Meals for the Week: Asking for Help with Meal Preparation

I’m so excited to post another week of meal ideas. This week for the meals of the week I’m adding more tips: asking for help with meal preparation. This couldn’t come at a better time because it’s Mother’s Day weekend and I don’t know one mom who couldn’t use the help when it comes to preparing meals for the family.

I began thinking of how it’s never been easy for me to ask for help with certain things around the house for a variety of reasons. When I finally figured out that it was much easier to simply ask rather than be filled with annoyance and resentment it led to a much more positive experience with meal preparation for the week. So if you are a new mom struggling to figure this all out or you’ve been a mom forever and realized it’s time to ask for help – I’m here to encourage you that you can!

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Meal Preparation Breakdown

When I think of meal preparation I think of the entire process. It involves planning the meals, getting the food, cooking the food, serving the food, washing the dishes and cleaning up afterwards. This is why the process of meal preparation can be so daunting and it’s much easier to take the faster route of having someone else do all the work – aka restaurants and take-out. If you break down the meal preparation process and make a list of the things you can delegate it can make the process much more manageable.

Here’s an example:

• Work together with your family and brainstorm meals for the week & make a list (you can find my meal ideas here & here and below in this post)
• Grocery shopping (to buy the food for the week)
• Cooking the food each night of the week
• Setting the table & serving dinner
• Clean-up after dinner

Help with Meal Preparation

It can be challenging and tiring when you work all day and then have to take on this process without help. Everyone’s life circumstances are different – whether you are a single parent, have a partner or spouse or kids there is a way to ask for help along the way. So often we find that we don’t want to burden someone else. Sometimes it’s that we are afraid to ask or worried what others will think of us if we can’t do it all. I encourage you to let go of those feelings. You are not less of a mother or person if you ask for help!

Think more about what you can do to help yourself. It’s all in your delivery – ask with genuine kindness and remove the pressures of meal preparation. When someone helps you it’s easy to get frustrated because it might not be the way you would do it but does that matter? If you get the help and it gets done and you have less resentment and ultimately you will feel better! It takes practice but the more you get used to it the more you will get the hang of asking for help.

For example, who can you send to do the grocery shopping or can you have your groceries delivered? Have the kiddos set the table and help with clean up (of course if they are old enough and it’s appropriate for their age and development). Make meal preparation a “team sport”. When meal preps are done together as a family from start to finish it will make it easier for everyone.

Here’s an example of how to delegate and what our family does:

• Brainstorm meals for the week & make a list (Beth)
• Grocery Shopping (to buy the food for the week) Beth & Dion
• Cooking the food each night of the week Beth & Dion
• Setting the Table & serving dinner (Girls Responsibility)
• Serving the Food (Beth & Dion)
• Clean-up after dinner (Dion does dishes & stove + cooktop clean-up)

Other things you can ask for help with:

• What food needs to be cleaned and chopped?
• Add dinner dates with girlfriends to the family calendar so spouses can cover meal preparation for those nights.
• Use the Crockpot – saves time and is efficient!
• Add setting the table and cleaning up after dinner to your children’s list of family responsibilities.
• Grocery delivery.

Meal for the Week

Sources

I hope the meals for the week are helpful and I’ve encouraged you to ask for help with meal preparation! Would love to know how you handle meal preparation – leave a comment below 🙂