“If you’re struggling with meal planning make 

a master list … if you're struggling with

starting a business think what

the barrier to entry is to

make the barrier a little more attainable.” 

–Melissa Griffiths

Don’t like planning because you want to go with your intuitive or creative flow? I get that, but having a plan actually gives you more freedom. We talk about meal planning, content planning, and getting it all done with Melissa Griffiths, a food blogger and photographer and mom to five kids.

Whether you need a meal plan or a business plan, we’ve got something for you in this episode. Melissa loves helping families reclaim dinner time, and we talk about her content planning, her ideas about meal planning, and how to get things done in any season (spoiler alert, you don’t do it all yourself).

We dig into her process for meal planning, which has a lot of similarities to mine! There’s a rhythm and structure to it that makes it easy. And there’s plenty of flexibility to keep things fresh and satisfy everyone at your table.

We talk about: 

• Asking for help in business and our home life
• Content planning and block scheduling
• Leaning into the season and shifting how we work to reflect that
• How to plan and go with your intuitive, creative flow
• Meal planning by category (like soups, taco night, breakfast for dinner) and with the rhythm of your week in mind
• Meals that let everyone eat what they want … without cooking a million separate meals

BIO

Melissa Griffiths, is a food blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer who loves helping busy families reclaim dinnertime and enjoy their time together. She also specializes in sourdough baking, quick and easy dinners, and back to basics recipes.

She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Recreational Management and Youth Leadership and is a member of the Bread Baker’s Guild of America and the American Society of Baking. She's been blogging since 2009 and professionally since 2012 and her blog, Bless this Mess, reaches over 1,000,000 people monthly.

Melissa and her husband live on a 12-acre farm in Southern Utah with their 5 incredible children, chickens, rabbits, turkeys, honey bees, and a million night stars that only country life can show you. She loves to cook for friends and family, grow flowers and vegetables in her massive garden, read all the self-help books, and hike all over Utah.

LINKS

• Blog (Bless this Mess)
• Dessert Blog (Barbara Bakes)
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Youtube
• Free recipes in email, free meal planning printables, and more

MENTIONED LINK

• Mia’s book Plan Simple Meals

Doable Changes from this episode:

• ASK FOR HELP. We tend to try to do it all alone, but that doesn’t work. If asking for help is hard for you, start with a small ask. It could be a few hours of babysitting, delegating a household task you hate, or hiring a VA for a small project.
• BATCH WORK. Whether it’s making a big batch of meals, prepping vegetables you’ll use throughout the week, or writing all your content in a block of time, batching work saves time. Instead of switching from task to task, you stick with one thing and jam out a bunch of stuff.
• MAKE A MEAL PLAN. There are two steps you can take in this one change. Make a master list of meals you can make (these should be things that you already know you like and how to make). Then set up a weekly rhythm—Monday soup night, Tuesday Tacos, etc. Fit foods from your master list into your rhythm.