Master Food Allergy Meal Planning: The Ultimate Guide
*Updated July, 2023
Discover how food allergy menu planning will make your life easier and less stressful, and the best tips for starting.
NOTE: In this post, food allergy menu planning is considered the same as food allergy meal planning.
If you’re a food allergy mama, you’re likely cooking non-stop for your family. It’s hard to take breaks from cooking because food allergy safety is the biggest priority. This means that it’s easy to get burnt out and feel hopeless when it comes to making even one more meal.
I hope the tips in this blog post help you to feel inspired and excited to cook again.
So if you’re ready to make a positive change that will add variety to your meals and give you more time to do the things you love, then keep reading.
To start, I want you to ask yourself some key yes or no questions:
Do you feel like you want more meal variety or like you make the same 5 things all the time?
Do you feel overwhelmed or burdened with feeding your food allergy family safe and healthy meals (if this is you, it’s ok!)?
Do you wish that everyone in your family could eat and love one family meal (instead of 2 or even 3 different meals for different people)?
Do you wish you had more time in your day and more time AWAY from the kitchen?
Do you wish finding and prepping allergy-safe food was easier?
Do you feel worried about trying new foods with your food allergy little?
If you answered NO to all of these, then you can stop right here.
You don’t need to start food allergy menu planning because you’re doing awesome, mama!
Keep it up.
You may want to head over to one of my other blogs about food allergy travel, school with food allergies, or social situations because you’re definitely doing amazing with food allergy menu planning.
If, however, you answered YES to one or more questions, it doesn’t mean that you’re a failure or that you’re not doing things right!!
It just means you need to keep reading.
Did you know that food allergy menu planning can help you with meal variety, saving time and food allergy worries?
Here’s how:
Meal planning will save you time (if you do it right).
For example, if you just jot down what you want to make on a scrap of paper and then quickly lose that scrap, you’ve lost all your work. All that time and effort you took to create the plan is GONE.
Instead, if you use a proper menu planning template, you can reuse it whenever you want and now you’re saving your time instead of wasting it!
I have a template that is specifically created for food allergy menu planning the right way in the 90-Minute Variety Booster.
2. Meal planning gives you more variety.
There are so many great ways to create variety with menu planning, and one way is to plan seasonally. That way the product will always be fresh and you’ll only be using recipes that fit each season so you don’t get sick of the same ones.
If you’re looking for food variety, there’s a month of new allergy-friendly recipes, and also quick lessons showing you how to easily add variety to your menu, even with limited ingredients. I spill these secrets and so many more inside the 90-Minute Variety Booster.
3. Meal planning allows you to cook ONE meal that everyone can enjoy instead of several meals.
The cool thing about food allergy menu planning is that you have the POWER to choose what you make. So if your family only feels safe eating 5 meals, you can plan those 5 meals.
It’s ok to plan for where you’re at right now.
Then, you can slowly start introducing one new food or meal every week or two, and you’ll slowly get more and more safe options for your family. YOU ARE NEVER forced to plan things you don’t think your family will eat, or that you don’t feel are food allergy safe. Which makes menu planning perfect for allergies and picky eaters.
If you have really picky eaters, you can upgrade The 90-Minute Variety Booster to include the Picky Eating Lifeline for only $15 where you’ll get tips from a Registered Dietician and Picky Eating Specialist to dramatically increase the chances your child will try & enjoy allergy-friendly veggies.
4. Meal planning allows you to be flexible (Yes, I said flexible).
Some people create a plan and then might not want to make or eat what they planned for that night. It happens and that’s OK! With menu planning, you have the flexibility to change WHAT you cook within that weekly meal plan. So if you choose to make something that you originally scheduled for later that week, that’s fine. I actually do this all the time. The beauty is that you’ll have all those ingredients ready to go, no matter when you make that meal.
The benefit of menu planning instead of just picking something on the day you make it is that you:
you don’t have to constantly think about WHAT’s For dinner every night.
you always have an easy shopping list so you don’t forget to buy any ingredients and you’ll always have everything you need to make your meals.
you don’t have to go back to the grocery store several times a week. This saves time and effort, but also who wants to be at the grocery store that often anyway?
5. Meal planning decreases your food allergy worries.
I know many moms feel nervous about giving their food-allergy kids new foods and brands. I know they feel terrified that there might be another allergy or unknown cross-contact. If this is you, you’re not alone!
By creating a menu plan you’ll list out the meals that are safe for your family. Then as you gain confidence, you can try one new food or meal a week and add it to the menu plan. You’ll slowly build up your list of safe meals.
The safe meals will always be easy to find and reuse so you can go at your own pace with trying new foods. Organizing your safe meals into one-week dinner meal plans keeps you confident with what you’re feeding your family every night and stops the worry.
Ok, this all sounds great, right? If so, this podcast episode of Food Allergy Made Easy explains my exact method for meal planning with food allergies. Listen to save hours and hours of time, and effort!
What’s the easiest way to start menu planning with food allergies?
Keep reading for quick and easy tips!There are many great reasons to start food allergy menu planning, but that doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone.
What did you decide about menu planning, is it right for you? Let me know in the comments!
How to start menu planning week after week when your family has food allergies.
Now maybe you get that food allergy menu planning can help you save time and effort, but menu planning week by week does take some commitment on your part. Here are some tips to make menu planning an easy transition.
Essential Tips To Get Started With Menu Planning:
Plan 1-2 hours PER MONTH.
Yes, I said 1-2 hours PER MONTH. Many people feel like menu planning is hard and takes tons of time, but with the right method, you can get it done in as little as 15 minutes per week. Once you do it ONCE, you can then reuse that SAME plan strategically so you spend less time NEXT month.
The key to menu planning is to intentionally do it. That means that you’re not just jotting your meals down on a scrap of paper and then losing that paper. Instead, you’re using a proper menu planning template that allows you to reuse your work.
2. Figure out WHY you want to plan dinners for your family.
Yes, all the reasons I mention in the first questions above are reasons alone to start food allergy menu planning. But, I want you to dig a little deeper.
First of all, when you start to menu plan, there’s a bit of work involved, I know I said it’s only 15-30 minutes per week, but that is still WORK. So I know that even though it may not take as long as you think it would, you’ll still have to muster your energy to DO THE WORK.
So here’s HOW.
I want you to dig deep to figure out WHY you want to do this. What would having dinners planned do for you? How would it make you feel? Would you be able to focus on being with your kids and being a better mama, instead of stressing about food all the time? OR would you feel freedom from always stressing about what to make? Would it give you more time for self-care so you don’t feel so harried and stressed all the time?
Now that you know what it would mean to YOU to have the freedom that menu planning provides, I want you to think about what it would mean to your FAMILY. How would having a less stressed mama help your kids? Would your relationship be better? Would you be more fun to be around? Would your hubby feel less stressed around you?
If you can dig deep and answer these questions about WHY food allergy menu planning is important to you, and how it’s actually affecting your family then you’ll have something you can look at to help you when you don’t feel like doing the work. The answers to those questions are your MOTIVATORS to get the work done.
3. Create a food allergy menu planning routine.
It’s well-known that creating good habits or routines makes people more successful.
So if we create POSITIVE routines that work for us, our quality of life will improve. That means that creating positive routines that surround menu planning, it will not only help you plan meals more consistently but also improve your quality of life.
Here’s how to create a menu planning routine that works: consider where you’ll do it (a quiet place without interruption where you’ll have access to recipes and the internet is perfect) and when you’ll do it (make sure to SCHEDULE it so it takes priority), AND how you’ll organize your plans (will you keep them in a binder or on your phone?).
4. Try a done-for-you and proven food allergy menu plan to get your feet wet.
If you want to give menu planning a try but want to ease into it, grab the 90-Minute Variety Booster recipe ebook and training bundle.
It has a month of recipes, menu and meal prep tips, easy shopping lists, and even a week of cook-once, eat-twice meals so you can stock your freezer and take a break from cooking!
And guess what? When you buy directly from this blog post, you’ll get the best price available.
This means that instead of $34,
it’s ONLY $19!
Go here to learn more about the 90-Minute Variety Booster.
Don’t miss out on this low price!
Here are a couple of FAQ’s I usually get about food allergy menu planning:
Is there an app for meal planning with allergies?
Many of the apps I see are not specific to food allergies so you still have to wade through many recipes that won’t work for your allergies. Even so, once you create your own food allergy menu planning system, you WON’T need an app. Things will become quick and easy without relying on an app or paying monthly fees.
How do you meal prep for food allergies?
Meal prepping and menu planning go hand-in-hand and can be used together. That said, the BIGGEST improvement I’ve found as a food allergy mama is by using menu planning. Start on this FIRST, because you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck, then work on ways to become more efficient with meal prep.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE THESE POSTS:
The Importance of a School Allergy Plan
Spark Food Allergy Awareness in Extended Family and friends
The BEST Food Allergy Mom Blogs of the Year.
