I get so tired of coming up with meal ideas! 

What should I do?

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This question comes directly from me!  Sometimes I just cannot come up with another meal idea.  I’ve tried having the same meals on repeat (tacos on Tuesday, salmon on Thursday, etc.), but I also want to mix it up a bit. 

That’s when I came up with a few fun ideas to make meal planning more fun.

Gamifying Meal Planning

Make a list of all of the meals you like to make and then number them from 1 to n (where n is the number of meals that you are willing to regularly make).  When I did this, my list ended up with more than 75 meals (which surprised me!). 

Now you have a choice: 

• Either grab a die (but you will need a very-many-sided die – I use a 100-sided die) and roll the die to pick your meals for the week. 
• Another option (and an idea for you if you don’t have a many-sided die like this) is that you can print out your meals, and cut them into strips so that each meal is on its own slip of paper.  Then put these in a fun glass vase or bowl or whatever you happen to have, mix them up and then draw one out for each meal you need to plan.

[Note: You should probably get a many-sided die – they are super fun and can be found even on Amazon!]

Roll-a-Meal

If there is a meal that you make often, but the base, the meat, the veggies, the sauce, the cheese, etc. can change (think stir fries and casseroles, etc.), consider making yourself a roll-a-meal kit. 

For example, every Sunday morning we used to make a brunch, which consisted of either a quiche or a casserole or a sandwich or just a regular breakfast-type meal.  Not only did we get tired of coming up with what to make for the week, but we also got stuck in a rut many times, so I created a kit that consisted of several dice and an index that described what each die and its corresponding numbers would represent.

Die 1 (Pink Die): Meal type

                1 – Casserole

                2 – Quiche

                3 – Sandwich

                4 – Regular meal

                5/6 – Roll again

Die 2 (Green Die): Meat

                1 – Ham

                2 – Bacon

                3 – Sausage, Pork

                4 – Sausage, Chicken

                5/6 – Roll again

Die 3 (Yellow Die): Cheese

                1 – Cheddar

                2 – Feta

                3 – Parmesan

                4 – Gouda

                5/6 – Roll again

Die 4 (Orange Die) x 2: Veggies

                1 – Peppers

                2 – Onions

                3 – Broccoli

                4 – Spinach

                5 – Tomatoes

                6 – Jalapenos

(We would roll two of the veggie dice, because we wanted two veggies!)

You roll the dice, and voila!  There’s your meal!  It’s super fun and can be customized for whatever it is that you want to use it for. 

Themed Meal Weeks

Another way to have fun with meals is to come up with a theme for the week and then have fun coming up with creative takes on the theme.  Some ideas are:

1. Bowl week (each day have a different meal in a bowl) – pro tip: you could even use the roll-a-meal idea to come up with these.

2. Italian dish week

3. Vegetarian meal week

4. Soup week

5. Taco week

6. Modern Market meal week

7. Noodles & Company meal week

You get the idea – get creative! 

I hope these ideas get you started down the path of having more fun planning your meals!  Also, if you have your own fun ideas, feel free to send them my way!