certain produce items are "in season" and the seasons of the liturgical calendar that can be celebrated or highlighted through meal choices. Personally, I love searching for in-season produce (because it's most delicious and usually most affordable in-season) and building recipes from there. Let me tell you what, friends, stuffed acorn squash is something I never would have tried without a recipe recommendation from a neighbor, but now that I've tried it, I'll never go through another fall without making it. Purchasing in-season produce can become a fun avenue for exploring new foods or using familiar foods in a new way! In terms of the liturgical calendar, I'm seeing more and more resources, both online and in print, that share traditional recipes for particular fast and feast days, food customs for liturgical seasons, and even alcoholic drinks associated with various saints (iykyk). Food is such a rich part of our identity as humans, and as Catholics, so feasting (or fasting!) with the heart of the Church can be a beautiful and tangible way for our families to experience and enrich our faith.

So we've talked about the theory, but what about the practical reality of meal planning? Honestly, like many things, it's going to vary from family to family based on the routines and structures you already have in place. But as a starting point, I recommend carving out 30-40 minutes per week, one or two days before you usually go grocery shopping. (If you don't have a regular grocery shopping day - like me - it will probably be helpful to choose one.) From there, create a list or a chart or an Excel spreadsheet (you can have mine if you click here) where you can jot down notes about what you'd like to serve and when, as well as recipe links if you're creating a digital plan. If you tend to stockpile pantry basics, start by taking inventory of what you already have - are there recipes that likely call for any of these ingredients? If so, go ahead and build those into your meal plan. If you have anyone in your home who likes having the same thing for breakfast or lunch everyday, don't mess with a good thing unless you really need or want to - just add those notes to your plan. Check Google to see what produce is in season, and a liturgical calendar to see if any feast or fast days are coming up soon, then look for recipes that incorporate what you find. If there are any gaps in your meal plan at this point, you can gauge things like how much time you'll have each day, whether you'll need or want to use a crockpot or Instant Pot or whatever the newest gadget is these days, or if you'd like to find a new recipe or use a family favorite. Once your meal plan is completely filled out, you can create a shopping list or grocery order and head to the store (or ask the store to head to you).

Moving beyond both the theory and the practical aspects, I want to reflect for a moment on how this process - which can be a staple routine in both Catholic and non-Catholic households - can be lived out specifically as a corporal work of mercy. How can we prayerfully enter into the process of planning (and, later, preparing) meals for our families? Perhaps we can reflect on the ways our children (and our spouses, and we ourselves) take for granted the availability of healthy meals and thank God for His providential care for us in other areas where we take His gifts for granted. Or we could select an intention to pray for as we prepare and bless each meal for that week. Even the act of sitting down and meal planning, which may require sacrifice to accomplish (we all know how these things go), can become a moment to offer an aspirational prayer to Jesus or to sit with Mary as the model for our own motherhood. And then, of course, detachment. Detachment from our plans when something is out of stock at the store, or when a recipe doesn't work out, or when leftovers aren't put back in the fridge. Detachment from our children's insistence that, no, I won't eat this, I want mac and cheese or another avocado or yogurt bites. Offering up that change of plans, that perceived rejection, or that moment of overwhelm - standing at the foot of the Cross with Christ, and joining our small offerings to His definitive self-gift. And with the time, mental energy, or anxiety we save by planning ahead in this area, can we cultivate a new virtuous habit or prayer routine for ourselves, our marriage, or our family as a whole? If it is in and through our ordinary lives and our daily work as mothers that we will be sanctified, then it is into that daily work that we are called to seek the Lord and find Him.

We can also invite our children to participate in these works of mercy by including them in the various stages of meal prepping, cooking, and serving as their age and interest level allow. While very young children may not be prepared to absorb a detailed explanation of the process or the purpose, they can definitely suggest meals to include on the family’s list; complete simple cooking tasks, such as cracking eggs or mixing a salad; and assist with setting the table or washing dishes after a meal. It may add time or mess to the process - children are rarely as quick or precise or tidy as we desire, and I know that my tolerance for this “help” can vary greatly from day to day - but when it is feasible to invite our children to contribute to our household needs and culture in this way, we lay an important foundation that will be built upon, both in their faith and their interests, over the years to come.

As a closing thought, I have been dreaming for years of a year-round, one-stop-shop meal plan that I can cycle through every year with notes about seasonal produce, liturgical seasons, fast and feast days of special importance to our family, etc. It's in the works but a long way from usable. But when I finally sat down and started working, I put together a list of my priorities, which I want to share with you today:

• High protein options, especially during pregnancy

• Well-rounded and colorful

• Generally baby-led weaning friendly options at each meal

• Try to keep Sundays low-work

• At least 1 freezer or crock pot meal per week

• At least 1 one-pot or 30-minute meal per week

• Meat-free Fridays

• Prioritize homemade over pre-packaged where reasonable, but embrace pre-packaged when the freed-up time allows for a greater good

• Prioritize flexibility and awareness of family life

• Prioritize seasonal produce for at least 2-3 recipes per week.

• Ideally, no more than 3 lunch/dinner recipes per week, batch/bulk made

• Prioritize easy/quick breakfasts

• Feast Days & Sundays get special meals (or at least, special notes)

If you haven't considered what things are important to you in your family's food culture, I would encourage you to do so. Making this list really forced us to ask ourselves what was important to our family beyond our desire to maintain family dinner around the kitchen table as a priority. Especially since my husband and I come from very different families of origin when it comes to food, creating a unified front and ensuring we're on the same page - at least in theory, although not always in practice - was important for us, and I'm excited to see where these ideas take us as our family continues to grow, both in age and (God-willing) in number.

I would love to hear if you have any additional thoughts or suggestions on meal planning, sanctification through food preparation, or any recipes you just can't get enough of these days!