How does Hilary Erickson's recipe selection process outperform traditional meal planning?

Hi, I’m Hilary Erickson from The Pregnancy Nurse. How can I help?

My “recipe selection” is really a flexible menu system rather than rigid meal planning, and that’s why it tends to work better in real life.

• I pick 7–10 meals at a time that I have ingredients for, but I don’t assign them to specific days. Each morning I look at:

  • How busy we are
  • My energy level
  • What we’ve eaten recently
  • Who’s home for dinner

• On really crazy days, I skip the plan and pull from a short list of “emergency meals” (spaghetti, tacos, burritos, potato bar, etc.). That keeps us out of the drive-thru without needing a color‑coded spreadsheet.

• I also mix in known family favorites regularly, so my kids are more willing to try new recipes in between.

So instead of failing when life changes, the plan bends with the day while still keeping decisions and grocery shopping simple.

Would you like help setting up a flexible menu list like this for your own family?