How To Make Real Food Work On Busy Days

There’s been a lot of conversation lately about the new food guidelines.

More whole foods.
Less ultra-processed food.
More intention around what we’re feeding our kids.

For many parents, this didn’t feel surprising — it felt like confirmation.

But after all the talk, I kept hearing the same question from moms:

“Okay… but how do we actually do this?”

Because even when you care deeply about food, feeding your family can still feel overwhelming.

Why This Feels Hard

Parents are paying attention because they’re seeing real struggles in their kids — more obesity, ADHD, allergies, digestive issues, and chronic health concerns than ever before.

So the desire to eat better makes sense.

What’s missing isn’t motivation.
It’s help with everyday life.

School drop-offs.
Practices.
Work.
Laundry.
Mental load.

Food decisions get pushed aside — until it’s 5 pm and everyone’s hungry.

That’s when it feels hard.

The Real Problem Isn’t Cooking — It’s Deciding

Most moms I talk to:

• can cook

• want to eat better

• feel good once food is on the table

What trips them up is deciding what to make, day after day.

One simple approach helps more than almost anything else:

Start with the protein. Then add a vegetable and a starch.

One piece of meat from the freezer.
A simple vegetable.
Potatoes, rice, or whatever works.

Simple. Repeatable. Done.

A Simple Tool That Helps

To make this easier, I created a one-page weekly dinner planner — the same kind of simple system we use in our own home.

It’s not fancy or rigid.
It just helps get food decisions out of your head and onto paper.

👉 Download the Weekly Dinner Planner here

One Last Thing

If eating real food feels harder than it should, you’re not failing.

You don’t need more rules.
You need fewer decisions.

Sometimes one small shift is enough to make everything feel lighter.

— Sarah