In today’s post I have a free meal planning download and some tips that will hopefully inspire you with reasons meal planning can improve your life this fall!

What meals do you enjoy eating in the fall? I happen to LOVE soup. I could eat soup every day until spring, especially if there is a variety of ingredients involved (sometimes that means using leftovers or clearing out the pantry, and other times we have to plan ahead to have ingredients on hand).

Meal planning will benefit our schedule in every season

When our kids were young I found meal planning to be essential, not only for our hectic schedule but to save money, too! I feel like it makes so much sense to meal plan when kids are young and busy with school and sports start up again. Our kids are grown now and it’s just the two of us, but even so, now my husband does our meal planning (and cooking!).

Meal planning has been important to our budget and schedule in every season of life. I’m all for simplification in any way possible as it makes every day less hectic in numerous ways. No one likes to feel exhausted, disorganized or unprepared. Better planning for the dailies like meals helps us to feel more organized, which frees up more time in the schedule for the things we love to do.

Planning meals will help us feel better

Every season of life might be different in what you prepare, and how you handle shopping, cooking, etc but planning to eat healthy food is always important. What our family eats has evolved over time as well as we’ve learned more about health and what our bodies need in various seasons of life. We gradually but continually adapt our choices to prioritize what makes us feel our best.

We began watching ingredients even more intentionally when our son was very young and had strong reactions to certain foods. Change didn’t happen overnight, but it’s a priority to listen to what our bodies need and be wiling to adjust. For example, I began eating gluten free several years ago when I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, and we are also mostly dairy-free. And then one of our daughters is vegan, so we have incorporated more plant-based recipes as well.

In my book Dwelling, I shared some of my health journey and offered many tips and ideas for how we can better care for ourselves and our home, too. I know I feel better when I eat better! And we eat better when we plan ahead (it’s all too tempting to grab less-healthy options on the go or to eat out when you are not prepared with food at home).

Planning meals will help us prioritize our well-being at home

Food should fuel us with the nutrients we need for health, but planning ahead can also benefit our well-being in other ways. It’s an opportunity to get creative using seasonal ingredients and to find more enjoyment in the presentation. I shared a few simple ideas in my book A Lovely Life!

Even if we’re eating something with less nutritional value, like PIE :) (find our favorite gluten-free pie crust recipe here), planning ahead for it can still inspire us in beneficial ways. It can be therapeutic to simply slow down to savor the entire experience more, as well prioritizing the gathering of family together. Meal planning helps us to create a more meaningful moments around food in our home because we plan to slow down to savor them.

Prioritizing meal planning this fall will help you to be more intentional with your diet, food budget and nutrition as well as to be more organized and prepared every day. Planning means less stress, too!

Get started with our free meal planning download

If you would like to begin meal planning or just want to get more creative with your meals, we have a free download you will love today!

Print out this free meal planner then get out your cookbooks, browse Pinterest (I have a gluten-free dairy-free recipe board you can follow here!), you can also follow my daughter Kylee’s food Instagram here, Then gather your favorite recipes and start planning ahead for delicious fall meals!

If you’re looking for some new cookbooks, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite cookbooks here in our Amazon shop (we have several of these in our home!).

“A lifestyle of well-being becomes effective when we take care of ourselves on a continuous, not momentary basis” – from my book Dwelling