When life is busy, mental bandwidth to decide what's for dinner disappears. It's easy to get stuck in a rut and feel completely uninspired to meal plan. Even strong planners have periods where ideas dry up, and planning feels like a chore.

In this episode, we're combating a lack of creativity and recipe ideas with so many great tips to help you create this week's meal plan. From finding new recipes online, to phoning a trusted friend, to capsule meal planning. We hope you feel inspired and ready to start planning at the end of this episode! Enjoy!

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This week, we're tackling food waste! Leftovers pile up, ingredients get pushed to the back of the fridge, and before long, our precious kitchen inventory goes to waste! Riley and Roni discuss practical strategies for reducing food waste and using up what you already have at home. We will teach you our favorite meal planning strategies to actually use the food you're buying and stop wasting it!

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From answering your dinner dilemmas in 2025, we learned that many families juggle multiple dietary needs: picky kids, allergies, macros, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, low-sodium, etc. And creating meals that satisfy everyone feels exhausting!

This week, we're spending the entire episode tackling the problem of managing multiple diets and dietary needs in one house. Our goal is to help you avoid being a short-order chef in your house and reduce the burden of cooking for everyone's needs and preferences. We hope you get a lot from this episode!

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This week, we're helping you handle crazy schedules and a lack of time to plan and cook. Evenings get packed with kids’ activities, meetings, and errands. Schedules can change at the last minute, making it hard to cook consistently, prep ahead, or stick to a plan. If you find you're often getting takeout, skipping meals, or wasting groceries, this episode is for you!

Let's dive into some tactics to help you save time, get people fed, and stick to your meal plan. Enjoy!

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Many people want to plan and cook but feel too tired, overwhelmed, or depressed by the end of the day to follow through. And even well-made plans fall apart when energy runs out. In this episode, we're discussing how to combat low energy and motivation, so you can still feed your family!

We talk about how to actually cultivate motivation, why systems help reduce your lack of energy, and give you practical tips for creating meal plans. And, as always, we're here to remind you that meal planning is a favor to your future self! The energy you put into it now saves you energy and decisions in the future. Enjoy!

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We're kicking off the New Year with some questions about meal planning and the podcast! We asked AI to ask us questions about meal planning from our experience of hosting the Plan to Eat Podcast.

Over the past 120+ episodes, we've reviewed books, had dozens of world-class guests, and shared so many tips and tricks about meal planning. In this first episode of 2026, we're reflecting on what we've learned, how it's changed us, and what advice we have for meal planners.

This is a unique episode format for us, and we hope you enjoy!

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Surprise! This week, we're giving you a bonus episode to finish up the final handful of dinner dilemmas. In this episode, we tackle dilemmas about juggling multiple eating preferences in one household, budgeting constraints, and preparing unique side dishes.

Thank you for making us your trusted friends in meal planning and sending your questions, frustrations, and dilemmas!

Happy New Year!

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We are finishing 2025 with lots of recipe inspiration! As we transition into Winter and a New Year, we are encouraging you to add some new recipes to your meal plans. Break out of those ruts and start 2026 with some fresh ideas for your planning.

Thanks for listening in 2025 and Happy New Year!

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